This is the big one for Arsenal. After Newcastle United won at the weekend, they are safe from relegation, while Wigan have to win both of their remaining games to stand any chance of being in the Premier League next season. So both teams absolutely must win at the Emirates tonight.
It will be a test of nerve as well as ability, which Arsenal have shown a lot of since losing the North London derby over two months ago.
After last night's game, Arsenal have got a reprieve and are now masters of their own destiny. Two wins from the last two games against Wigan Athletic and Newcastle United will ensure a top four finish and continue the incredible run of qualifying for the Champions League under Arsene Wenger. As the Gunners are just two points behind Chelsea in third place and they have two hard games against Aston Villa and Everton, as well as the Europa League final against Benfica in between them, there is still a chance for Arsenal to snatch third place.
Things are getting very tight at the top of the Premier League. Arsenal have got four games left to ensure a top four finish and qualification for the Champions League next season. Arsene Wenger was dealt a blow yesterday when the FA deemed the red card and three match ban for Olivier Giroud would stand, leaving the professor with a tough decision to make.
Arsene Wenger has got a number of selection decisions to make for Arsenal's trip to Fulham tomorrow. These may be affected by the relative fitness of some of the players, but for the purposes of this article I am going to assume that, barring Diaby and Fabianski, there are no major injury concerns.
When Arsenal host Premier League strugglers Reading at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, it appears that Arsene Wenger will have more selection problems than we thought. The Gunners have five players unlikely to be available for the game, which might actually make the manager's job easier for him.
The most important thing for Arsenal last night was that none of the players on international duty around Europe picked up any injuries. That is great news for Arsene Wenger who has a fully fit squad to choose from, apart from Wilshere and Walcott who will be back very soon.
Szczesny didn't get a game, but the transfer target Victor Valdes of Barcelona got the nod ahead of Reina and produced some fine stops for Spain.
Stuart Pearce has lost his battle with Roy Hodgson over the Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, but the manager of the England under 21 side is still hoping to get another Gunner from the first team to join his squad for the European Championship in Israel this summer.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the star of the show for England against San Marion on Friday, and he already has 10 caps and two goals at senior level.
Arsenal fans and Arsene Wenger can breathe a sigh of relief after the England under 21 manager Stuart Pearce revealed that he would not be taking Jack Wilshere with him to the European championships in Israel this summer. The young midfielder is eligible to play, as is Danny Welbeck from Manchester United, but they are both regular players in the senior squad now.
Arsene Wenger played down the recent firestorm of criticism that the Arsenal players and himself have been the target of recently, but he was obviously pleased and relieved to be answering questions about the good things the Gunners had done last night rather than fending off negative questions.
There is a feeling in football that you learn more from individuals and teams from defeats than from easy wins.
Wow, what a relief, Kieran Gibbs is in the squad for Arsenal vs. Montpellier in the Champions League tomorrow. Theo Walcott will miss out due to a knock picked up against Tottenham, but Gervinho has also recovered from injury to make the squad.
We should probably expect Gibbs to take a game or two to get back to 100 percent, but it means Arsenal have their first choice back four in place, and no Andre Santos in the squad.
The hype surrounding the young Crystal Palace player, Wilfried Zaha, is reaching epic proportions. Arsenal fans out there should just sit back, relax and watch the circus, because there is more chance of Nicklas Benctner beating Ronaldo and Messi to the Ballon D'Or than there is of Arsenal signing Zaha in January.
Arsenal seem to be a lot more driven when they have the midfield dynamo Jack Wilshere in the team, and the player is obviously delighted to be back and determined to play as much as he can. He is understandably frustrated, therefore, that he is suspended for this weekend's home match against Fulham after his second yellow saw him sent off at Manchester United.
Arsene Wenger had a chat with the England manager Roy Hodgson and thought that they had agreed to let Jack Wilshere work his way back to full fitness with Arsenal before he was reintroduced into the England set up. Either Wenger's grasp of the English language is worse than we thought, or Roy Hodgson just decided to completely disregard what the Frenchman said.
Arsenal fans and Arsene Wenger will be delighted with the news that one of our long list of injury hit players is ready to return to action. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be in the Arsenal team that takes on Fulham at the Emirates on Saturday.
The 19-year old midfielder has been out of action with a hip peoblem picked up in his brief appearance in Arsenal's abysmal loss to Norwich a couple of weeks ago.
Arsene Wenger will be delighted to have the opportunity to freshen up his Arsenal team. With so many players in the treatment room, Le Prof's options have been seriously thin recently and some players have looked like they could do with a rest before they start to suffer burnout, Cazorla being the prime example.
Another round of the internationals have now gone by and we shouldn't have them interrupting the proper football for the foreseeable future. It was definitely a mixed bag for the Arsenal bunch across Europe.
Onto the biggest game of the round up, Spain vs France.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was one of the best England players on the pitch yesterday for England. The Arsenal midfielder was always lively and looked the most likely to break down San Marino who often had everybody behind the ball.
The Ox has been impressive in the national side since making his debut in May.
It was not a great night for Arsenal players on international duty but the best news for Gooners is that there are no more injuries to worry about. The only two Gunners who played whole matches for their countries were Thomas Vermaelen and Johann Djourou. Arsene Wenger will be pleased that Djourou got some game [.
