Arsene Wenger was able to name an unchanged Arsenal side after Mikel Arteta passed a late fitness test on his calf. Although Olivier Giroud was available to play after his three game suspension, Wenger left him on the bench. Newcastle United were determined to try to spoil the party for Arsenal, as were Sunderland at Tottenham.
Arsenal are plotting a summer move for Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney. According to the Daily Mail, members of the Gunners' backroom team were discussing bidding for the wantaway England international as far back as March after being alerted that he was no longer happy at Old Trafford. Arsenal are said to be serious about [.
Arsene Wenger has not announced his Arsenal team sheet for the crucial last game of the season yet, but it does no take a genius to work out that Olivier Giroud will come straight back into the starting XI to face Newcastle United. The big French international was sent off against Fulham and the FA rejected the Gunners appeal, even though it was clear from the replays that he had got the ball and slipped.
Sharing is caring; Arsenal's high scoring forwards by DG
If I were to ask you which Premier League team has four players that have scored more than 10 league goals this season, which would you guess? Man Utd only have two – RVP and Rooney. Man City? Two – Dzeko and Aguero. Chelsea actually manage three, but only if we include Demba Ba's goals for Newcastle in the first half of the season.
Arsene Wenger has a few decisions to make in his selection for the Arsenal team that travels north to St. James' Park on Sunday in the hope of beating Newcastle United and ensuring a top four finish, at least. The Prof will not want to change too much with the Gunners being on a fabulous run, especially with last night's goal-fest against Wigan.
Should Wenger Pick Giroud For The Newcastle Match? by FD
So, what was all the fuss about? Last night a confident and assured Arsenal team swept aside a weary Wigan and kept the qualification for a Champions League place firmly in our own hands.
It proved to be a match too far for Saturday's FA Cup winners and perennial escape artists, who now have to face up to life outside the Premier League.
This was always going to be ab open and exciting game, with Arsenal and Wigan needing to win for different reasons. Arsene Wenger made just one change, with Gibbs coming in for Monreal and the young England international did brilliantly against one of Wigan's main threats Callum Mcmanaman.
Arsenal made a great start and looked like they were going to blow Wigan out of the water.
There was great deal of excitement and expectation amongst Arsenal fans around this time last year, because we heard that Arsene Wenger had secured the transfer of the German international Lukas Podolski from Cologne. The 27-year old has enjoyed a pretty good first season with the Gunners, but there have been concerns over his fitness and rumours of a problem between him and Wenger.
There was a great deal of concern among Arsenal fans at the start of the season, and it was perfectly undertandable after losing Robin van Persie to Manchester United. The Dutch striker had scored 37 goals in the previous season and that is a big hole to fill. However, those fears have been allayed somewhat over the course of the season, with Theo Walcott scoring on Saturday bringing up the club's milestone of 100 and his own personal one of 20 goals this season.
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.
"Arsenal will sorely miss Olivier Giroud for Tuesday's visit of Wigan Athletic". Tell me this, what's wrong with that statement? First and foremost, when did we become so reliant on Giroud? For large parts of the first half of the season, many fans believed Giroud was not up to scratch and wasn't capable of leading the line for Arsenal.
Arsenal have got one more game to go without the big front man Olivier Giroud. The French international will be available to play in the last game of the season against Newcastle United at St. James' Park, or whatever the hell it is called these days. It is as inevitable as death and taxes that Giroud will come straight back into the starting line up, because we have seen how much the Gunners have become set up to playing off him.
Should Arsenal look closer to home for transfer targets? bt FD
At this time every season transfer speculation starts to rev up, but this year holds the promise of even more activity than usual for Arsenal followers to contend with. The talk of a £70m transfer chest has already encouraged an avalanche of rumours, and players from leagues all over the world being are being linked with a possible summer move to the Emirates.
When Theo Walcott scored for Arsenal after 20 seconds against QPR yesterday, it was his 20th goal of the season in all competitions. That is the first time the England international has achieved that number in his ninth season as a professional footballer, and has helped the Gunners to get over the traitor van Persie.
In January, when Arsenal fans were pulling their hair out about the deafening silence from the Emirates, the Gunners were linked with every man and his dog, it seemed. A large number of the rumours concerned strikers, as Arsenal were dominating games but missing plenty of chances and both Giroud and Podolski were a little slow to adapt to the Premier League.
In the second half of the season, many Arsenal fans were clamouring for Lukas Podolski to be given more time on the pitch, then when he was finally reinstated to the starting XI, the calls started for him to be given the chance to replace Giroud as the out-and-out centre-forward.
Now the fans have finally got what they want but, but after two matches as the main striker, suddenly Podolski is making Giroud seem like he is a natural goalscorer!
Arsenal still do not have their destiny in their own hands after Gareth Bale rescued a poor Tottenham side with another late winner against Southampton. The away side had plenty of chances to score but it was 0-0 until the Welshman struck again.
Arsene Wenger has made just one change to the side that did so well against Manchester United last week, with Nacho Monreal coming in for Kieran Gibbs at left back.
Arsene Wenger takes his Arsenal team on the short journey to Loftus Road to face QPR today and one of his main messages to the players this week will have been to expect a tough game. The Frenchman knows that a team playing under pressure to stay up can suddenly play much better once they are down and they relax.
With the unlucky Arsenal hitman Olivier Giroud unavailable after his red card against Fulham, Arsene Wenger must yet again decide who to play in the centre-forward position against QPR this weekend. Last week the Frenchman gave Lukas Podolski a go at proving his worth in the centre against Man United, but he was mostly anonymous against the newly-elected Premiership Champions.
