Match preview: A pressing matter at the Grove

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‘Dzeko and the moneymen’

Interesting how times have changed: Man City at home would for years have failed to set the pulse racing but with all the money spent there (and you might not approve but there’s not a lot we can do about it, witness the incoming £27m Edin Dzeko), allied to their current league position, there can be no denying it’s a huge test for both clubs.

I wouldn’t say a loss puts either team’s title hopes on life support – that would be over-Skying things – but for Arsenal, a defeat would be our sixth of the season with only half the campaign gone with Utd stretching away at the top.

Last season, the official match report on Arsenal.com used the words ‘mundane’, ‘drab’ and called the City front line ‘utterly anonymous’, all of which rather accurately and neatly describes it. It was a dismal game, with Man City sitting back all match and Arsenal, recently bruised after the now infamous 3-2 loss at Wigan, unable to find a way through. If I remember it correctly, I spent much of the game wistfully daydreaming about going to the dentist and and filling in my tax return.

Of course, since then we have put in one of our best performances of the season at Middle Eastlands, comfortably winning 3-0 albeit against ten men for most of the game.

So it will be interesting how Mancini approaches the game tonight. I’m sure there will be a fair bit of caution, but he can’t possibly be as teeth-grindingly negative as he was last season. With Man Utd winning last night, a point doesn’t help either side much.

The two teams come from opposite ends of the clean sheet spectrum but both are on a decent run of form and this has all the makings of a great game. Whether a great game will be made with those makings – well, who knows.

Wenger will play a side as close as possible to that which handsomely defeated Chelsea and Birmingham, of that we can be sure. There’s no way he will make a huge amount of changes for such a big game, and there’s no need if you ask me – Fabregas, Djourou, van Persie, Walcott and Fabianski have all had plenty of time on the sidelines this season already. Even Samir Nasri, our stand-out performer of the season, has only started 75% of our league games.

Above all, we need to play the quick passing, pressing game of recent games (Wigan, you’ll be glad to hear, has been erased from my mind – I find that’s the best way), as when we put in that kind of shift we look a different team altogether.

We’ve shown we can do it. What we now need is for our momentum to build and for our form to continue to improve. There’s a lot at stake. I really can’t wait.

Come on you rip-roarers.


BBC match preview
Guardian Arsenal stats

Jim

Arsenal since about 1979. Thick, thin and all that.

This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. Adrian Lightly

    I would like to offer my warm applause for that post title 🙂

  2. Gooner in Exile

    It’s going to be tense, I agree we need to press them but with caution.

    They are likely to sit back and attempt to soak up our pressure which often leads to us having too many men forward and difficult to break up their counter attacks. The central midfield players need to be very disciplined tonight.

    All in all an intriguing game, with City ahead even though they have played more I think they will still play for the draw our silly defeats mean they can pick up points against lesser teams, if we want to win the title we have to out the kind of run not put together since 2003.

  3. Anonymous

    not losing in 27 games in 2004 would,nt go amiss either

  4. East Lower

    Sometimes growing up in the 80s has its benefits…

  5. East Lower

    A long unbeaten run… ah yes, I remember what those were like…

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