Flash Past - West Ham vs Arsenal [EPL]

Howdy Gooners,

It was one of those fixtures to forget for the Gunners as after a rather tame nil – nil draw against Chelsea on Monday night, pegging them to second position behind Liverpool on goal difference. Arsene Wenger could perhaps understand why the fans have been craving for an extra striker to share the burden of Olivier Giroud, when he missed Arsenal’s best chance to put the game to bed. One could also notice that this team was lacking so much in terms of morale and confidence with their minds fresh from their 6-3 thrashing against City.

Mourinho and his Chelsea team came with a clear plan to frustrate the gunners, putting 10 men behind the ball most of the times even with their array of attacking talent.

In the end, a point is all what Arsenal could earn out of it, a point which could rather prove vital in the closing stages of the league.

Arsenal next head to Upton Park to face West Ham United, hoping that their Christmas prayers are answered and they bounce back from their winless streak which stretches to 4 games.

It was a convincing display from Arsenal coming from a goal down to beat West Ham 3-1 when these two teams met here at this venue back in Oct 2012. A brief preview into what happened back then

Lineups Then:

West Ham

Starting XI: Jääskeläinen, Collins, McCartney, Reid, Demel*², Noble, Diamé*³, Nolan, Jarvis, Vaz Te*¹, Andy Carroll 

Subs : Henderson, O'Neil, Benayoun, Tomkins*²,C Cole*³, M Taylor*¹, Maiga

Arsenal

Starting XI : Mannone, Gibbs*¹, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Jenkinson, Cazorla, Arteta, Ramsey,  Gervinho*², Podolski*³ , Giroud  

Subs : A Santos*¹, Coquelin, D Martinez, Koscielny*³, Chamberlain, Walcott*², Arshavin 

 *subbed players along with their order

Blast from the Past:

Olivier Giroud would have fond memories of this fixture last year as this was where he opened his Premier league account, having gone 303 minutes without a goal. Surprisingly, it was West Ham which started the proceedings brightly after a delightful curler from Mo Diamé put them ahead. Arsenal bounced back into the game shortly before half time when Giroud poked Podolski’s cross to put them level on terms.

West Ham were made to rue their chances in the second half when Theo Walcott who had come on replacing a rather sloppy Gervinho took advantage of West Ham’s tiredness to fire Arsenal ahead. The comeback was then complete when Santi Cazorla fired a 25 yard volley past Jääskeläinen to kill the tie and helped Arsenal climb to 5^th in the table.

Current Mood:

In a striking resemblance to last season’s fixture, Arsenal travel to West Ham having faced Chelsea at home, but unlike last season they find themselves better in terms of their standings. Although a skeptic could argue that Arsenal are starting to fade away after having lost to Napoli & Man City and getting just a point at home against Everton and Chelsea respectively, yet there are lot more reasons to be hopeful about. A fixture like this always presents a wonderful chance for the team to bounce back to form and get back to winning ways.

West Ham, on the contrary, are just a point above the relegation zone after losing three games and gaining just a point in all of December. There have been a number of positives for boss Sam Allardyce to boast about which includes the staggering form of his wonder-talent Ravel Morrison and the goal scoring returns of strikers Carton Cole and Madibo Maiga, among others. He has also received a timely boost with the return of his Captain Kevin Nolan from suspension. Big Sam would also be keen to include Tomkins in the central defense despite his possible arrest over assaulting a policeman at a night club in London.

Arsenal would look to impose their high pressing possession football against the Hammers and would try and seal a victory at Upton Park.

 

Form Guide

West Ham: L-W-D-L-L

Man Utd 3 – 1 West Ham

Tottenham 1 – 2 West Ham (COC)

West Ham 0 – 0 Sunderland

Liverpool 4 – 1 West Ham

Crystal Palace 1- 0 West Ham

Arsenal: D-L-L-D-W

Arsenal 0 – 0 Chelsea

Man City 6 – 3 Arsenal

Napoli 2 – 0 Arsenal

Arsenal 1 – 1 Everton

Arsenal 2 – 0 Hull City

Injury List:

Arsenal

Oxlade (Knee), Diaby (Knee), Yaya Sanogo (back)

Koscielny is expected to return to the bench after getting injured against Man City while Wilshere is set to miss this game as he completes his two match suspension.