Juventus prepare to offer £10 million for Walcott by TS Arsenal are going to have a torrid time holding onto Theo Walcott, if reports are anything to go by. It seems that Juventus are plotting to snatch the Arsenal winger by submitting an offer for his services close to the £10 million mark. This comes [.
Does Connor Henderson Have A Future At Arsenal by AH Connor Henderson is a player a lot of Arsenal fans may have forgotten about over the years. A few seasons back he was one of Arsenal's most promising Youth players but after a few years of injures, his progress has been hampered and it's yet [...]
Right, seeing as it's so quiet, a little competition for you. Up for grabs –
two of the very limited edition (only 150 made) Ox Chambo t-shirts you can see
below.
To enter, simply answer the following question: From which club did Arsenal sign Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain?
Who The F#@k Is Chamberlain? by MA I remember like it was yesterday when newspapers were claiming
that Arsene Wenger has just signed a new winger for the club in the persona of 17-year-old Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton. The signature was coming after Wenger secured the services of
Gervinho, another winger, and amid rumours about [.
What is it with Arsenal and their uual end-of-season collapse? What is it with Ramsey and Gibbs
being preferred to Santos and Oxlade-Chamberlain. What happened to Szczesny's safe hands? Arsenal
take the lead after a minute but by half-time they had managed to turn it around to a 2-1 reversal
by half-time, but when Robin [.
The young Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made an immediate impact when Arsene Wenger
finally gave him his chance in the Gunners first team, and if the fans had their way he would be
one of the first names on the team-sheet for every game, but the 18 year-old doesn't feel he has
yet earned the [.
Henry predicts Chamberlain will be a star by KJ Arsenal's greatest ever striker has hailed Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain as the next big star to step up for the Gunners. We've all been impressed by the
18-year old Englishman. He has stepped up when called up for the first team and has proved to be
one of [.
Henry predicts Chamberlain will be a star by KJ Arsenal's greatest ever striker has hailed Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain as the next big star to step up for the Gunners. We've all been impressed by the
18-year old Englishman. He has stepped up when called up for the first team and has proved to be
one of [.
The newest Arsenal starlet Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has burst onto the scene since the New Year and
is already being tipped as a certainty to go to the Euro 2012 tournament with England this summer.
But the youngster himself is keeping his feet on the ground and is more than happy to just listen
and learn [.
The Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger told the fans that they could expect to see more of Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain in the New Year, and he fulfilled that promise by giving him an hour against
Leeds this week. But although Wenger is very happy with Chamberlain's progress, he thinks that he
still needs to work on his [.
The 18 year old prodigy Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (AOC) has only just joined Arsenal in the summer of
2011. Coming from Southampton, the talent of AOC was spotted by many big clubs. Finally, AOC joined
Arsenal on a fee of about 12 million pounds excluding add-ons. This prospect made a huge majority
of the Arsenal [.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain may have stolen the show with his first few performances for the Gunners,
in which he managed to net two excellently-taken goals. Having already been linked with a full
international call-up for England, the 18 year-old has a huge amount of pressure on him, especially
after his £15 million transfer fee from Southampton.
Arsène Wenger says Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has a good chance of playing at next year's Euro 2012
tournament. Speaking to the press ahead of Sunday's clash with Sunderland, he said, "He has done
extremely well. He needs some time to adapt to the intensity of the game but he has the quality
already of top player [.
Arsène Wenger has vowed not to hurry into starting young star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain too soon.
The 18 year-old Englishman – who bagged a terrific hattrick for the Under-21s last time out –
has been seen as a replacement for Walcott, with others wanting to see him play in the central
position up front for the [.
Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is on fire. After goals against Shrewsbury and
Olympiacos, the 18-year old netted a hat-trick, on Thursday, against Iceland. Speaking to FA-TV,
the Englishman was delighted after the game as he hit ...
Arsenal full-back Andre Santos adds to Alex Oxlade Chamberlains debut goal with
his own as the Gunner's take a 2-0 lead against Olympiakos at the Emirates.
Arsenal have been very strongly linked to the 17 year-old Southampton midfielder Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain and Arsene Wenger was believed to be trying to persuade the Saints to allow the
talented England U18 player to move to the Emirates next summer. But it seems that they face
competition from both Chelsea and Fulham.
Arsene Wenger can now forget about interruptions to his Arsenal preparations for a few months and focus on the small matter of beating Tottenham and getting the Gunners back up the league table where we belong. Fortunately, there have been no more players injured during this latest and most pointless group of international games.
Arsenal are finally starting to get some players back, after what seems like forever. Tomas Rosicky has not played for the Gunners all season, following a tendon injury he suffered while playing for the Czech Republic at Euro 2012. The 32-year old playmaker trained with his Arsenal team mates today at London Colney and his recovery will be a boost to everyone.
Arsenal started with the attacking trio of Giroud, Podolski and Gervinho to take the fight to Norwich and take advantage of their fragile confidence. Ramsey got the nod alongside Cazorla and Arteta in the middle with plenty of options, including Wilshere, on the bench.
Chris Houghton had his players fired up and they set out to work hard and press Arsenal with a high tempo.