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Arsenal will look to extend their 9 game winning streak even further this Sunday as they take on
newly-promoted Sunderland at the Emirates. Roy Keane's fifteenth place team will be lucky to get
any points out of this game, and will likely play with many men behind the ball.
Arsenal's physio room had a nice day on Wednesday as nobody was injured in the 1-0 win over Steau
Bucharest, and only the long term injury sufferers are still out.
Group H leaders Arsenal take on third-placed Slavia Prague at the Emirates this coming Tuesday.
Arsenal will be confident coming into this match, having won eleven straight games in all
competitions. A 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers this past Saturday will do nothing to ruin their
morale.
Arsenal would do well not to underestimate the Czech team though.
Arsene Wenger's top of the table Gunners will take on Steve Coppell's 12th placed Royals in the
English Premier League this Monday.
Arsenal are unbeaten in 26 games, but their progress has been halted recently thanks to a 1-1 draw
at Liverpool, a 2-2 draw with Manchester United, and a 0-0 draw at Slavia Prague. The Gunners will
be looking to get back on track with a win at the Madejski.
Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has lost his starting place at Arsenal due to two mistakes in the
first two games of the season, and an early-season injury.
Since then Manuel Almunia has started every Premier League game, with Lehmann, the former
first-choice keeper, relegated to the bench.
The keeper has been incredibly critical of manager Arsene Wenger and Manuel Almunia, going public
on his feelings that he is by far the better keeper at Arsenal.
Surprisingly enough, the readers of this blog decided that Manuel Almunia is the best of Arsenal's
keepers. It seems as though Jens Lehmann's blunders (and temper) were enough to turn Arsenal fans
away from the angry German. Results: Who deserves the number 1 jersey at Arsenal? Jens Lehmann -
42% Manuel Almunia - 58% I have to disagree with my readers here.
League leaders Arsenal are to take on 7th placed Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Boxing Day.
The Gunners, who sport a clean bill of health, will be looking for six points out of six in their
next two matches to go into the new year as leaders, but they will have to work hard as they face
quality opposition in Portsmouth and Everton.
Under-fire Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann made some fine stops to register a clean-sheet, making
Germany the first team to qualify for the 2008 European Championships after a 0-0 draw with
Ireland.
The German keeper needed to play well this week to even be considered for Arsenal's clash with
Bolton on the 20th, and his performance will certainly make Arsene Wenger do some thinking.
Match Preview
An undermanned Arsenal side managed to break down a resolute Wigan in the last ten minutes to go
clear at the top of the Premier League table as Manchester United faltered at Bolton.
Wigan showed some real character in their compact defense, but a goal from William Gallas opened
the game up in the 83rd minute and Tomas Rosicky insured the win with a second only two minutes
later.
Arsenal won away at Reading to reclaim the top spot in the Premiership on goals scored.
Mathieu Flamini, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Alex Hleb made it 3-0 to the Gunners before Nicky Shorey
pulled one back for Reading near the end of normal time to wrap up a comfortable win for
Arsenal.
Lineups:
Reading: Marcus Hahnemann; Nicky Shorey, Ivar Ingimarsson, Graeme Murty, Ibrahima Sonko; Bobby
Convey, Brynjar Gunnarsson, James Harper, Stephen Hunt; Kevin Doyle, Dave Kitson
Arsenal: Manuel Almunia; Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Kolo Toure, Gael Clichy; Emmanuel Eboue,
Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini, Tomas Rosicky; Alex Hleb; Emmanuel Adebayor
Arsenal started brightly, with Adebayor hitting the post in the fourth minute of play.
Could Manuel Almunia hold the key to England's chances of winning the 2010 World Cup? The BBC
report that the Arsenal goalkeeper is close to obtaining British citizenship and, with a Spain
call-up looking unlikely, he's open to an approach from Fabio Capello. "They (Spain) have never,
never called me," said Almunia.
Two stunning goals from Cesc Fabregas and Emanuel Adebayor helped Arsenal to overcome a 1-0 deficit
and beat Tottenham 3-1 at White Heart Lane. Arsene Wenger opted for a different line-up than I
expected, opting to play Abou Diaby and Mathieu Flamini in the midfield alongside Fabregas and Alex
Hleb. The defense was as expected, Kolo Toure and Gilberto at centre-back, with Gael Clichy on the
left
Arsenal have only conceded three goals in five Premiership matches and two Champions League
qualifiers this season. With such a god defensive record, we have no need to worry about our
goalkeepers right? Wrong. Two of the three goals allowed were the fault of Jens Lehmann's errors,
and the third (yesterday against Tottenham) could have been stopped by Manuel Almunia - albeit with
some impressive
Match Preview
Arsenal became the first team to beat Steaua Bucharest in Romania today, thanks to a left-footed
goal from Robin van Persie. The gunners kept their top spot in Group H on six points, three points
ahead of nearest rivals Sevilla (who we beat 3-0 at the Emirates) and Slavia Prague. Steaua are on
the bottom now, having yet to win any points.