West Ham

Andy Carroll (Foot), Vaz Te (Shoulder), Reid (Knee)

Predicted Lineup:

West Ham (4-2-3-1)

Jääskeläinen; Demel, Collins, Tomkins, McCartney; Noble, Taylor; Diame, Morrison, Nolan; C Cole

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)

Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Flamini, Ramsey; Walcott, Özil, Cazorla; Giroud

Talisman:

West Ham

Nolan and Morrison are the two players to watch out for West Ham. It would be very interesting to see how Big Sam uses Morrison to cut open Gunners’ defense.

Arsenal

I can foresee a very influential performance from both Ramsey and Walcott in the today’s game.

Predicting a 3-1 win for the Gunners.

COYG!!

Factos:

• West Ham have lost eight and won none of their last 10 Premier League games against Arsenal.
• Theo Walcott has scored in his last three Barclays Premier League appearances against West Ham.
• Olivier Giroud has scored three goals in his two appearances against the Hammers and Santi Cazorla has two in two.
• After going seven games without a victory in the Premier League away at a Sam Allardyce team (D3 L4), Arsene Wenger has enjoyed two victories in a row.
• This is Arsenal’s 100th London derby away from home in the Premier League and the Gunners have won 44 out of 99; more victories on the road than any other team in capital clashes.
• West Ham have won their last three Premier League games played on December 26, scoring nine goals in the process.
• Arsene Wenger’s only defeat in a Premier League game on December 26 came in 1999 (3-2 to Coventry).
• Arsenal are the only side to score 6+ goals on December 26, when they thrashed Leicester 6-1 in 2000.
• Carlton Cole has scored three times in three previous games on December 26.
• West Ham have scored just three times in the first half of matches in the Premier League this season – a league-low proportion of 21% of their goals.

Flash Past - Arsenal v Chelsea [EPL]

Sunshine Gooners!

The month of December has not been kind to our lads so far, with just 4 points from 4 games and a huge defeat on top of that. Though the defeat against City was heavy the lads never gave up and created chance after chance, only to be let down by some poor finishing. After a weekend without a game which gave the boys the much required rest, we face a new challenge in the form of Chelsea. Mourinho's Chelsea are one of our other main rivals this season and they will be visiting the Emirates to take us on. Let's see what happened the last time Chelsea came to the Emirates

Lineup Then:

Arsenal

Starting XI : Mannone, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Diaby*¹, Cazorla, Ramsey*², Gervinho, Podolski*³

Subs : Martinez, Mertesacker, Djourou, Santos, Walcott*², Oxlade-Chamberlain*¹, Giroud*³

Goal Scorer : Gervinho

Assist : Oxlade-Chamberlain

Chelsea

Starting XI : Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Luiz*¹, Cole, Mikel, Ramires, Mata*², Oscar, Hazard, Torres

Subs : Turnbull, Cahill*¹, Azpilicueta, Romeu, Lampard, Moses, Bertrand*²

Goal Scorers : Torres, Mata

Assist : Mata

*subbed players

Blast from the Past:

Chelsea inflicted our first defeat last season when they visited us, in a high intensity game. An injury to Diaby forced us to bring the Ox early into the game. Torres made it 1-0 for Chelsea by latching on to a Mata pass. Some good build up play just before half time saw Gervinho score his 5th league goal of the season to level terms for us.  Ten minutes into second half, Mata turned scorer with a good free-kick and made it 2-1 to Chelsea. Koscielny tried but could not defend the ball and just saw it hit the back of the net. In an effort to equalize, our boys kept moving forward and creating a lot of chances but were denied again and again by Cech who was in superman made that day. Giroud at the end had a great chance to equalize but he hit the side netting.

Current Mood:

Though we started the month with a good 2-0 win against Hull (the one where Lord Bendtner scored!!), our performances have begun to degrade gradually. The defence doesn't look the same without Koscielny and will definitely be tested by Mata, Oscar and Hazard.
Though Chelsea have been scoring well for past few games but they are also leaking goals at the back with Cech not having managed a single save in last 5 games. In spite of this, they have managed to win 4 out of their last 5 games.

