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Chance to put pressure on – will Arsenal take it?

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

Our desire is just to continue to win. We have built a level of confidence and are conscious that if we do certain things well, then we can win games. – Arsène Wenger

This is a big one. Win and we open up a nine point gap between us and 5th place, lose and Liverpool close that gap to just three points and top four will hang in the balance and perhaps blow our chances of getting second/third place.

We kick off early, the players have to be focussed, Arsene Wenger has to be ready to move if they aren’t.

Arsenal won six out of six in all competitions in March. It was a good month and we need April to be equally as good, if not better.

This week, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Mathieu Debuchy and Abou Diaby returned to the pitch during a friendly against Brentford leaving just Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain alone on the injured list, although he has joined the squad in training. This time next week, we could boast a fully fit and healthy squad for the first time this season.

Arsene Wenger:

It was quite surprising, the quality and the fitness of their performances. They were very good so it’s very positive for me. It’s a first game after a long time out for many of them so they are not completely there yet, but they are available again for selection and in full training.

I’m happy that everybody’s back because it’s a nightmare for a player not to be available for selection. We have shown with our results in recent weeks that we can cope with it and that means we have a very good cohesion in our squad. Everybody can come in for somebody without suffering too much in our results. Having everybody back at such an important moment of the season is very positive.

Not even a hint that Danny Welbeck is out for today’s game. Good.

Liverpool arrive at The Emirates knowing they need to bounce back from their defeat to Man Utd. They have off-field problems involving Raheem Sterling and Brenda hopes that will inspire his young Englishman ahead of the game to perform well. Either that or he’ll be out to impress Arsene Wenger before the summer arrives. I thought it was funny Jamie Carragher saying Sterling would only make it to the bench if he moved to Arsenal. I’m sure had he thought about that comment he wouldn’t have made it as he doesn’t like to praise Arsenal or it’s players!

Joking aside, Sterling is a tricky player who if given time and space can hurt us and he’s not alone. Coutinho and Sturridge are very dangerous players too.

Martin Skrtel and Steven Gerrard are suspended. Adam Lallana is a doubt through injury.

Head-to-head

  • Arsenal have only lost one of their last seven league and cup games against Liverpool (W4, D2) – with that defeat a 5-1 thrashing at Anfield in February 2014.
  • The Reds have won just one of their last 18 matches away to the Gunners in all competitions (D7, L10). Their solitary victory in that sequence was by 2-0 at the Emirates in August 2011.
  • This game has produced five Premier League hat-tricks – more than any other fixture.

As good a 2015 Liverpool are having, ours is better. The defence have found confidence, Ospina looks more assured than Szczesny, Monreal and Bellerin are a good team and going forward we have it all. Santi is in the form of his career, Alexis and Ozil are strutting their stuff and Giroud is going through a good time in front of goal. Coquelin is bossing the midfield….

On our day we can beat anyone. We have to be ‘on our day’ today!

Confidence should be high, we are on a great run in the league and have a lot to play for yet. Set the bar high at lunchtime, get into second place and put pressure on Utd who play later today and City who face a tricky trip to Crystal Palace on Monday.

A nice early goal to settle the nerves and get The Emirates crowd on their feet would be ideal, take our chances when they come and defend like their lives depend on it. Boss the midfield, play with width and pace and do to Liverpool what they did to us in February last year.

This is a big game, we need a big performance from all, including Arsene Wenger.

COYRRG’S!!!

 

PS – if you can’t watch the game on BT Sport or on a live stream, you can follow all the action, reaction and social media buzz from Arsenal vs Liverpool LIVE via the Europcar/Football Fancast link  which is in the sidebar or click HERE.

rico

246 thoughts on “Chance to put pressure on – will Arsenal take it?”

