Arsenal v Wigan Premier League Preview: Can The Gunners End The Latics 5-Game Unbeaten Run?

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Arsenal play, Steve Bruce’s Wigan Athletic in the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Arsene Wenger’s Gunners side will go into this clash with Wigan full of confidence after a morale boosting win at Stamford Bridge last Sunday, with Arsenal coming from behind to win 2-1 against Chelsea. This will have brought some relief to Wenger, with Arsenal losing their two previous matches to Aston Villa at the Emirates and then were soundly beaten 3-0 by Manchester City at the Eastlands Stadium before their win against the Blues. Arsenal, are 4th in the Premiership and will expect to take all three points against Wigan on Saturday.

The Latics will also be full of confidence for the trip South to Arsenal, with Wigan unbeaten in five games and go into this match with the Gunners on the back of two straight wins at the JJB Stadium against Everton and West Bromwich Albion. Wigan are 11th in the table and Bruce will hope that the Latics can keep their good run going against an Arsenal team that has struggled at times this season against less fancied opposition.

Arsenal will be without long-term injured Tomas Rosicky (hamstring), Eduardo (broken leg) and England International Theo Walcott (shoulder) for the visit of the Latics. However, Wenger could have William Gallas (calf), Johan Djourou (thigh), Abou Diaby (abdominal strain), Kolo Toure (calf) and Emmanuel Eboue (knee), who are all struggling to be fit for Saturday’s game. Robin van Persie, who scored both goals against Chelsea, is likely to start, with Emmanuel Adebayor his probable strike-partner for Arsenal.

Bruce has a full squad to choose from for the trip to the Emirates, with the only doubt being top-scorer for the Latics Amr Zaki, who is fighting to shake off a calf strain in time to take to the field against Arsenal.

Arsenal: (from) Almunia, Gallas, Toure, Eboue, Djourou, Clichy, Sagna, Nasri, Fabregas, Denilson, Van Persie, Adebayor, Bendtner, Fanianski, Silvestre, Song, Diaby, Vela, Ramsey, Wilshere, Mannone, Bischoff, Coquelin, Fonte, Gibbs, Hoyte, Lansbury, Merida, Nordtveit, Randall, Rodgers, Simpson

Wigan Athletic: (from) Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Figueroa, Scharner, Taylor, Edman, Cattermole, Palacios, Kilbane, Heskey, Koumas, Brown, Pollitt, Zaki, Valencia, Boyce, de Ridder, Cywka, Kingson, Kapo, Camara, Kupisz, Routledge, Ashworth

Man City v Arsenal Premiership Preview: Schmeichel In For Hart For City – Fabregas Suspended & Walcott Injured For Gunners

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Manchester City play, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in the Premier League at the Eastlands Stadium on Saturday.

Mark Hughes will be hoping his City side can capitalise on Arsenal’s up and down form this season in the Premiership. However, the Blues have also been inconsistent and go into this clash with the Gunners with only a point from their last four games in the Premier League after halting a run of three straight defeats last weekend in the 2-2 draw with Hull City at the KC Stadium. This slide in form sees City in 12th place in the table, but only a point off the relegation zone.

Gunners boss Wenger will be looking for his young Arsenal side to bounce straight back after losing 2-0 to Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium last week after beating European Champions Manchester United the week before. However, Arsenal are still 4th
points if they are to close the nine-point gap on Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the table.

City are unable to call on Martin Petrov (knee), Valeri Bojinov (calf), Michael Johnson (groin) or Daniel Sturridge (ankle) for the visit of the Gunners. Kasper Schmeichel is set to replace Joe Hart in goal for the Blues, with Hart ruled out for a month with an ankle injury.

Arsenal will be without long-term injury Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) along with defender Bacary Sagna (ankle). While Wenger will also be ruing the loss of Theo Walcott, who will be out for three months after dislocating his shoulder on International duty with England.

Wenger has also revealed that Kolo Toure is a major doubt and that he is yet to assess the fitness of Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Vela after the midweek International’s.