Injury List:

Arsenal

Koscielny (Knee), Oxlade (Knee), Diaby (Knee)

There won't be a day with out any of our players being present in the treatment table. Koscielny will be joining Ox and Diaby this time :(

Chelsea

Bertrand (Knock), Van Ginkel (Knee)

Predicted Lineup:

Arsenal

With Wilshere facing a two game ban and Koscielny out injured, we will witness a couple of changes in the starting line up. Our captain Verminator will be starting alongside Per at the heart of the defence. Also, Cazorla will step in for Wilshere. 

Chelsea

Essien is suspended for the game and Mata might come in as he is prolific against Arsenal when it comes to scoring goals. Though Mou has revealed that Cashley might not be starting (Christmas party with the Gunners?), its very difficult to predict who would play given their squad depth.

Talisman:

Arsenal

Walcott scored a couple of goals against the mighty City side at Etihad. He will be the key again to open the Chelsea defense with his decisive runs and Özil feeding him with through balls.

Chelsea

If Mata starts, he will be their talisman. He has been a thorn in our flesh in recent times, scoring and setting up goals. He needs to be stopped before he becomes as prolific as Drogba.

Score line Prediction:

It is the battle of two best midfields in the Premier League. It will be an highly entertaining game with Arsenal nicking it 2-1 in the end.

Come on you Gunners! :)

My Reactions After - Arsenal vs Everton (EPL)

Our boys faced their second big wave of heavyweights, beginning with the game against the other team from Merseyside. Though nicknamed Toffees, Everton were anything but sweet and were playing probably their strongest side in recent years. We started the game with a 4 point lead over second placed Liverpool and a win would have further increased the gap to 7 points.

Though the game ended as a 1-1 draw, it was a pulsating high-tempo affair. It was a game that brought the best of the centre-halves of both the teams, keeping the opponent strikers at bay from almost every attack they faced. Though both the teams had a fair number of chances to go on and claim full 3 points, a draw seemed the fair result and we went 5 points clear of Liverpool.

GOALS: (Arsenal 1-1 Everton)

Ozil's goal: Around 80^th minute mark Rosicky put in a cross from left wing which was well headed by Walcott across the goal. Giroud took a shot and missed it completely which was a blessing in disguise for two reasons. Had he made any contact, the ball would have definitely landed in the stands,  and second it fell into the path of Ozil who was unmarked behind Giroud. Ozil provided us with the much needed breakthrough by promptly putting the ball into back of the net.  1-0 to the Arsenal, courtesy our number 11.

Deulofeu’s goal: Delofeu was introduced late in the game and what an impact he made! He  got the ball on the right side of the box and smashed it on to the top of the net at the 84^th minute to make it 1-1. Though 3 of our defenders were tracking him, none closed him down, and this momentary lapse of concentration provided him enough time to blast the ball past Szczesny. 

Talking points:

The effects of having played non stop seems to have taken its toll on Ramsey. His movement was slow,his passes were astray and positioning was bad at times. This is definitely not something that you would want your best player to experience and the lad needs some rest (Rotate AW!). Santi Claus hasn't shown any signs of his old-self yet and he needs to starts delivering his christmas gifts. He is a vital cog for us and let's hope he starts delivering them from the Chelsea game (right before Christmas ;)). Wilshere was sleepwalking when he did not have the ball and looked lost when he did. His passes were sloppy and looks like he needs another round of hairdryer from the boss. C'mon Jack, you are definitely better than that! Gibbs should have closed Deulofeu down better and is partly to blame for that goal, but like I said earlier a draw was a fair result.

Though our midfield was not up to the mark, the biggest positive from the game was the Mertescielny partnership who did a great job. The fullbacks did a good job and Jenko tried his best to fill in for Bac-man, but those are some big shoes to fill and the young man has a long way to go. Lot of ifs, for all those chances went missing but, nothing to get bogged down though. All in all, a great team performance and good contribution from our substitutes too.