  2. Brian Price says:

    Hi Rico
    Today is a big game, a wobble now could have a serious effect on our confidence. At least we are going into the last games with few injuries and rested players.
    Sterling’s a really good player but I don’t think he would fit here (anyway Nosferatu has his beady eyes on him). It’s Theo’s chance to show what he’s capable of, but I doubt if we’ll see it and I think it will be best for him and us to have a fresh start somewhere else. We could do with an out and out right winger to replace him (Bellerin?), the Ox does the job brilliantly but his future place is in midfield – he will make a great CDM in a few years time.

    Brian

  4. Adam says:

    Morning Rico. Another inspiring post. I’ll be leaving for the game in a half hour, hoping for the best. If the team have their heads on and show the right attitude I think we should win.

  5. Bt62 Gooner says:

    Morning Rico, nice post, now let’s go and munch on some chicken dippers….
    Hope the boys have have set their alarm clocks this morning and realise a football match starts when the ref blows the whistle for KO, no matter what the time.

    2-1 to Arsenal… maybe 3….lol

    O2B…

  6. rico says:

    Hi Brian.

    Couldn’t agree more, win today should fire us on, a loss, well I don’t want to think about it….

    Morning Adam and Bt – thanks re the post.

    Agree Adam, if their heads and feet are working right, home win….

    Bt, I was just looking up your email address to check you are fit and well, long time no see….

  7. Dublingunner says:

    Morning all, Stats don,t bode well for l,pool today, GREAT news havin next to a full squad coming into the most important part of the season. Congrats to Wenger and Giroud too, Let,s make sure we keep the pressure on the teams above us. 2-0 today, with a nervy first half hour “ CMON ARSENAL”.

  8. andrewh1313 says:

    Was reading on another site (wish I could keep off NewsNow!) what dreadful decisions and lack of sendings off we have had from today’s ref Anthony Taylor. Expect Liverpool to be rolling around if we get near them, while Sanchez and Ramsey will be systematically fouled.

  9. rico says:

    Morning Dublin. We need to get out of the blocks quickly and put them on the back foot.

    Get at their defence and bleedin shoot… 😉

  10. ScottfromOz says:

    Morning all.
    Thailand is hardly an easy place to find Internet access and it’s killing me, but at least they love their football so I’ll be watching.
    Hello everyone and I’ll see if I can stay in touch.

  11. ozgunner says:

    hello gang – History tells us this is just the kind of game we blow, just to make things hard for ourselves. Is this Arsenal side different? Have they changed? Soon all will be revealed. A win flushes Liverpool and sets us up with maybe a belief to kick on. Fingers crossed

  12. Dublingunner says:

    We need a big game from Merts, Redknapp saying Sterling and Sturridge will look to exploit him. That has danger written all over it. Need 100 % concentration at all times.

  15. rico says:

    Arsenal team in full:

    Opsina, Bellerin, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud

    Subs: Macey, Gibbs, Gabriel, Flamini, Walcott, Rosicky, Welbeck

    Gabriel should have started surely, he’s so much quicker….

  22. rico says:

    Thanks Ts.

    I’m surprised Walcott hasn’t started, perhaps it’s a clear sign that AW doesn’t trust him to put a shift in….

  26. tsgh says:

    Lol.. I just reminded my neighbour that Francis Jeffers & David Nugent also scored on their England debut when he quipped why theo and AFC players were so shite for England?

    He is not pleased. 😛

  28. tsgh says:

    I should have added Ricky lambert to that esteemed list too… 🙂

    Come on Gooners.Lets spank the scousers.

    Rico, what happened to the lady from Liverpool who use to post here regularly? Have you heard from here? Her name escapes me…

  33. potter says:

    Must have run out of dog food , after all you have to keep your accountant fed and watered. Either that his car got caught in the traffic at the bear roundabout.

  43. tsgh says:

    Amazing Ramsey… tallying up the successful tackles.
    AW may have to swap Ozil and ramsey if Sterling stays centrally…

  60. allezkev says:

    Simplicity….

    All the artistry led to nowt…

    Less, is more, Arsene….

    Ozil, das ist gut…. 😀

  66. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Good Afternoon Lovelies and Hunkies.

