Nicks' note: This is a guest post. Like Ramires powering through the
middle, straight-talking Sahil Dumir holds no prisoners and says it like it
is. Small bio? He's a smug-smiling, hard-working, all-round good egg. He's also a Chelsea fan,
which offsets all of the above.
A genial head-nod to all Arselings out there. Things are usually pretty quiet on the disquiet
front after a win, and it has expectedly been all shush-and-silence in the wake of us playing
Blackburn like a set of drums last week. But just like the draw at Bolton didn't mean that the team
was on a one-way trip to Hades, a rout over ten-man relegation fodder doesn't a summer make.
Historically, battles for bridges have often defined the context and eventual outcomes of war.
Severing the connectivity between two groups of the opposing army, or preventing further advances
over an otherwise insurmountable barrier usually seemed like a good way to gain an advantage for
the longer term.
Liverpool have hit some sort of form since Gerard has returned from injury. Chelsea stole a
point late in the game at Swansea and are now six points ahead of Arsenal. This season has always
been about a battle for fourth an it's time for the Gunners to buckle up and pick up the points in
games like the next one at the Reebok, many much tougher games will anyway see Arsenal dropping
points in the coming weeks.
There is a glimmer of hope amidst the sea of negativity that Arsenal have been swimming in
recently. Some players are close to making their return after serious injuries. Of course, as we
have seen with Wilshere recently and with others in the past, getting hopes up when it comes to
injuries and Arsenal is not a smart choice.
Easily the best footballing side in the Championship last season, it's hardly a
surprise that Swansea have been attracting a lot of positive attention due to their performances in
the Premier League. Thomas Rooney thinks a couple of Swans should be given a chance in the England
squad and if the widely predicted changes happen after Euro 2012, Thomas has a
point!
Arsenal visit the Liberty Stadium with a chance to pull away from Liverpool and get within a
point of Chelsea in fourth. But Swansea's impressive home record suggests a win will be a
commendable achievement. The Welsh side have only conceded 4 goals at home Joint lowest in the
League on par with City and lost only once with United sneaking a 1-0 win back in mid-November.
Many fans were hoping for early activity from the Gunners in the transfer market, especially to
bolster the defence, but things have largely been quiet. Given that Ferguson had to go back to Paul
Scholes and Chelsea are taking so long over the Cahill deal, one can assume this is going to be, at
best, a tricky month for football business.
Manchester City vs Liverpool
3 January 2012
20.00 GMT
Etihad Stadium
History:
Total Appearances: 162
Liverpool Wins: 80
Manchester City Wins: 41
Draws: 41
Last Premier League Meeting: 27 November 2011 Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City (Lescott og)
Form:
Liverpool: The Reds have been one of the hardest teams to read this season.
Manchester City vs Liverpool
3 January 2012
20.00 GMT
Etihad Stadium
History:
Total Appearances: 162
Liverpool Wins: 80
Manchester City Wins: 41
Draws: 41
Last Premier League Meeting: 27 November 2011 Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City (Lescott og)
Form:
Liverpool: The Reds have been one of the hardest teams to read this season.
Manchester City vs Liverpool
3 January 2012
20.00 GMT
Etihad Stadium
History:
Total Appearances: 162
Liverpool Wins: 80
Manchester City Wins: 41
Draws: 41
Last Premier League Meeting: 27 November 2011 - Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City (Lescott og)
Form:
read more
This Boxing Day was a great one for Arsenal and a fun time for me. Hope you had a joyful
Christmas too. Apologies for the lateness of this post but the whole weekend was just so enjoyable
and engaging, I couldn't find any time before now. Well, I did find some time but then Sachin came
on to bat and took up the best part of the last two hours.
This Boxing Day was a great one for Arsenal and a fun time for me. Hope you had a joyful
Christmas too. Apologies for the lateness of this post but the whole weekend was just so enjoyable
and engaging, I couldn't find any time before now. Well, I did find some time but then Sachin came
on to bat and took up the best part of the last two hours.