Match Preview
Archie Knox lost his first match as Bolton's caretaker as his side fell 2-0 to Arsene Wenger's
first-placed team. The result keeps Arsenal at least two points clear of Manchester United (who
play Aston Villa later today) with a game in hand. Bolton are not faring nearly as well, as the
loss puts them rock-bottom in the Premiership, after Derby held Fulham to a goalless draw today.
Match Preview
Arsenal went back on top of the Premier League table, beating Sunderland 3-0 to make it 10 straight
wins. A Robin van Persie double inspired the hosts to a late victory over Roy Keane's stubborn
Sunderland side.
Lineups:
Arsenal: Manuel Almunia; Bacary Sagna, Kolo Toure, Philippe Senderos, Gael Clichy; Alex Hleb, Cesc
Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini, Abou Diaby; Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie
Sunderland: Craig Gordon; Danny Higginbotham, Paul McShane, Nyron Nosworthy, Danny Collins; Grant
Leadbitter, Liam Miller, Ross Wallace, Michael Chopra, Dwight Yorke; Kenwyne Jones
The hosts started the game brightly, with Robin van Persie feeding Emmanuel Adebayor through in the
first minute.
Newcastle came back from an early goal down to win a point against Premier League leaders Arsenal,
who failed to capitalize on a game in hand but nonetheless went four points clear of second-placed
Manchester United.
Arsenal were 1-0 up after only four minutes, after Emmanuel Adebayor drilled a fabulous volley into
the back of Shay Given's net.
Arsenal's current first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Almunia could become England's national team
keeper, as he has never been called up for Spain and is in the process of acquiring English
citizenship.
The keeper proved his worth to Arsene Wenger this season, replacing long-time Arsenal and Germany
number one Jens Lehmann as the club's first-choice keeper.
Arsenal captain William Gallas has stated that he is hoping to be fit in time for Saturday's derby
against London arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur. The French international missed our last 2 games due
to a groin injury but his recovery is going well and he is likely to return for Saturday. Gallas'
return will be welcome by Arsenal fans, as we have played the last few games with a makeshift back
In my last post I stated that Jens Lehmann would be eligible to play, after returning from injury.
However, it seems that Lehmann has suffered from a reaction to the elbow injury he picked up in
Germany's 2-0 win over Wales in Euro 2008 Qualifying last Saturday. Timo Hildebrand is going to
replace Lehmann for Germany's friendly against Romania which is to be played tomorrow.
Jens Lehmann, Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper since the 2003/04 season seems to have lost his
first-choice status at the club after 2 high-profile errors in Arsenal's first two league games. He
was taken out due to a reported injury, and his replacement, Manuel Almunia, seems to have played
the better of the two in his absence. The veteran shot-stopper was recently backed by Germany coach
Arsenal have begun the season well, coming into our 5th match tied on points with leaders
Liverpool, despite having played a game less than Tottenham, Chelsea, and last years Barclay's
Premier League champions, Manchester United. The only 2 points that Arsenal have dropped were due
to an error from Jens Lehmann against Blackburn, and otherwise Arsenal have beaten Fulham,
high-flying Manchester
Match Preview
Arsenal gave manager Arsene Wenger a late birthday gift of seven goals, tying the club's record for
biggest victory in the Champions League. Theo Walcott's first two goals in Europe for Arsenal, as
well as braces from Cesc Fabregas and Alex Hleb and a goal from substitute Nicklas Bendtner lead
Arsenal to a 7-0 victory over Czech league leaders Slavia Prague.
Arsenal's young right-back Justin Hoyte is reportedly being targeted for a loan move by both
Everton and Charlton. However, Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger has already firmly stated that the
right-back will not go out on loan this season.
Everton, who have a strong defensive lineup already, would want the 22 year-old to replace Joseph
Yobo who will miss parts of January and February due to the African Cup of Nations.
Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, who has been with Arsenal since 2003, reportedly tried to secure a move
away from Arsenal during the last few days of the summer transfer window. Lehmann seems to have
lost his number one spot to Spanish 'keeper Manuel Almunia who has been performing admirably for
Arsenal thus far, with only 1 goal conceded in 4 matches. This means that even when Lehmann comes
back from
Arsene Wenger has announced that he will stick with Manuel Almunia in goal for tomorrow's game
against Bolton despite the return of Arsenal's former first-choice keeper Jens Lehmann from injury.
Fans are beginning to question whether Lehmann has a place at the club any more, as Wenger has
completely left him out of the squad, keeping Lukasz Fabianski as the second choice goalkeeper.
Arsenal completed the double over arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur as they escaped from a nervy
encounter with three points. The Gunners, who were heavy favorites to win the match despite
Tottenham's recent resurgence, went a goal up just after halftime when Emmanuel Adebayor scored his
tenth league goal of the season, but Dimitar Berbatov levelled in the 66th.