    Snaparse…..Owen is right. Ozil bottles it in big games. Today is not a big game he should be told.

    Like LVG said….DW23 is not at the United Level. He was right. DW is of a far superior level.

    As you say Kev……hopefully payback time.

  71. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Good post Boss by the way.

    I lost the first twenty minutes of the game. But I am pretty impressed now. i saw all 3 and they are all beauts.

    now we need to push the gas harder. and not let the foot off. payback time??? I want more than 5 goals. the more the better

  76. goonster says:

    Hahahahahahahaha we are mashing them people. The mugmashers are getting raped at the emirates. Where’s rico when you need her?

  83. goonster says:

    Stoke could still do us a favor by drawing chelshit. Who knows guys? The dream could still be on. COYFGS

  89. allezkev says:

    Now, do Liverpool go for it?
    Open up?

    And if they do, would the introduction of Walcott be productive?!

  105. goonster says:

    Why not rosciky? Flamster ll only give away free kicks in dangerous areas. Come on arsene pull your finger out.

  115. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Ospina marked it correctly, but should have saved that one.

    now this is a conundrum. his lack of height contrived to him not saving the penalty but his awareness and knack of being in the right place at the right time more than makes up for it

    Sanchez called for a foul??? lol that was no foul.

    is the ref going to contrive to give them as much as he can???? lol

  117. Hell Raising Devil says:

    now that is the difference hetween Theo and Danny.

    Danny knows what channels to run into, how to be direct etc

    theo needs to do things instinctively. run into blind alleys and his technical level is way below that of Danny.

    25mill for Theo??? I would snap their hand off asap.

  134. allezkev says:

    Question???

    If/When Arsenal reach the FACup Final…

    And if everyone is fit…..

    Does, Theo Walcott, make the 18…???

  142. allezkev says:

    Not unless he signs Rico…

    And I doubt that that’s gonna happen…

    So Theo is looking like surplus to requirements….

  148. Hell Raising Devil says:

    team…….Ospina, Bellerin, Per, Kos, NAcho, Coq, Ozil, Cazorla, Danny,Alexis,Olli

    subs…..Ches, Debuchy, Gaby, Jack, Arteta, Ox, Aaron,

    then there are Rosicky, Diaby, Theo, Gibbs,

    so imo……theo is surplus.

    If Sterling comes in……who do we drop????

  149. Hell Raising Devil says:

    on another note…….if Sterling is added to today’s team he will have a field day on the wings……and both Bellerin and Nacho or whoever plays as a FB will be defended and not left in the lurch

    OOOOOOPPPPPPSSSSSS

    from the above team I left out Chambers.

    so yes…..Theo will surely go now

  151. Hell Raising Devil says:

    I think that next summer will see Rosicky (SADLY), Flamini, Diaby, Podolski and maybe Ches and Theo depart

    Arteta will be kept.

    the club will surely not be held to ransom by Theo now. he will know that after today his bargaining power is less than 10% now

    So let us presume that Ches will depart while Ospina will be number 1 with Martinez, Iliev and Macey all the reserve keepers.

    If Sterling comes in than it will mean that only a midfielder and a defender will be bought as well

  157. ozgunner says:

    tsgh- we need two strong in every position mate, been one of wengers worst features this reluctance to have proper challengers for every role

  162. ScottfromOz says:

    Sterling showed again he’s a diving little shit so he can get stuffed for mine.
    Unless he gets that out of his game, he can play for Spuds lol

  165. tsgh says:

    I know I might get slatted for my stats but why not… lol

    OG12 vs Costa stats

    OG12 17 goals from 27 games 5 yellows
    Costa 20 goals from 36 games 11 yellows

    Ok I know OG12 scored only 19 goals in his first season but OG12 has proven to be value for money. imo

  166. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Fortunatelly, Bellerin was not sent off.
    English referes are very bad indeed.
    In the second position on the Easter Day 🙂
    who would say at Christmas?