Liverpool vs Blackburn Rovers
26 December 2011
15.00 GMT
Anfield
History:
Total Appearances: 139
Liverpool Wins: 60
Blackburn Wins: 38
Draws: 41
Last Premier League Meeting: 5 January 2011 Blackburn 3-1 Liverpool (Gerrard)
Form:
Liverpool: The Reds' season has had more ups and downs than a roller coaster, with the club
struggling to find any sort of consistency.
Liverpool vs Blackburn Rovers
26 December 2011
15.00 GMT
Anfield
History:
Total Appearances: 139
Liverpool Wins: 60
Blackburn Wins: 38
Draws: 41
Last Premier League Meeting: 5 January 2011 - Blackburn 3-1 Liverpool (Gerrard)
Form:
read more
Thomas Rooney takes us through some of the candidates and they're not necessarily
the ones you'd expect.
The FA have begun their annual search to find out who England fans rate as their player of the
year for 2011. With the disappointment of 2010 well behind us, 2011 has certainly been a much
brighter year for the national team, with renewed optimism about their hopes for Euro 2012.
Four games in the next 13 days should give Arsenal sufficient opportunity to bounce back from
the recent disheartening defeat against the League leaders. Given the state of injuries in defence
though, Arsene will have to take things game by game. There isn't much room left for tinkering,
particularly at the back.
Four games in the next 13 days should give Arsenal sufficient opportunity to bounce back from
the recent disheartening defeat against the League leaders. Given the state of injuries in defence
though, Arsene will have to take things game by game. There isn't much room left for tinkering,
particularly at the back.
People frequenting this small online settlement will be well-aware that I get jittery as fuck
when big games come along. Arsenal have proved themselves to be flaccid and impotent on many
occasions in the past; slipping, sliding, making elementary mistakes and prompting the inception of
cringe-worthy wordplay jokes, perennially fuelling my jitters in the process.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool
18 December 2011 - 14.05 GMT
Villa Park
History:
Total Appearances: 38
Liverpool Wins: 20
Aston Villa Wins: 10
Draws: 8
Last Premier League Meeting: 22 May 2011 - Aston Villa 1-0 Liverpool
Form:
read more
The feeling is as sudden as it is long-drawn. One morning, after wiping the Sandman-goo from
your bleary eyes, you move towards your study desk to find out which new subject is going to go
clickety-click with its pincers in dangerous vicinity of your genital area, when you realize that
you've already burnt all books and you have no genital area left to go clickety-click at.
Berbatron's Note: Long-time Blues fan Ratna Prashanth tells us what to
expect from the big money battle between the two Blues of the premier league.
Stamford bridge is going to be the venue for a great showdown tomorrow. Its Chelsea vs Man City,
otherwise titled the battle of the 2 BLUE spenders.
With Shay Given out for a month, Brad Guzan gets his first Premier League start, and it's also
emerged this week that the American is in contract discussions with his current deal set to expire
at the end of the season. Jermaine Jenas is out for the season, and with the club apparently on the
hook for his wages the less said about that the better.
The present is very important for us. We are in the middle of a season where every point is
important now... we are in a position where we just want to collect points because the pace of the
Premier League is dictated by the teams in front of us. And it is a tremendous one.
Wenger has hit the nail on the head there.
The present is very important for us. We are in the middle of a season where every point is
important now... we are in a position where we just want to collect points because the pace of the
Premier League is dictated by the teams in front of us. And it is a tremendous one.
Wenger has hit the nail on the head there.
Liverpool return to Anfield this weekend for a Saturday afternoon match-up against Championship
winners QPR. Kenny Dalglish's men will be desperate to bounce back from a disappointing 1-0 defeat
to Fulham last weekend. They have struggled against newly-promoted teams so far this summer having
battled to bad home draws against Norwich and Swansea.
Arsenal are visiting Greece for the final group game with top spot secured. Such games can
easily become an unwanted, tiresome chore but they can also be an opportunity for the some of the
players to show what they are capable of with a chance to perform in a pressure-free
environment.