Wenger told Arsenal TV Online: “Kolo Toure is a major doubt. He got an injury on his calf with Ivory Coast. But apart from him and Adebayor, who flies in tonight and I have not spoken to, everybody is OK.

“I will need everybody on board. We only get back Carlos Vela tomorrow morning, maybe the afternoon. So when he lands we will have to transfer him to Manchester.”

Spanish International Cesc Fabregas is suspended, but Wenger has Robin van Persie back from suspension, with Emmanuel Eboue expected to shake off a knne injury in time for the trip to the Eastlands.

Manchester City: (from) Schmeichel, Richards, Onuoha, Zabaleta, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Robinho, Elano, Vassell, Jo, Garrido, Mills, Fernandes, Calcedo, Hamann, Dunne, Evans, Castillo, Ben Haim, Benjani, Etuhu, Kompany, Logan, Glauber

Arsenal: (from) Almunia, Diaby, Toure, Nasri, Gallas, van Persie, Vela, Denilson, Ramsey, Song, Silvestre, Wilshere, Djourou, Fabianski, Clichy, Mannone, Adebayor, Bendtner, Eboue, Bischoff, Coquelin, Fonte, Gibbs, Hoyte, Lansbury, Merida, Randall, Simpson

Arsenal v Villa Premiership Preview: Van Persie Suspended & Adebayor 50/50 For Gunners – Carew A Doubt For Villans

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Arsenal play, Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners go into the clash with Aston Villa full of confidence after their 2-0 win against Manchester United last Saturday, which saw the North London club bounce straight back after defeat to Stoke City at the Britannia the week before. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will want to collect all three points against Villa in order to keep in touch with Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.

The Villans go into this clash with Arsenal on the back of two straight league defeats to Newcastle United and then more surprisingly Middlesbrough at Villa Park last weekend. This mini-blip has seen the Midlands side lose a little ground at the sharp end of the table, with Aston Villa hoping to take something away from the Emirates to keep the promising start to the campaign on track.

Wenger will bring back his regular first-team squad for the visit of Villa, having played his youngsters in the 3-0 Carling Cup win against Wigan Athletic on Tuesday. However, he faces a selection dilemma in the centre of defence, with Gunners captain William Gallas available after injury, Wenger must decide whether to leave out Mikael Silvestre, who has earned a recall to the French squad on the back of recent displays for Arsenal.

Robin van Persie is suspended for Arsenal and Emmanuel Adebayor (ankle) is only rated 50/50 by Wenger, while goalkeeper Manuel Almunia has a better chance of playing against Villa.

“We will assess the situation of Adebayor on Friday," Wenger told the club website. “He is 50-50.

“We have to assess Almunia too. He is 70-30 at the moment.

“He has to go into a normal (training) game to see how he deals with it.”

Emmanuel Eboue (knee) and long-term absentee Tomas Rosicky (hamstring), will miss the clash, but Wenger will be boosted by Croatian International Eduardo’s progress, who is only a week or so away from a return for Arsenal after his broken leg.

Aston Villa are hopeful Stiliyan Petrov (hamstring) and Luke Young (thigh) will be fit to face the Gunners, but will be missing long-term injured Wilfred Bouma (ankle) for their trip to the Emirates, with striker John Carew also a doubt for the clash with a hip problem.

Arsenal: (from) Almunia, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Sagna, Fabregas, Walcott, Diaby, Denilson, Song, Adebayor, Bendtner, Ramsey, Vela, Fabianski, Silvestre, Djourou, Wilshere, Nasri, Vela, Mannone, Bischoff, Fonte, Gibbs, Hoyte, Lansbury, Randall, Simpson

Aston Villa: (from) Friedel, L Young, Sidwell, Laursen, Barry, A Young, Milner, Harewood, Carew, Agbonlahor, Delfouneso, Davies, Knight, Salifou, Routledge, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Shorey, Guzan, Cuellar, Gardner, Osbourne