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Arsenal – Wigan Preview - The Offside - Arsenal blog

« Leeds – Arsenal Highlights and Post Match Thoughts | Home | Arsenal – Wigan PreviewBy: Martin | January 21st, 2011
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Wigan

Position: 18th, 4-10-8 (22 points, -15 goal differential)

Away Form: 2-4-4 (-5 goal differential)

Recent Form: WDLDD

Last Meeting: Wigan 2 – Arsenal 2 (December 29, 2010)

Back in league action tomorrow, against a side which may be becoming one of our bogey teams. Last season they well and truly killed off our title hopes, when we had a 2-0 lead in the 80th minute, but then collapsed in as pathetic a fashion as is possible, and lost 3-2. We also put in a pretty sorry shift just before New Year’s in a 2-2 draw, 2 dropped points which could prove very costly indeed.

Of course, we played them quite recently, which I was fortunate enough to not have to watch, since I was traveling during the match. I hear I missed a pretty misery-inducing couple of hours. But since I did a preview for them so recently, I won’t go into a full recap of their team.

They have a lot of trouble scoring, as they’ve scored less goals than any other team in the Premiership, with just 19 in 22 matches. And they’ve scored just 8 in 10 away matches, so one would hope that we shouldn’t have too much trouble keeping their attack under wraps. Rodallega, N’Zogbia, and Cleverley have accounted for 12 of the team’s 19 league goals, and no other player has scored more than 1 goal. So if we can keep those guys under control, we should be good.

Wigan’s defense has been pretty far from airtight, but not bad for a team in the relegation zone. 34 goals in 22 matches isn’t bad, and they’ve conceded fewer goals than Blackburn or Aston Villa. And they’ve only conceded 13 in 10 away matches, so their strategy will be pretty clear — close up shop and play for a low-scoring draw. We know how that goes, and we’ve seen it frustrate us in the past. As always, the first goal becomes key in these matches, and if we can get that and open them up, we should be in good shape.

Wigan are actually on a pretty decent run of form at the moment, having only lost one of the last five league matches. As I’ve said, they do have a recent history of grabbing points from losing positions against us, so I wouldn’t mind smashing them in this one.

In team news for us, Denilson and Chamakh both have slight knocks, but Wenger says that it’s not a long-term issue and both could be included in the squad for this one. The long-term guys are still out — Vermaelen, Almunia, Frimpong, Diaby. Squillaci is still out with his hamstring issue, and Flaps is still out with his shoulder injury.

Here’s my best guess at a lineup for this one:

Wojo

Sagna-Koscielny-Djourou-Clichy

Wilshere-Song

Theo-Cesc-Nasri

van Persie

Bench: Shea, Eboue, Denilson, Rosicky, Arshavin, Chamakh, Bendtner

The back line basically pencils itself in. Wojo has to start, Sagna is still pretty rested after his three-match “club red” vacation, so I expect he’ll start. Clichy will get the start on the left, and Koscielny and Djourou will man the back again.

In midfield, I think we’ll see our standard three of Jack, Song, and Cesc. And up front, we’ll see the other three members of Theo van Nasregas. Although given that Nasri played almost the entire match against Leeds, don’t be completely surprised if Rosicky comes in for him if Rosicky is over the virus that’s kept him out of the lineup recently.

Given that he played (and apparently played quite poorly) in the FA Youth Cup match yesterday, I don’t really see Ignasi Miquel being involved in this one — if the worst should happen and one of our CBs gets injured, Song will drop back and Denilson will come into the midfield, which is bad for us in a couple of ways. So let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

A couple of guys are carrying minor knocks, but it’s not too bad, and hopefully we can keep on this run of relative health with all the matches we have between now and the end of February. And we definitely have a strong enough squad to see off Wigan in this one.

We currently sit 2 points behind both Manc teams in the table, but United have a game on us, and we have a game on City. United host Birmingham, and City travel to Aston Villa — both sort of tricky matches, but ones we have to expect they will both handle, so getting 3 points is what we need to keep pace. There’s more of a chance of the teams below us dropping points. Spurs (6 points behind us) travel to Newcastle, and Chelsea (5 points back) travels to Bolton, so let’s keep our fingers crossed on those.

Come on Arsenal.

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Category: Arsenal News, Fixtures, Premiership, Preview, Wigan