Of course, we don't want the team to be frivolous and roll over but I feel the squad that Wenger
has taken to Olympiacos is full of professionals who respect the badge on their shirt and the
game/competition.
Liverpool kick off December with a Monday-evening matchup against struggling London side Fulham,
as Craven Cottage hosts a meeting that is sure to be fiercely contested with both teams desperate
for points. The Reds are coming off an impressive Carling Cup win at Stamford Bridge, and appear to
head into this game in fine form.
One of the bigger talking points has been the return of Ashley Young. James Milner showed class
by not celebrating at Eastlands recently, expect Ashley Young to do exactly the same today, but
preferably because he hasn't scored.
Either way, it's a tough game ahead and I suspect there will be a bigger interest in the manner
we McLeish approaches the game than any real expectation in getting much from it.
Recent trips to Wigan have been eventful but the memories aren't particularly pleasant for
Gooners. Arsenal have dropped 5 points in the last two visits after conceding late goals in games
that the Gunners dominated and should have won.
I hope the dominance continues but the 'Be a Gooner, be a Giver' mantra is not taken on to the
field.
This is a tough one to call. Arsenal are very strong at home in the Carling Cup the last eight
games ending in wins with a cumulative score of 23-3. On the other hand, City are probably the only
club that can put out a second-string side that would not look far out of place in the
Premiership.
For the visitors, Dzeko, Adam Johnson, Nigel De Jong, Kolo Toure, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Savic, and
even Hargreaves might get a start.
This game will go ahead despite the tragic news that Wales manager, Gary Speed, has apparently
taken his own life. Naturally, with the game being in Wales and a number of internationals
involved, the game will inevitably be effected in some way. Such sad news.
Alex McLeish has promised a better performance than we were treated to at White Hart Lane and,
in all honesty, it would be difficult to be much worse.
There are stats that could make Fulham's visit to the Emirates look like a walk in the park for
Arsenal. The Cottagers haven't won away against Arsenal in any competition, losing 22 of the 25
games played. They are currently just 2 points above the relegation zone and have won only 2 of
their 12 league games.
This home game against Borussia Dortmund could turn out to be tougher than the away visit to
Chelsea. It probably won't have as many goals and will be tighter in the middle, but from a
physical and mental point of view the players will have to give at least as much if not more than
that celebrated triumph.
Remember the Premier League? Yeah, we're finally back in action tonight for our first
league game under the floodlights of 2011/12. Returning to White Hart Lane also happens to be
significant for Alex McLeish, but that's not something we wish to dwell on.
Truth is, coming back from North London with a point has generally been a decent result for us
in the past, you'll do well to find many Villa fans optimistic about grabbing something
tonight.
Welcome back Real Football. We missed you.
Sometimes the international break helps. And on occasion it can disrupt a team's momentum. Many
Gunners have only played 90 minutes during the fortnight and, arguably, at an intensity level
fairly below the Premiership level. Ideally, this should help Arsenal as the players will not 'lack
sharpness'.
Liverpool travel south to London this weekend to take on Chelsea in what promises to be a
fiercely-contested match-up between the two clubs at Stamford Bridge. On international duty last
weekend, some of Liverpool's stars appeared to be at their best (most notably Luis Suarez's 4-goal
performance for Uruguay vs Chile), and they head into the tie with a seemingly very strong
side.
Before we take a look at tomorrow's friendly against Spain, it's worth a quick
review of tonight's playoffs for the last four places in Euro 2012.
The first thing that jumps out is the quality of the teams in the playoffs. Since Euro '96
Croatia, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey
have all reached the knockout stages of at least one of the subsequent competitions with Portugal
reaching the final in 2004.
You have to go all the way back to 2004/05 to find the last time this fixture was played; a 3-0
win under David O'Leary. Alex McLeish could really do with something similar today.
Darren Bent has said that one goal could open the floodgates, and McLeish has "rubbished" silly
rumours of a January sale.
