Sunderland is going to entertain Arsenal at the Stadium of Light. The match is going to take place on 4 October 2008.The kick of time is 15:00 BST (British Standard Time) and you can expect an entertaining match as Arsenal players are hungry for more success after their midweek demolishion of FC Porto 4-0. Of course, this comes back after last weekend’s surprise defeat at the hands of Hull City at the Emirates. So, if you look at the current performance of Arsenal then you have to admit that there is a mixed performance from the club in the last one week. At first, they shocked everyone with their disastrous defeat at home against Hull City and then they outsmarted Porto and pleased the fans.
Arsenal is now at the fourth position in the league in English premier league. In fact, Arsenal has got 12 points from 6 matches. The London based club has lost two matches and won four matches. The have impressive goal difference of 8. Only Chelsea has one goal better than that. So, it is clear that Arsenal strikers are at good form and they have been scoring decent number of goals.
On the other hand, Sunderland is lying in the 13th position in the league table. From 6 matches they have just scored 7 points and they have goal difference of -2. So, this is an important game for both of the teams. If Arsenal can win the match then they can go at the top of the table. Of course, Chelsea, Liverpool and Aston Villa all of them are ahead of Arsenal and can go at the top of the table too. On the other hand, Sunderland can jump a lot too as they have only 2 points different with the no. 8th ranked Manchester City at this moment. So, there is a lot to play for both of the teams.
Arsene Wenger has got angry and sad at the last week’s defeat to Hull City. Now, he wants his players to play their best and continue the momentum gained by the impressive win against Porto in Champions League. He expects that he will be able to inspire his players to play their best and totally destroy Sunderland. Well, I think that Arsenal again needs a lot of mental strength in order to overcome Sunderland. Yes, Sunderland is not a very strong team but you have to take some lesson from the defeat to Hull City.
Many fans think that Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor are the key to success for Arsenal this season. In fact, it is needed that Robin van Persie can stay injury free. Last season, the injury of Eduardo in February caused Arsenal too much loss and many fans feel that because of this injury Arsenal could not win the premier league title, despite being the leader for most of the season. Robin van Persie was injured for a substantial time in last season. This season, he looks to be fit until now. It is true that Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor are a deadly combination. Robin van Persie is an important player for Netherlands national team. Adebayor is also one of the rising stars of African football and he plays for Togo national team. Adebayor feels that the presence of Robin van Persie in the field is important and he is a great striking partner to play with. Yes, I think that Adebayor is right and in this match, Robin van Persie and Adebayor combination should get some goals. In the last match against Porto in UEFA Champions League, both of them scored two goals each.
What is very impressive is to see that Arsenal has got a good midfield. They have got two excellent players in the midfield who are influencing a lot. On the one hand, there is Cesc Fabregas. Cesc Fabregas is a world class player and he can be very impressive and influential in midfield. He is a good playmaker and he is like a leader at the age of 21 to all the other young players of the club. On the other hand, you have to think of Theo Walcott. Walcott is now a big sensation for the London club. Walcott has also England fans with his impressive performance for England national team. It seems that Walcott is going to cost David Beckham’s position in England national team’s midfield. He has also become an important player in the Arsenal line up. So, in the match against Sunderland, I think that both Cesc Fabregas s and Walcott will be in top form.
What is disturbing at this moment to me is that there is a lot of talk going on about Walcott coming to play for England U-21 national team. This is not a good sign because Walcott has already been playing for the national team and going back to the U-21 team is not a good sign. It will make him more tired. Well, I think that Walcott should at this moment take a strong decision and he should inform the FA that he wants to play only for national team and for his club. He is only 19 and he has a many years to go.
One player I would like to discuss about is Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia. He is now the first goalkeeper for the club. He joined Arsenal in 2004 and last season, he impressed Arsene Wenger. Manuel Almunia has been outstanding in this season. What I am worrying is that Arsene Wenger should think of a second goalkeeper who has the same caliber like Almunia.
Sunderland players are now expecting too much from the match. In fact, Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon has already warned his teammates that Arsenal can take the match seriously and he has asked his Sunderland teammates to be ready for a possible Arsenal backlash. It shows that Sunderland players are mentally prepared for this clash. Well, I think that Sunderland players should try to get some encouragement from Hull City players. The good thing that Hull City players did was that they never felt threatened or outclassed by the Gunners. This positive attitude helped them. In that match, Hull City could keep the score goalless and in the second half suffered the first goal, but they kept their nerve intact and came back with two goals and won the match. So, this is the strategy that Sunderland players should follow.
The good thing about Arsenal players at this moment is that they are not suffering from the tragic defeat to Hull City. I think that they are a lot more confident after defeating Porto in UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night. So, I am expecting that Arsenal will easily win the match. Of course, you can never predict what will happen in English premier league.
You can follow the live score of the match in some websites. I am giving an a list of websites’ name here that you can follow the match live:
Live Score
Goalzz
Live Football Scores
Goal.com
Footie Scorez
So, who do you think will win in the match? I think that Arsene Wenger will have the last smile.
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