Yes, I know I must have said that several times this season, but at the moment, with us 8 points behind Liverpool and Villa doing so well (they're third now), it's a must must must win game.
Arsenal v Liverpool
Barclays Premier League, Emirates Stadium
Sunday, December 21, 2008, 16:00
The good news is that Nasri is back and will start tomorrow against Liverpool. It’s a game that we simply must win. A win would see us cut the game from Liverpool to 5 points, and regardless of what the other teams do, it’s a deficit we need to reduce if we are to have any chance of winning the league (or finishing in the top four). Villa’s awesome form means when / if we win tomorrow, we will still be a point behind Villa. Although we may overtake United, they’ll have two games in hand on us.
Let’s take a look at a potential line up:
Almunia
Goalkeeper |
| |
Sagna
Right Back |
Gallas
Centre Back |
Djourou
Centre Back |
Clichy
Left Back |
| |
Denilson
Right Wing |
Song
Midfielder |
Cesc
Midfielder |
Nasri
Left Wing |
| |
| |
Adebayor
Striker |
Van Persie
Support Striker |
With such a big game tomorrow, I’m sure Arsene will play all three of Denilson, Song and Cesc to combat the trio of Mascherano, Alonso and Gerrard.
Arsene has been speaking ahead of the Liverpool game and re-iterated how important it is for us to get the three points:
“I am confident that we can beat anybody,” said Wenger. “If we played Barcelona tomorrow I’m confident we can beat them. I believe that we were vulnerable at some stage to a different kind of game and we have rectified that. In the time coming up we can show that we can deal with that.
“[Our record against so-called lesser sides] firstly is a concentration problem and secondly because we face a different style of play; much longer and much more direct. It looks to me the main reasons. I believe we are more vulnerable to that type of play. But we know that, for us, the first step now is to get back into the race and to do that the important thing is for us to beat Liverpool.
“This game is an opportunity for us to catch them and we want to take it. With our position in the League, we know it is compulsory for us to beat the three other teams – Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool
I simply can’t wait.
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