Looking Ahead:

With Prince Poldi coming back, our bench looks even stronger giving Wenger a lot of options for attack. This wave is a test of endurance, facing 3 strong teams in a span of 7 days and Poldi's Mjolnir will play a huge role in supplanting the tired legs. We should keep the momentum going with the same concentration level or even higher, if possible. A vast improvement in defence and maturity is a good sign. Hope we put off a similar show against the big sides in coming days.

Flash Past - Manchester City v Arsenal [EPL]

An early morning to you all!

After the high tempo game against Everton last week, Arsenal had to travel to Naples to seal CL Round of 16 qualification. Napoleans tried hard and almost pushed us out of competition. In the end, we were lucky to qualify after a miserable performance but well deserved considering all the 6 matches in Group stage. Today, we are up for a big match kicking off early against Manchester City at Etihad. Lets tune to the last encounter at Etihad between the two sides.

Lineup Then:

Manchester City

Starting XI : Hart - Zabaleta - Kompany - Lescott - Clichy - Silva - Toure - Garcia - Sinclair*¹ - Dzeko*² - Aguero*³
Subs : Pantilimon - Nastasic - Kolarov - Barry - Rodwell*¹ - Tevez*² - Balotelli*³

Goal Scorers: Lescott

Assist Makers: Silva

Arsenal

Starting XI : Mannone - Jenkinson - Mertesacker - Koscielny - Gibbs - Arteta - Diaby*¹  - Cazorla - Podolski*² - Ramsey - Gervinho*³

Subs : Martinez - Djourou - Santos - Coquelin*³ - Oxlade-Chamberlain - Walcott*² - Giroud*¹ 

Goal Scorers: Koscielny

Assist Makers: Cazorla

*subbed players along with their order

Blast from the Past:
Mannone continued to feature between the posts as our first and second choice GKs were out injured and he put up a fantastic performance. Gervinho was set up twice beautifully with a through ball, once by Ramsey and then Cazorla but Gervinho being Gervinho wasted the chances totally. Then Podolski was set up by Jenkinson after beating Kompany but Thor's wrong foot skewed the ball over the bar. Man City had their share of chances and converted one of the corners while nearing the Half Time. Silva found Lescott while Mannone missed punching the ball away and the No.6 scored with a header. Chances came galloping at both ends in the second half but no one could really convert them. Koscielny looked like fouling Aguero inside the D Box but no penalty was given. After 80 mins, Cazorla's Corner was not convincingly cleared by Lescott and it was scorched in by Arsenal's No.6, Laurent Koscielny. It was the day of Centre halves and No.6 scoring the goal for their respective teams. Koscielny could have become from Hero to Zero if his wavered clearance was put in by Aguero. Eventually, he missed it and the game ended as 1-1 draw. Please watch the short highlights below.

Current Mood:

Manchester City who are in delightful form at home have won all their 7 Home games scoring a whooping 29 and conceding just 2 goals. Their only defeat at home this season came against the Mighty Bayern Munich. They took revenge for that at Allianz Arena. Now they will be high on confidence with also having an extra day rest.

Arsenal on the other hand have the best defensive record this season. We have won 5, drew & lost 1 away games scoring 14 and conceding 5. The solo defeat came against the other Manchester Club at Old Trafford. The last game against Napoli also ended in defeat but there is a difference in the team this season. They are quick to get back to winning ways after losing a match. Be it Aston Villa or Man Utd defeat and they are expected to put in a fine show against the home side.

Injury List:
Manchester City
Wright(Knee), Nastasic(Calf), Richards(Hamstring), 

Arsenal

Oxlade-Chamberlain(Knee), Miyaichi(Hamstring), Diaby(Knee), Sanogo(Back)

Predicted Lineup:

Manchester City

One of the teams which have a great squad depth and can rotate as much as they can. Most likely, Aguero, Negredo, Nasri and Zabaleta will return to the sides giving the team a huge boost.

Arsenal

Ever since Walcott returned from injury, I was expecting him to start match after match but Wenger surprised me every time. This time, he will start as Wenger is confident too saying he is match fit than ever. 

