Flash Past - Arsenal v Hull City Tigers (EPL)

Morning All!

The month of November, which has traditionally been our most difficult period was surprisingly different this season. We managed a creditable 5 wins from the 6 games played in the premier league, our only loss coming in the game against United at OT. The month ended with a good win against Cardiff at the Cardiff City stadium, never an easy place to visit. We next face Hull city, who have been registered this season as Hull City Tigers, Ltd. We last faced them at the Emirates in 2009 and lets see what happened then.

Lineup Then:

Arsenal

Starting XI : Almunia(C) (Yes, you are read it right!), Eboue, Gallas, Vermaelen, Silvestre, Song, Denilson, Diaby, Nasri*, Arshavin*, Eduardo*

Subs : Fabianski, Sagna, Ramsey*, Wilshere, Emmanuel Thomas, Walcott*, Vela*

Goal Scorers : Denilson, Eduardo, Diaby

Assist : Diaby, Arshavin

Hull City

Starting XI : Myhill, Dawson, Garner(C), McShane, Zayatte, Barmby*, Geovanni*, Boateng, Fagan, Hunt, Garcia*

Subs : Duke, Mendy*, Kilbane, Ghilas, Cousin*, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Olofinjana*

*subbed players

Blast from the Past:

Arsenal had a decent line up against Hull City, and there was drama and fracas between the players when Nasri stamped (on purpose, of course ;)) on a Hull city player for an earlier committed foul on Arshavin. Minutes later, Diaby was fouled 25 yards out of opposition goal and Denilson converted the chance with a superb free kick, one of his best goals for the club.  Hull got a penalty after Silvestre tugged the jersey of Hull player inside the 18 yard box. When everybody thought Hull were going to equalize, Almunia saved the penalty and denied Hull, a feat which he kept repeating till the end of the game. Dudu scored Arsenal's second with a simple tap in after being set up by Diaby after some good build up play. Eleven minutes from time, Diaby latched on to a pass from Arshavin and scored with a neat finish after shrugging off the defender. In the end, it was a comfortable 3-0 win for Arsenal, courtesy of good team work and the captain for the game, Almunia. Highlights from the game are available below:

Current Mood:

Arsenal are brimming with confidence with important victories achieved in November and would want to carry that form into December. We have to play the next 3 games in just 9 days which also includes the trip to Naples. Arsene has reiterated that he will look to rotate some of the players and still keep the balance in the team. With the amount of self belief that the players and the team as a whole seem to possess, no opponent looks unbeatable right now.

The premier league is highly competitive and unpredictable, and teams like Hull City are testament to it. In spite of being one of the minnows of the league, they upset in form Liverpool last week and almost took a point at WHL as well. Their obnoxious kit and their old Stokesque playing style (Sparky is changing it, of course) are extremely off putting and being a gooner, makes me not like them a lot. But, its this very same style that can be very frustrating to play against and they can prove to be a threat if our team becomes complacent. 

Injury List:

Arsenal

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

Podolski is expected to return to regular training next week.

Hull City

McShane(Hamstring), Quinn(Hamstring), Aluko(Achilles)

Predicted Lineup:

Arsenal

Sagna's injury is an opportunity for Jenkinson to finally get another game since his horror showing against Chelsea in the COC and show his worth. The opposition are not all that difficult and with Walcott likely to start, Jenko should be able to perfom well. With Arsene mentioning that he will rotate the squad ahead of tight fixtures, we might see few of our players rested against Hull.

Hull City

Davies is suspended after receiving 5th yellow card of the season and Rosenior might replace him in defence. The midfield could be crowded if they resort to the 3-5-2 formation as few of their defenders are out with suspension and injury. This could also provide us with spaces to exploit with the pace of Walcott and the trickery of Santi.

Talisman:

Arsenal

Walcott came in as a substitute in the last game and made his first assist for the season. Though he was our top scorer last season, he hasn't scored a single goal in the PL this season and will look to open his account.

Hull City     

Huddlestone who is the signing of the season for Hull City has played a key role in the team. Moving away from Spurs, he has produced some fine performances for Hull and his shot against Liverpool ended as a own goal by Skrtel. His role in the team will be pivotal against our midfield trio.

Factos:

Arsenal have won eight of the last nine matches against Hull City in all competitions (W8 D0 L1).

Hull City have won one of their last 30 Barclays Premier League away matches (W1 D7 L22).

Hull City were the first away team to concede the opening goal but come back to win a Barclays Premier League game at the Emirates Stadium (2-1 in Sept 2008).

Gunners striker Nicklas Bendtner has scored in two of his three Premier League appearances against Hull City.

Arsenal have lost just one of their last 15 Premier League matches at the Emirates Stadium (W11 D3 L1).

The Gunners have scored five headed goals from just seven headers on target in the Premier League this season.

Mesut Özil has provided the most assists in the Premier League this season (6).

Arsenal have conceded just 15 goals in their last 23 Premier League games, only one team has scored more than one in a match against them in that run (Aston Villa in August - 1-3).

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

Wojciech Szczesny has the best saves to shots ratio (81%) in the Premier League this season (min 16 shots on target faced).

Score line Prediction:

The game will be more or less one sided in favor of Arsenal, if we don't become complacent. 

Another clean sheet for Szczesny with a brace from Walcott and Cazorla hitting another which makes my prediction as 3-0 to the Gunners.

I expect the tigers to be tamed, not hunted or gunned down. There are not a lot of them left in the earth after all ;)

Tame the Tigers!