Premier League Preview: Arsenal - Birmingham City Gunners look to score four or more in fifth consecutive home game...
Saturday, 17 October, Kick-off 15:00 BST
Emirates Stadium, London N5
A chance to exorcise a few demons
Arsenal'slast meeting with Birmingham City was something of a watershed in theLondon club's recent history - and is a game Gunners fans remember witha shudder of distate.
The date was 23 February 2008, andArsenal went into the lunchtime kick-off with the chance to extendtheir lead at the top of the Premier League to eight points. However,after only three minutes, their Croatian striker Eduardo was caught bya reckless Martin Taylor challenge. The Birmingham defender wasimmediately sent off; meanwhile Eduardo was stretchered off some nineminutes later with an oxygen mask strapped to his face, having receivedextensive medical treatment on the pitch and was stretchered off . Itwas later confirmed he had suffered a disloated ankle and broken leg.
Itwas a pivotal moment not only in the match, but also in Arsenal'shitherto impressive season. The team struggled to cope mentally withEduardo's career-threatening injury, and seemed to be in a state ofshock for the rest of the first half, during which James McFadden putBirmingham ahead with a sublime free-kick. The visitors were galvanisedafter the break, though, and Theo Walcott equalised in the 49th minute.Cesc Fabregas then forced a good save from Maik Taylor before turning aWalcott pass onto the woodwork. Five minutes after his first, Walcottstruck again to put Arsenal in the driving seat - but they squanderedtwo or three chances to put the game beyond Birmingham with a killerthird goal.
Deep into injury time, Stuart Parnaby caught GaelClichy napping in the area, and when the French full-back attempted torectify the situation, referee Mike Dean pointed to the spot, eventhough Clichy appeared to have won the ball, as television replayslater confirmed. McFadden stepped up to slam home a dramatic equaliser,prompting Arsenal skipper William Gallas to lose the plot and stage aone-man sit-down protest on the St Andrew's pitch.
It was avaluable point for Birmingham, though they were still relegated at theend of the campaign. For Arsenal it was a frustrating end to atraumatic day, and the fall-out from the Eduardo injury was costly:they
drew four and lost two of their next seven League games tokiss goodbye to a title that had looked theirs for the takingthroughout the previous six months.
Fate has decreed thatneither Martin Taylor nor Eduardo will be fit to renew theiracquaintance on the pitch on Saturday; but ex-skipper Gallas shouldhave the chance to exorcise a few demons, while Clichy is doubtful withan ankle knock. Their manager Arsene Wenger, of course, will be focusedonly on securing three more points as the Gunners look to maintaincontact with the league leaders. For Birmingham, who've lost five oftheir last six games, this fixture represents a chance to claim a 'BigFour' scalp for the first time under the management of Alex McLeish.
DefeatingArsenal away for the first time since 1957 would also get the CarsonYeung regime underway with an outstanding result after the Hong Kongbusinessman completed his takeover of the club during the internationalbreak. Takeover talk is also in the air at the Emirates, where UStycoon Stan Kroenke is edging ever closer to the 29.9 per centshareholding that will oblige him under stock exchange rules to mount aformal bid for the north London giants.
Wenger and McLeish willbe more concerned about player availability than boardroom politics,particularly after that international break. Wenger saw no fewer than20 of his players go off on duty for their respective countries, andwill hope the interruption does nothing to rock an encouraging run ofsix straight wins in all competitions. The Gunners have also been inprolific scoring form, and have hit 14 goals in their three home Leaguegames to date. They are the League's top scorers, with 24 from seven -their best return since the start of the 1958-59 season. And with 36goals from 12 matches in total this season, the Gunners are averagingexactly three a game.
In contrast, Birmingham have managedjust five goals in eight games. They have also not scored before the75th minute of any match this season - and lost all five league gamesin which they conceded the first goal. Another daunting statistic forBrum is that Arsenal are unbeaten against them in their last 24 homeleague games, winning 16 and drawing eight - and that the Blues havescored only nine goals in those matches, with just one coming in theirlast six visits. Still, they have conceded two fewer goals than Arsenalin the Premier League so far this season (eight compared with theGunners' ten). Birmingham have collected seven points from eight games;Arsenal 15 from seven.