"Honestly I haven't made that decision but it took him a while to get back to real sharpness. Since this week he looked to me that he has found back his normal level. He is coming back from surgery and it took him a while to get back to his full power."

Sagna could also return to the starting XI. Else where, I predict the same line up as that of the squad which faced Naples.

Talisman:

Manchester City

Kun Aguero, their best player by far will be the key to success, if any, for the home team. He has been scoring goals for fun and he is the 2nd top scorer and also joint 3rd assist maker  in PL this season. His pace and agility could become a threat to the BFG.

Arsenal

For Arsenal, it will be Theo Walcott whose pace will be mostly used in counter attacks against the home team. Özil and him will connect to create the chances and score. He will also be with full of energy as he has not played full 90 mins in a really long time.

Factos:

• This match pits the two most clinical teams in the Barclays Premier League with Manchester City scoring with 20.6% of their shots and Arsenal 18.9%.
• Arsenal have scored more goals than any other team away at City in the Barclays Premier League era (28).
• No team has won more Barclays Premier League fixtures against City than Arsenal (21, along with Chelsea) or won more often on City's own ground (10, along with Chelsea).
• There have been six red cards in the last six Barclays Premier League meetings between City (four) and Arsenal (two).
• The last time Arsenal won at the Etihad Stadium, Samir Nasri was playing for the visitors and netted the opening goal (October 2010).
• City have the best home attack (29 goals) and the best home defence (two conceded), while Arsenal have the joint-best away attack (14 scored) and the best away defence (five conceded).
• Manchester City have scored in 57 consecutive home games in the Barclays Premier League. This run started after three games at the Etihad without scoring, the first of which was a 0-3 defeat by Arsenal.

Score line Prediction:

Overall, it is the game between the Best Attack v the Best Defense in the league. Expecting a tough encounter for both sides drawing each other with the score line 2-2.

Come on Arsenal, let's crack the wall of City!

Flash Past - Arsenal v Everton [EPL]

Howdy Gooners,

Arsenal finally overcame the demons of rather a sloppy November over the years to register 3 wins and losing just once during the course of the month. The highlight of it would be fact that they conceded Just 1 goal from all those fixtures which came against the loss to United. This tremendous form has started to continue into December with Arsenal registering a “rather easy” 2 – Nil victory against Hull City (or Tigers?) to maintain the 4 point lead at the top. The team now enters a crucial phase, both in terms of the title race and a place in the final 16 of the Champions League up for grabs.

This weekend they face the in-form Everton team at the Emirates who are currently enjoying their best start to the campaign, sitting 5^th in the table, having lost only once so far. 
Roberto Martinez, who took over the team from David Moyes over the summer, has already started to weave his magic, with his best result being the One Nil victory at Old Trafford during the mid-week. It was indeed an victory to cherish for the Toffee’s faithful as the last victory at Old Trafford came way back in 1992 and also that Martinez was able to achieve that feat in his first attempt, which his predecessor failed to do during his 11 year stay there.

It was a goalless draw when these two teams met here at this venue back in Apr 2013. A brief preview into what happened back then

Lineup Then:

Arsenal

Starting XI : Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs*³, Arteta, Wilshere*¹, Walcott*², Ramsey, Cazorla, Giroud

Subs : Mannone, Vermaelen, Monreal*³, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain*¹, Podolski*², Gervinho

Everton

Starting XI : Howard, Baines, Jagielka, Distin, Coleman, Gibson, Barkley*¹, Pienaar, Fellaini, Mirallas*³, Anichebe*²

Subs : Mucha, Heitinga, Neville, Oviedo*³, Hitzlsperger, Jelavic*¹, Naismith*²

*subbed players along with their order

Blast from the Past:

This fixture last season was of huge significance to both these teams due to the lure of Champions League football hanging in front of them. Arsenal were coming from an impressive form having won their last four games. Everton too were in similar fortunes having been unbeaten in their last five games with only four points separating them from the Gunners. It was rather a physical encounter with both teams conceding a lot of fouls. Arsenal and Giroud in particular were wasteful in front of goal, missing numerous chances and in the end the draw seemed a fair result.

