Arsenal vs Manchester United
"...so as to secure the top of the table (ECL) in order to get a favourable draw in the second round. Trust me, it is the other teams who would be praying to avoid us rather than the other way round. We have the mettle to not only play any team in the ECL, but also to beat them...."
- JayWalk, 08 Nov 2008
A win was all we needed in the mid-week game again Celtic to ensure our qualification to the second round of the ECL. Instead we ended up with a draw and a measly solitary point.Granted that we are not mathematically qualified yet as both Villarreal and us are 6 points ahead of Celtic and Aalborg with 2 games left, I am sure that ManUtd's far superior goal difference should ensure our safety, even if we lose the remaining 2 games.
Still, it would have been more comforting to qualify on our own terms rather than having to depend in the mercies of other teams' fate.
Some may say that we need to continue to push forward in the remaining 2 games so as to secure the top of the table in order to get a favourable draw in the second round. Trust me, it is the other teams who would be praying to avoid us rather than the other way round. We have the mettle to not only play any team in the ECL, but also to beat them. We even have the ECL trophy to show for it too. When it comes to a club of our calibre, I won't exactly be too worried how our draw turn out. The only advantage of a favourable draw is that it gives us ample time for rest in between juggling this with our domestic fixtures.
Take this Celtic game in hand. Do not fret over our dismal result where we needed good ol' Giggs to bail us out. We didn't give our 100% as we rested Evra, van dar Sar, Berbatov and Rooney. The stats of 73% possession and 30 shots attempted vs 6 on the Celtic side was a tad more flattering than it should be.
Obviously Fergie thinks, and I agree, that this Celtic game isn't really important and that we can afford to throw it to prepare for the subsequent game against Arsenal at the Emirates.
Looking ahead, we have a Carling Cup game at Old Trafford against Queen's Park Rangers which is going to be yet another cakewalk and it is one of those games where you see a totally new squad of fresh faces taking to the pitch as we rest our senior players. If you ask me, there is no downside to getting eliminated from the Carling Cup. The only upside is that we get more games for the B-teams to take to the fields.
Once the QPR game is settled, our rested boys will be again at Old Trafford to host Stoke City, which will be yet another easy 3 points to pick up before travelling to Villarreal, fully prepared the mid-week after.
JayWalk The Talk: Captain Gallas is currently serving as the Sick Bay Monitor overseeing his charges of messrs Walcott, Adebayor, Sagno, Eboue, Eduardo, Silvestre and Rosicky. van Persie has a 3-match suspension to serve over his foolish direct red-card shoulder charge into Stoke's goalie Sorensen last week.
Over at ManUtd, we only have Hargreaves, Scholes and Brown to deal with and we have enough players in the squad to amply cover their absence.
The 1X2 odds are 3.20, 3.17 and 2.25 i.e. between a win, a draw and a loss for Arsenal, the chances of a home win outcome is actually the lowest i.e. the sports odds analysts do not think Arsenal can win at all.
Let me explain why.
Arsenal has a very critical weakness that has yet to be resolved resulting in points dropped against the most unlikely of teams.
The weakness?
The lack of height in defence. Gone are the days where you have Tony Adams or Patrick Viera in the 6-yard box to intercept the crosses. It seems like Arsenal has a lot of trouble dealing with aerial attacks. They are like the Liverpool during the David "Calamity" James days.
The only lanky bloke is Adebayor but on a normal day, the striker is known to be lazy to pull back and help out in the defence and so you can't really count on him to deal with the crosses. And besides, both van Persie and himself will not be available today anyway.
Previews at the various football websites are singling out Wayne Rooney as the player to watch today.
I disagree.
I say look out for Ronaldo, Ferdinand and Fletcher as we will win this game with our heads.
Another factor counting against the Gunners is the relatively inexperience of the squad. Without the leadership of Captain Gallas on the field today, the youngsters looked like slaughter fodder for the Red Devils. My only worry is for them to get too emotional and start flying tackles all over the place resulting in severe injuries on our players and thus jeopardising our squad availabilities for subsequent matches.
History-wise, Arsenal has only won us once in our last 5 head-to-heads at home and so I say go ahead, take ManUtd and give the 0.25-ball handicap.
Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.
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