Saturday, March 5th, 2011 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade
By Phil Gregory
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A 5-0 victory was one of the better ways to react after losing in a final, even if it was against lower league side Leyton Orient. I was impressed with the manner of the victory, having expected a cagier victory with a stronger team. Conor Henderson made his debut in what is an almost yearly Arsenal tradition now, the youngster coming from nowhere to make his bow.
In the 08-09 season, Jack Wilshere broke Fabregas’ “youngest player to appear in the Premier League” records and last season, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas started up front against Stoke in the Cup. Henderson’s FA Cup start came similarly out of the blue and with a few injuries up front and out wide the youngster may well have a squad role to play during the Premier League run-in.
We haven’t had the best of results against Sunderland in recent times – one win in five – and we got Dowd-ed at the Stadium of Light early on in the season. With Manchester United travelling to Anfield on Sunday we need to improve on that record and take advantage.
A cause for positivity would be Sunderland’s struggles during February, when they lost all four of their Premier League games. That said, it included home games against Chelsea and Tottenham with away ties at Everton and Stoke, so not the easiest run of fixtures. They come into this game on the back of a good weeks rest, though to be fair few (if any) of our players who played in midweek will be involved.
On the injury front, Song has been confirmed to be out of the match with Sunderland. Koscielny is rated as a doubt with a hamstring problem. Van Persie has been ruled out for the month of March with a knee injury while Theo continues his spell on the sidelines along with Vermaelen.
The sole positive is the news that Aaron Ramsey is included in the squad after a successful loan spell in Cardiff. Options in the “Cesc role” are a little light in the absence of the man himself so the return of the Welsh international is a boost in that regard.
Sunderland are equally cursed with injuries. Defensive rock Michael Turner is out, while on-loan Manchester City defender Nedum Onouha is out with calf trouble. Fortunately for our injury list going forward red card specialist Lee Cattermole is out of the tie. He’s joined on the physio’s table by forwards Frazier Campbell and Zenden. In-form loanee Danny Welbeck is a doubt and will likely be included in the starting line-up if passed fit.
Szcznesy
Sagna Djourou Koscielny (Squillaci) Clichy
Wilshere Diaby
Rosicky
Nasri Bendtner Arshavin
Even with the Barcelona match looming on the horizon, we aren’t in a situation in the Premier League where we can afford to rest players. We have to give ourselves the best possible chance to take three points from every game and that requires playing the strongest available eleven
Despite his mistake in the final I expect we’ll see Szcznesy back in goal, behind a strong back four of Sagna, Djourou, Clichy and Koscielny. The latter has apparently been hit very hard by his part in Birmingham’s winning goal but the best way to bounce back would be a commanding performance before heading off to Catalonia. His hamstring injury is not yet cleared up, so expect Squillaci to step in the event Koscielny isn’t passed fit.
Song’s absence results in a bit of a shake-up in midfield. I expect Diaby to come into the line-up in place of our Cameroonian international after a good performance in midweek. He might be a little short of match fitness given his lay-off, but he performed well against Orient and offers a good physical alternative to Song. Wilshere continues next to Diaby, with Rosicky further forward.
Up front Bendtner is likely to get the nod at centre forward after his hat trick in midweek, though may be handled with care if he is deputising for Van Persie. Nasri and Arshavin should flank the Dane – ideally we’d be able to withdraw two of our three forwards after sixty minutes with the Barca game in mind.
Sunderland aren’t a side who travel well, and their European ambitions have been fatally damaged by their recent losing run. Despite our injuries, they shouldn’t pose too much difficulty given they have a fair number players missing themselves. A fairly comfortable 2-0 win for the Arsenal is my prediction
Title watch: While Sunderland isn’t our game in hand over United, our three o’clock kick off means we have the opportunity to draw within a point of United before their Sunday tie at Anfield. United’s away form has been poor this season, averaging less than a point and a half per away game. While that suggests that (statistically) a loss at Stamford Bridge might be followed with a win at Anfield, the average belies the difficulty of those two fixtures. With their away record, you can’t expect United to get much from Anfield, and I expect most Mancunians would take a draw right now. Any dropped points would be ideal for the Gunners, but another loss might just cause an element of doubt to creep into the United camp.
With Vidic suspended and Ferdinand unlike to be fit, it will be a makeshift United backline that travels to Anfield. It’s not unreasonable to expect that big money signing Suarez will trouble a thrown together United back line, while the physicality of Andy Carroll may yet be unleashed for his debut after injury. We can but hope!
Enjoy the game Gooners