FORM GUIDE
Arsenal
04 Oct (Premier League) v Blackburn Rovers (H) WON 6-2
29 Sept (Champions League) v Olympiakos (H) WON 2-0
26 Sept (Premier League) v Fulham (A) WON 1-0
22 Sept (League Cup) v West Bromwich Albion (H) WON 2-0
19 Sept (Premier League) v Wigan Ath (H) WON 4-0
16 Sept (Champions League) v Standard Liege (A) WON 3-2
Birmingham
03 Oct (Premier League) v Burnley (A) LOST 1-2
26 Sept (Premier League) v Bolton Wanderers (H) LOST 1-2
22 Sept (League Cup) v Sunderland (A) LOST 0-2
19 Sept (Premier League) v Hull City (A) WON 1-0
13 Sept (Premier League) v Aston Villa (H) LOST 0-1
29 Aug (Premier League) v Tottenham (A) LOST 1-2
TEAM NEWS
Arsenal
LukaszFabianski will be included in the squad for the first time this seasonafter recovering from knee surgery, while first-choice keeper ManuelAlmunia is still doubtful following more than a month out with a chestinfection. Vito Mannone is therefore likely to be involved again.
GaelClichy and Abou Diaby both suffered ankle knocks with France, but whileClichy is a doubt, midfielder Diaby is expected to be available.Eduardo is still out with a groin problem, but captain Cesc Fabregaswill play despite missing Spain’s midweek game for family reasons.
SamirNasri could be in line for a return from his broken leg in the LeagueCup tie against Liverpool, while Denilson (back) and Johan Djourou(knee) are still sidelined.
Last starting XI (v Blackburn): Mannone;Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy; Fabregas (Ramsey 76), Song Billong,Diaby; Rosicky (Walcott 69), van Persie, Arshavin (Bendtner 76).
Subs not used: Szczesny, Silvestre, Eboue, Gibbs.
Birmingham
MartinTaylor has been sidelined all season with an ankle injury and missesout. Damien Johnson (hamstring), James McFadden (thigh), Marcus Bent(hamstring) and David Murphy (knee) are also unavailable throughinjury, but striker Cameron Jerome returns. However, Christian Benitezmissed his flight back to the UK from South America, and McLeish'sproblems have mounted with the loss of Franck Queudrue, Gregory Vignal,Keith Fahey and Stuart Parnaby with injuries. Teemu Tainio is also adoubt.
Last starting XI (v Burnley): Hart; Carr, RJohnson, Dann, Queudrue (Ridgewell 46), Fahey (Larsson 46), Ferguson,Tainio (Phillips 67), McFadden, Bowyer, O'Connor.
Subs not used: Maik Taylor, McSheffrey, O'Shea, Carsley.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Arsenal
Cesc Fabregasscored one and made four in Arsenal's last game, at home to Blackburn,and now leads the Premier League's assists chart with eight. He alsohas four goals to his name for the Gunners this season - 33 altogetherin his Arsenal career - and was on target for Spain last weekend. He isenjoying a more advanced role in Wenger's 4-3-3 formation this season,and Birmingham will be wary of this in-form playmaker.
Birmingham
Sebastian Larssonmade 12 appearances for Arsenal before joining Birmingham on aseason-long loan in summer 2006. The move became a permanent transfer ayear later. He'd joined Arsenal aged 16 after a scout watched him playa game for his country. The midfielder made his debut againstManchester City in October 2004, playing out of position at left-back.On the right side of midfield he has made an impact at St Andrew's,showing particular aptitude with free-kicks - which, if he playsagainst Arsenal, may unsettle a defence notoriously uneasy atset-pieces.
PREDICTION
Birmingham have lost threeof their opening four away games this term, going down at ManchesterUnited, Tottenham and Burnley, with their only win coming at Hull.There could be another tough afternoon for them on Saturday, given that(according to 'the Bettorlogic form lab', as quoted onArsenal's official website), the Gunners have done well againstpromoted sides over the last five seasons, losing just four of 30fixtures home and away, and collecting an average of 2.27 points pergame. They should get three more this weekend. |
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Post time 17-10-2009 10:02 AM