Arsene Wenger usually keeps his Arsenal team selection close to his chest, so it was a bit of a surprise yesterday when he issued a statement that clearly intimated that he would be playing the German international striker Lukas Podolski as the centre forward in the absence of Olivier Giroud. The tall French front man has two more games of his three match ban to go before he can return for the final day trip to Newcastle United, so Wenger was asked whether he had confidence that Podolski could fill in successfully.
There is a lot of news surrounding our German striker Lukas Podolski today, both for good and bad reasons. It has almost been a year since Lukas Podolski's transfer to Arsenal was announced, with the deal being struck months before the summer transfer window and he has since become one of the more important players on our team.
Arsene Wenger has always done things his own way at Arsenal and it can sometimes drive the fans up the wall. He is generally left to get on with it, though, because he manages to get the job done. I know that a lot of Arsenal fans have been getting steadily more frustrated with him, but I genuinely believe that he has worked miracles on a shoestring budget over the past few years.
Earlier in the season, when Arsenal were negotiating with Theo Walcott and his representatives about a new contract, we kept hearing that it was not about money, although he did manage to get a nice wage increase. Arsene Wenger and Walcott both said that some of the talk was about the England international's desire to play as a centre forward.
Arsenal have three more games left in the Premier League and will have to do without Olivier Giroud for the first two of those. The French international had established himself as one of the first players on the Gunners teamsheet after a few wobbles earlier in the season, but Arsene Wenger has another decision to make this weekend.
Arsenal knew the huge importance of this game against Manchester United and may have been aware that Chelsea were beating Swansea in the earlier kick off. The players had to suffer the indignity of having to clap the former captain and turncoat Robin van Persie and his team mates on to the pitch. Wenger will have told them to use that feeling to their advantage in the game, and it could not have started much better.
This is the big one for Arsenal. Forget all the hype and the talk of van Persie and the guard of honour, this is the most important game for the rest of the Gunners' season. A win against the newly crowned Premier League champions will put us in a fantastic position with three games against struggling teams left.
This weekend's game is certainly our toughest fixture in the run in to the end of the season and it comes against already crowned Premier League champions Manchester United. Arsenal will welcome back former captain Robin Van Persie, and although it's important not to focus on RVP for this game, no doubt that will be the main talking point.
The Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud was effectively excluded from taking part in the final part of the Gunners race for the Top Four after being sent off in the dying minutes against Fulham last week.
Video evidence seemed to show that Giroud slipped as he went for the ball, and although contact was made he also clattered his studs into the leg of Stanislav Manolev.
Olivier Giroud has certainly had an interesting first season in the English Premier League since joining Arsenal from the French champions Montpellier. The French international has gone from hero to villain, and back again, a few times already. He has split opinion, not just with the Arsenal fans but with football reporters and commentators as well.
Arsenal should use The Ox, Podolski and Walcott as strikers. Leave Podolski as CF because Ox and Walcott are much better suited on the wings, they can use their speed more effectively. Let's not forget, Ox is ambi-dexterous, so if he wants to cut in and have a shot, he can.
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.
Does Jovetic already have a club for next season? by AH
Stefan Jovetic is a player Arsenal have reportedly kept an eye on for a while now and Wenger was apparently looking to sign him in the closing days of the January transfer window. As we know, the move never materialised but the rumours persisted and a few weeks back it was suggested that Arsenal have agreed a summer deal with Italian side Fiorentina for the Montenegrin front man, and now Mario Sconcerti, a sports journalist for the Corriere della Sera believes Jovetic is heading to England this summer.
Who will Wenger choose as Striker against Man UTD? by Rory
Giroud's sending off against Fulham was worrying at the time; however looking to our next game (A huge game against Man Utd) the sending off of Giroud could be a benefit to Arsenal.
Giroud's record is not bad for his first season, however his conversion rate is horrendous, and when I watched him at the Emirates against Everton, it was the first time I realised a professional footballer could sky the ball way over the goal from five yards.
Could Arsenal still make use of 35-year-old Thierry Henry? The former Gunners star and winner of the most Golden Boots in Premier League history (4) is still up to his old tricks in the United States for the New York ... Continue reading →
Judging by lots of previous comments, there are a lot of Arsenal fans who will be glad that Olivier Giroud was sent off for a lunging tackle against Manolev of Fulham. If Arsenal do not appeal the decision, or lose an appeal, then the big Frenchman will miss the next three games at a vitally important time.
This is an absolutely must win game against a Fulham side we have failed to beat in the last four meetings. There is no reason that the Gunners should not break that unwanted record today and claim an important three points in the race for a top four finish in the Premier League.
Arsene Wenger has decided to rest Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere, with Nacho Monreal and Tomas Rosicky coming in to the starting line up.
Fulham vs Arsenal preview, predicted line up and score prediction by KJ
Arsenal had been in a very rich vein of form recently until they ended a good run with a stalemate against Everton on Tuesday. It wasn't a bad result, but a top team should be winning that match and cementing their authority on 3rd.
Arsene Wenger watched his side finally come good in the second half against Wigan last night, but he thinks the game was much closer than Arsenal's winning margin suggests. He said after the game: "We had a quick start and a strong start for the first 20 minutes. We were really dominating and after that we became a bit conservative and pushed forward less and allowed Wigan back in the game.
There is no room for error for either team tonight as only a win will do for Arsenal and Wigan Athletic at the Emirates stadium. Although the Gunners would still have a mathematical chance of overtaking Tottenham on the final day of the Premier League season if we drew or lost tonight, realistically it would mean that Arsenal would be consigned to the Europa League next season.
There is a belief in football that you should not change a winning team and that is what Arsenal have had for the last three games. Arsene Wenger had suggested that Olivier Giroud would return after his suspension and that Mikel Arteta would not be able to play due to his calf problem, but that seems to have been intended to keep the Newcastle manager Alan Pardew and his players guessing right to the last minute.