The talking point of the game was the incident involving Darren Gibson and Theo Walcott in which the former escaped from seeing Red. The match also saw Moyes starting with Ross Barkley instead of the injured Coleman which the 19 year old grabbing it with his matured display.

Highlights from the game are available below:

Current Mood:

It is interesting to note that both clubs have almost the same team barring 1-2 notable additions from last season and yet shown so much difference in quality on pitch. Arsene Wenger’s team enjoyed a very convincing victory over Hull with goals coming from St. Nicklas (with a short gap of just 1005 days before his last goal for Arsenal) and Mesut Özil respectively, despite resting several of his first team regulars. The combination of Özil - Rambo was too hot for any of Hull’s players to handle even after their exploits against Liverpool just 3 days ago.

This has been Arsenal’s second best point tally on 34 points after 14 games (They had 36 points during 07-08 ) equalling the one during the Invincible’ s season.

Everton meanwhile have set their sights firmly on securing at least a Top 4 spot with their scintillating displays on field. They went with a clear plan to Old Trafford and executed it perfectly. At the end it was a much deserved victory for the brilliant Martinez and his men punching a huge blow to their opponents’ title defense.

As compared to their last fixture against the gunners, Everton can boast of a highly impressive midfield in the form of Barry, Barkley Osman, McCarthy along with a galore of attacking talent with the likes of Lukaku, Deulofeu, Mirallas to name a few.

Anything but victory would be an underachievement for both these teams and it remains to be seen how both their Managers plan and exploit their opponent’s tactics.

Injury List:

Arsenal

Oxlade (Knee), Diaby (Knee), Sagna (Hamstring)

Podolski is expected to return to regular training next week and could play a crucial role in the congested fixture list.

Everton

Baines (Knee), Gibson (Knee), Kone (Knee)

Predicted Lineup:

Arsenal

Wenger can welcome back the likes of Gibbs, Wilshere, Giroud and Arteta in the starting XI after wrapping them up in cotton wool for the Hull Game. Jenko should also retain his berth as Sagna has failed to recover from his injury which kept him out of the Hull game.

Elsewhere, there’s a possibility that Wenger might opt to rest Ramsey or Özil if not both and deploy Arteta and Flamini as a double pivot.

Everton

I have a feeling that Martinez will try and stick with the same team (well almost) for the weekend’s clash. I don’t see any changes in the starting line-up.

Talisman:

Arsenal

I am expecting Cazorla to dictate terms in the midfield and create gaps in their defense.

Everton

All eyes will be on Lukaku, who has been their most lethal goal scorer after joining on loan from Chelsea.

Factos:

·         Arsenal have won eight and lost none of their last 12 Barclays Premier League games against Everton.

·         Everton have only managed more than one goal in a league game against Arsenal on one occasion in the last 21 meetings.

·         The Gunners have won 14 and lost none of the last 17 Premier League home games against the Toffees (D3).

·         There have been just four goals scored in the last four Premier League meetings between Everton and Arsenal.

·         Howard Webb will officiate Arsenal v Everton on Sunday. The Gunners have won their last eight Premier League games with him as the man in the middle.

·         Arsenal are unbeaten at home in the Premier League with Howard Webb as referee (W10 D4 L0).

·         Arsenal have scored in 13 of their 14 games and have led in 12 of their 14 games this season, both Premier League highs.

·         Mesut Ozil has three goals and six assists in 11 Premier League appearances.

·         The Gunners have kept six clean sheets in their last seven games in all competitions, conceding just one goal in the other match (0-1 at Man Utd).

·         Everton have lost only Premier League game this season, fewer than any other side.

·         The Toffees have kept three away clean sheets in a row for the first time since May 2009; they have not recorded four or more in a row since August 1995 (had a run of five).

Score line Prediction:

Arguably, the most anticipated game of this weekend

Going for a 2-1 win for the gunners with Giroud and Cazorla to score for Arsenal and the in-form Lukaku to score for Everton.

Expecting a cracker of a game with both teams set to show their attacking ability.

Melt the Toffee’s J