We will know a lot more about title race Saturday evening
Fortress once more
By Boris Mellor
April 2 2010
Drawing at Birmingham might have ended Arsenal's title hopes, but we should know a lot more by 5pm this Saturday. At 12:45 pm Manchester United face Chelsea and at least one, if not both, of these teams will drop points. Of course it is more important that Arsenal win their game against Wolves, and if they do the race might take on a new dimension.
One bet I would make is that McCarthy won't play 10 reserves and roll over for Arsenal like he did for Manchester United. He will play a strong a team as possible, a team similar to the one that beat West Ham and Tottenham on their visits to London. They also drew 2-2 at Villa and are visiting off the back of an unbeaten four match run and they still have plenty to play for. They will need 8 more points to ensure they are safe from relegation. So this is not a game to be taken lightly.
Wolves had their feet up whilst Arsenal played in the match of the season midweek so they will be looking to see Arsenal tire. The Gunners will have to put the stupendous events of the CL behind them and concentrate on the Premiership, any hangover will cost them dear.
Injury list grows and grows
Bad news
At the Wolves pre press conference Wenger stated that Arshavin was out for a minimum of 21 days, but he could be back by the Man City game. Fabregas is out for at least 6 weeks, Gallas for possibly five.
Good News
Campbell will be available, as will Denilson and Clichy
Arsenal will fight on without Captain Cesc
Wenger believes he still has a strong enough squad to keep challenging on all fronts. It certainly will be tough, but Arshavin will hardly be a miss on his present form. Even Fab can be replaced by Nasri, but what concerns me is that we don't have much of an option in the striker department. We are struggling to score goals and are becoming dependent on penalties.
Nik is a great target man but he has not yet developed to score lots of goals in top matches. He had a good game against Barca providing for both goals, but what he couldn't do is what Ibrahimovic did, score two goals. At a time when some were questioning the transfer fee for Ibrahimovic it was suddenly made clear why he was worth his fee.
The other area of concern is the centre back berth, can Vermaelen keep the defence solid partnered by two creaking third place stand bys, and a Cameroonian who can handle the Premiership in that position, but discovered that Barca inhabit a different universe.
None of this should be crucial against Wolves at home, but away at Barca, Tottenham, Wigan and Blackburn it could really matter. However one game at a time, so the team will have to forget about Barca and concentrate fully on Wolves, anything less than that and they could have serious regrets.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:04:03:20:46:20 by Padre Pio.
Can We Now Trust The Process ๐ค๐คท๐ฟโโ๏ธ or Should We Still Remain Cautious ๐๐ฟโโ๏ธ
I would wait until 5pm on Saturday and then assess things
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
Can We Now Trust The Process ๐ค๐คท๐ฟโโ๏ธ or Should We Still Remain Cautious ๐๐ฟโโ๏ธ
Wenger did not play an injured Fabregas - two doctors and 2 X rays pronounced him fit.
Gallas yes it was too early - but he should have signed cover
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
I wish for any result except a United win. If united win, the title is practically theirs. You see, Fegie has this habit of getting them on a role whenever they deflate the threat of their rivals. I can see them seeing out the rest of the season if they win.
A draw is a good result, but a win for Chelsea isn't a bad one either. Chelsea have a tendency of being more inconsistent than United, so they most likely will drop points again than United.
Whatever happens, we better make sure we come away with three points tomorrow!
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
even if my personal doctor certified cesc fit, i will still doubt it...nothing will ever convince me that he was fully fit to play that high tempo game
Can We Now Trust The Process ๐ค๐คท๐ฟโโ๏ธ or Should We Still Remain Cautious ๐๐ฟโโ๏ธ
Well he wont be playing the same 11 he played at Man U then
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
Thomas, Sami and Theo will cover most of the Cesc/AA situation. And between Sol and Alex, we can cover for most of the CB probz without needing to use Sylvestre. And even if we need to use our aging frenchman, I am less pessimistic than most on here about his ability to perform for us.
The seasons not far from over, we`re still in the CL and STILL have a chance to take the title, so until we`re out of everything, I`m going to try and stay positive. As we all remember in the last 5 seasons, there`s plenty of time to ugly over AFC.
Since the end of WW1, 1919, when the FA restarted its 4 tier football league, with Arsenal fc in the 1st div, thereโs only ever been one club to have never been relegated from Div 1/ EPL.
Arsenal fc
Letโs keep making history
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.