  167. ScottfromOz says:

    Im not saying Sterling isn’t good enough.
    He’s just a grub.
    Stay on YA feet ya bastard!

  169. Adam says:

    Just got home from the game. Really great goals and a good performance despite some players being just slightly off colour. The glint from little Brenda’s teeth was awesome though.

  171. Judge me in May says:

    Happy easter everyone..
    Thanks God for proper football..
    Great result and some spectacular goals..
    Take that you effing dippers..
    There were some nervous moments in the first half could have cost us dearly.. But we showed our strength and exploited their weak defence and scored good goals..
    Coq doing great so far, cazorla didn’t help him as he should have in the first half..
    I don’t want to upset the rambo fan club here… lol… but he looked out of sort on the right wing.. and obviously he still has some fitness issues..
    Ozil and Giroud in excellent form at the moment..
    Would be interesting to see what the future holds for theo..
    Chris Ramsey showing Harry how’s done..
    Not so good for the ex spurs fela though.. Common you villans..

  173. Adam says:

    Hey Oz. Long time mate. Yes a good day and a nice chat with some lunatics on the way back to the car about MOTM. 🙂

  176. Adam says:

    I can’t see them getting rid of little Brenda quite yet. Not “one of the powerhouses of World football”, to quote the wee man.

  180. Dublingunner says:

    Congrats to the whole team, Outstanding performance and 4 beautiful goals. Keep it up. cmon Stoke do us a favour, break chelsea up.

  183. andrewh1313 says:

    Fantastic goals, going to ignore all the talk of gk error, poor defending. Just superb composure for Bells goal, and three superb strikes. Sanchez,s so pure there was no spin on the bal . Le coq fantastic first half.

  184. HenryB says:

    What a sweet game and an even sweeter result! 🙂

    There are so many positives coming from the game and a number of our players are showing they are every bit as good as any Citeh or Chav players – with the exception of Hazard, maybe. 🙂

    For those (not on here) who have complained, wrongly, that Baldy Bouldy is so under the thumb of Arsene that he just sits on the bench chewing his gum, he was signalling positional play through out the game, and jumping around each time we scored one of our lovely goals.

    Still grinning!

  185. rico says:

    Kev, I still think Walcott will sign a new contract, he’s just got to wake up and realise he’s at the right club but to play, he’s got to really up his game…..

    Scott, agree re Sterling being a diving little git but AW would soon knock that out of him….

    Afternoon all.

    Adam, I’d have loved to have been there today. As you know, I’m not very fond of Brenda and his dippers….

  186. rico says:

    Thought Kolo Toure played well for us today……. Lol

    And, how wrong was I to doubt the managers team selection…. 😉

  188. allezkev says:

    You think that Walcott will stay then Rico?

    Not sure myself. I really don’t wanna see him go to one of our domestic competitors…

    But if it’s still stalemate in the Pre-Season then I can’t see Wenger be prepared to let him run down his contract…

    I also can’t see him getting a pay rise!

    Why would he or his advisors think that he deserves one???

    Do you get a pay hike for keeping Diaby company then?!

  193. Adam says:

    Rico. I wish you had been there too. 🙂
    It was a good day and quite a lot of fun. There weren’t many scousers left with 10 minutes to go. They were prowling the streets of North London.
    Luckily, we don’t have gas meters any more.

  196. allezkev says:

    Just seen the goals on Arsenalist, Rico…

    Bellerin showed wonderful technique to bend in his shot with his standing foot.
    What a great player we have with him.
    Just hope we can keep him out of the clutches of those Catalan fcukers…

  198. allezkev says:

    Sanchez seemed to lift his shot over the top of the goalkeepers outstretched hand…

    Fantastic power and control…

  200. Wavy says:

    Adam, ddBrenda’s teeth spangle like stars? And like stars do you think they only come out at night, for a steradent revival? What a knob!
    I think we did just enough to win! But a fifth gaol would have not only rubbed it in, it would have made me deliriously happy. Revenge would have been ours, at last!
    More of the same for the rest of the season and we may yet finish second. I think to win the EPL is just out of reach even if we beat the chavs en route.
    What a lovely day it has been.