Tags: Arsenal News, Fixtures, Premiership, Preview, Wigan
Tweet « Leeds – Arsenal Highlights and Post Match Thoughts | Home | MartinMy comment below was slightly incorrect, in that apparently Wenger only wanted Ramsey to go out on a short-term loan. And so he has. Cardiff City has confirmed that Ramsey will join them on a month-long loan. I think the goal will be to just get him some playing time, as apparently he is just not sharp at all at the moment (understandable given his lengthy lay-off). He will come back at the end of February and re-join the first team, and hopefully we'll get to see him at least a couple of times before the end of the season.MartinWenger says he wants to send Ramsey, Vela, and Lansbury out on loan for the rest of the season, so expect some movement on those in the next few weeks. Sounds like Lansbury will probably stay with Norwich for the rest of the season, Ramsey may head to Cardiff City, and Vela will hopefully find a home in the Premiership.Henrytheo14I say Bartender comes in for Theo or Nasri l8er in the gameFred Jacobfor Nasri since he played whole game on Wednesday, i hope Squizz comes back soon i think the back line needs a restSairaxWigan's not really a 'shut up shop' kind of team are they? I figure they've seen teams have a go at us at the Emirates and they might try to open up a bit. Then again, I think we'll put out a stronger team for this one, not to mention we seriously need to get our home form back on track, so this is game is important to get that going. We have a big run of home matches coming up and the team need to give one of those confidence-boosting performances for the fans, I think.

Come on Arsenal!!MartinI like Wigan, and love Roberto Martinez (as I've said many times, my favorite World Cup pundit), but I think an away record of 8 goals scored and 13 goals conceded speaks to a strategy that isn't always the most wide open. And they've kept clean sheets on the road against Spurs and Everton, so I don't think they'll be so easy to break down.SairaxI think that's more to do with the fact that they lack goalscorers up front. They rely a lot on Rodallega. It's like when West Brom was in the league a couple seasons ago. They'd push forward but never score. And I do think they are weak at the back because they do still concede quite a bit at the back.MartinThat explains the lack of goals.

But it does not explain how they have conceded fewer away goals than all but 5 Premiership teams. Especially in light of the fact that they have conceded more goals at home than any other team in the Premiership. Stats don't always tell the whole story, but I think the fact that they play high-scoring matches at home and low-scoring matches away is pretty persuasive evidence that they employ different tactics based on whether they are home or away.SairaxHm...ok maybe they are tighter at the back than I give credit. Still, they don't seem like a 'park the bus' type. I guess they'd play on the counter then, that's what you mean? We have had difficulty with teams that are fast on the break so maybe that's how they'll approach it.Homey_MillsAre mommy and daddy arguing?Darren_VNah, their manager is Wennger-esque, in that he doesn't beleive in 'negative' and 'parking the bus' football. I actually really like him and think he has a good future ahead of him as a manager. What's his name again, is it Roberto Martinez?SairaxI can't tell if you're being sarcastic :S But, yeah, Roberto Martinez. He did well with Swansea in the Championship before joining Wigan. I think he's a good manager, but Wigan look like they could be going down this season.Darren_VI was being honest this time lol. I think he is a good manager and has a good future ahead of him.Gigi_manNot to much to say, we know them, we know what they will do, we know that they managed to do it in the past and recently; they are the type of team that can well be proud of jeopardizing a title for a title contender.
Tricky. Nerves.
Rodallega is the ma to watch imo, is he fit?
The type of tings os has been doing is the type of thing they will take advantage from. Beware Laurent!

Off subj they say that TV5 ting went well and that he kight start training in 2 weeks!!?JGAbout TV5: Really?!?! HSQ to the max, then. Won't be his very best when he comes back but if so he should be fit and good enough for the 2nd leg of the Barca match (as he wanted). And we will finally see a Verjourou partnership in their prime.MartinFrom what I've heard he'll be clear to start training in 2 weeks, and will be at least another 2-4 weeks after that before he's match fit. And that's assuming there are no setbacks, which, given the history of his injury, is not something I have any faith at all in. Second leg of Barca tie at the earliest, but if I were a betting man, I would be putting all my money that it will be after that. We'll see.

And the question of who will pair with him is an interesting one. Djourou has played well, and his game seems to complement Vermaelen's nicely. But I have a sneaking suspicion that Wenger views Koscielny (who, I have to say, has played well lately and probably isn't getting enough credit from Arsenal fans) as his second-best defender and views Vermaelen and Koscielny as his first-choice CB pairing.Fred Jacobwhy did they take so long to do the surgery, i hope he come back soon cause i really want him to get a Premiership medal when we win.

When we win the Carling Cup would he get a medal also even if he did not play any gamesDarren_VI'd prefer Djourou. Kos kinda plays the same way as Vermaelen in my eyes, likes to attack the ball, whereas Djourou sits back more, and so, would partner better with Vermaelen.MartinI tend to agree. Although, as I said, I think Koscielny has kind of settled in without anyone noticing, and is playing quite well at the moment.JGI'd also like Djourou, but Koscielny has been playing well recently and it wouldn't be a drastic change should he partner TV5. And that's the big difference between Kos and Squizz- the former was a scouted, though-out Wenger buy, while Squizz was a last-minute, stop-gap signing should things go wrong (and they did).Homey_MillsI'm afraid that may be the case. To put it in NFL terms, if a team drafts a QB in the 1st round, and then another in the 7th round, the 1st round guy will get every benefit of the doubt in terms of playing time. With a team that doesn't spend much money, if we do spend money, then that player will get the advantage, I think. But if it were up to me at this moment, I'd go with Djourou.blog comments powered by Disqus