Done with Porto, Next is Sunderland

A brief analysis on the mid-week game before we discuss about the Sunderland fixture. Well we(arsenal fans) got the response expected from the team after the ignominy of losing to Hull City at home. It was a good team effort and everybody looked sharper(including Gallas) this time compared to the previous match. Though responding well is a sign of any good team, as i told time and again arsenal needs to be more consistent to win any trophies. They were consistent until the last quarter of the previous season and lost the title because of taking the foot off the gas after that. So imagine what it would be like to lose matches in such early part of the season.

Moving on to more cheerful things, apart from the goal scorers (Adebayor and Persie) Theo Walcott did really well, playing with a lot of confidence and pace. That one incident where he starts well behind the defender, kicks the ball to ahead of the defender, overtakes him and passes will stay in my memory for long time. He would have been credited for two assists had his team mates been more accurate. Certainly he deserved a goal or an assist from the match apart from the thunderous reception he received every time he got onto the ball. Also we need to appreciate the hard work done by fabregas in orchestrating the midfield so well. He looked tired by the end of the match with the extra defensive work he had to do. I feel that Denilson should be the guy who should trace back and win the ball rather than Fabregas, as it will take a lot out of Cesc and he is the best midfielder we got. We need to exploit a player in his area of expertise and certainly defending is not fabregas’ cup of tea.

Rest all played their roles perfectly. Even the defence looked better except for a couple of incidents (one on the counter and one corner). The partnership of Adebayor and Persie upfront worked really well and hopefully it will get even better with time. Same time last season they had a really good partnership blossoming between them but then Persie got injured and after that he never played for more than two matches at a time to develop that telepathic understanding with Adebayor. Lets see if they can do it this time. Forgot to mention about Almunia. He made a couple of good saves and was critical in keeping a clean sheet. He has been going with his work silently without much fuss and i have no complaints. He is confident during the corners and has that assured presence at the back which Lehmann lacked at the last phase of his arsenal career. Overall it was an entertaining match and after the Hull disaster it was a good confidence booster, which the team can carry forward to the weekend fixture.

Now coming to that match, RoyKeane has always been a tough nut to crack for Arsenal and his team was no different last season. Nevertheless Arsenal won against them in both the legs after lot of struggle. In the first leg at the emirates, after leading them by 2-0, arsenal conceded the advantage and was on level terms before Van Persie’s strike restored the lead and arsenal won 3-2 at the end. Even at the stadium of light on the very last day of the season,it was a hard fought victory and we came out with a 1-0 win , though i would like to mention that many of the first team players didn’t play in that match. I can’t see it to be any different this time and Arsenal need to be at their best to return with all the three points.

Sunderland didn’t have a bright start to the season (losing to Liverpool at home) but had mixed feelings after that(WLDWL). They have good attackers like Cisse, Jones, Diouf etc and with the addition of Anton Ferdinand and Chimbonda they have a good balance in the defence too. Especially Diouf was a tormentor of Arsenal when he was at Bolton and i hope keane has put some sense into him and make him play proper football, else arsenal need to deal with his antics too.

So it is going to be tough with Sunderland, which as many teams do will try to be more direct and frustrate Arsenal. Arsenal has to be sharp in their counters and has to finish whatever opportunities they get. Being wasteful as against Hull will be disastrous.

Prediction: My prediction is that Arsenal will continue their impressive form away from home and come out as the winners. But the score line may not look as exciting as that in Bolton and Blackburn. Sunderland 1-2 Arsenal.

Talking about the Arsenal line up Wenger will stick to his winning combination, without any changes. Though Song is back i can’t see denilson or nasri being sacrificed for him. Eboue would have been in the starting eleven but for Arsene’s feeling that Arsenal will have more penetration and right mix with Walcott in the team instead of Eboue, away from home.
Line up: Sagna-Toure-Gallas-Clichy
Walcott-Fabregas-Denilson-Nasri
Persie-Adebayor

Men to Watch: Theo Walcott was the person who set up the winner at the emirates and who scored the only goal at Sunderland last season. Even this time he would be the person who will unlock their defense. For Sunderland Cisse would be the man to watch out for.