  201. Wavy says:

    Corrections: dd = did and, gaol = goal, although gaol has some resonance when writing about the dippers!!

  205. tsgh says:

    Kev- logic tells me Barca have Martín Montoya for RB so they will not sniff around our Bellerin but greedy men do despicable things so…

  206. tsgh says:

    … and AW kept his part of the bargain by getting him into the first team within the agreed 18 months period. It was only Bellerin’s injury last season that kept him out…

  208. allezkev says:

    I hope you’re right Ginge…

    At 20, we could have Bellerin for over 10 years…

    Hmm, I could murder a curry…

  213. rico says:

    Kev, re the goals, they came in just a few first half minutes so even motd might squeeze those in… Ollies was superb too…. 😉

  214. potter says:

    Brilliant bit of incisive commentary from Darke . Gabriel came into the club with a great reputation from Villareal but must have found it hard because he doesn’t speak a word of English.

    Ospina , Bellerin , Monreal , Cazorla, Sanchez , Arteta , Ozil and Wenger ??

  216. Rick says:

    Evening Rico and the House.
    A great win today ,now its the spuds v the Dippers for the Thurs night spot.
    The last few days have been very good for some of our youngsters.
    The England U16 team will play France in the final of the Montaigu tournament on Monday with Bola,Gillmore and Nelson all looking good.
    Nelson scored the goal that beat Turkey
    Our u14’s are in the final of the Nike Tournament against Reading which
    will be played at Wembly in May. In the Q/F they beat Everton 1-0 and beat the Dippers 1-0 in the S/F
    Lets hope the U21’s will follow suit on tuesday.

  217. Rick says:

    The Final of the Nike Cup is on May 20th
    In the ST Kevins Acadamy Cup our U13’swill play Deportivo La Coruna
    in the final tomorrow.

  222. Micko says:

    rico, whens this tough end of the season run in coming our way , you keep warning us but we’re blowing everyone away !

    I must be the only one who hasn’t seen the goals today, MOTD can’t come quick enough.

    Match day on HH wouldn’t be the same without all the tits and knobs lol.

  223. Micko says:

    Brenda is better off doing a Wenger and saying he didn’t see it !!! Its tried and tested and has worked for Arsene over the last 17 /18 years !!!!

    Didn’t he also try to defend Skirtel the other week as well, shit for brains.

  224. rico says:

    🙂 Micko, if only they’d all be as easy as today eh… The Dippers were rubbish. Burnley will be tough though… lol

  225. rico says:

    Kind of makes us realise why Wenger said that… Better to deny seeing it than sounding like a prize tit……

    Maybe the media will catch on one day….

  227. Micko says:

    Another Northern Slum, don’t worry, heading across the border hasn’t been half as scary this season compared to other campaigns, we’ll be alright, I got no reason to lie !

  228. Joe says:

    Wait to see the septic dwarf go face down in the turf at Stanford bridge it’s priceless it better be on motd.
    Good result today I agree tsgh sack the manager and we need to replace him with Big Sam.

  229. Rick says:

    Rico since my last comment I have watched the bust up between Martin Keown and Peirs Morgan on BT sport. There is another tit for you I think Martin is the last one to pick a argument with.

  234. rico says:

    Rick – I’m one if a few who quite likes Morgan. Not always as he can be a big twit, but in some ways I admire many of things he says and does…

    But crossing Martin Keown is simply stupid…. Lol

  238. allezkev says:

    Seems that Szczesny has a rib injury…

    Not sure how serious, but he hasn’t got a return date, so Macey and Martinez in the bench for the next few games…

    Ospina playing at Wembley in the S/F???

  239. Joe says:

    Morning everyone, I see Ramsey had two assists and was unlucky not to score. During the game I thought he wasn’t playing that well just shows what do I know.

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