PL: Aston Villa vs Arsenal | 18/01/04

[gooner]

First of all, I would like to take this chance to say a big thank you to David Seaman. He was a great goalkeeper for Arsenal, and although he did make a few mistakes, I would rather remember him for his good saves. Anyway, this Sunday we take on a recently revived Aston Villa side who have no way got as much credit as they deserve. I think this will be a fairly tough match. Villa have been reformed under O'leary and he will be looking forward to putting one over his old club.

I watched Villa against Liverpool also and Villa played very well, and I think Mellberg is one of the most underrated players in the premiership as he is a very good defender and he is very solid in the challenge and has got good pace. Liverpool deserved to win but Villa did play very well and worked very hard.

Anyway, below is a list of who I think are their key men:

Vassell + Angel - Key Men 1
Barry - Key Man 2
Dublin - Key Man 3
Hitzelsperger + McCann - Key Men 4
Mellberg + Alpay - Key Men 5

This match will be a chance for Wenger to see what Angel can really do, and a chance for Angel to show wenger what he can do. I hope he doesn’t perform to well, but it will be typical of him to be the scorer if we concede a goal against them.

For this match the best Arsenal team line up i would like to see is as shown below:

Lehmann

Lauren Campbell Toure Cole

Ljungberg Viera Parlour Pires

Henry Kanu

I don’t know if Arsenal will win this game, and a lot will depend on their approach of their game, but they will have to be in the right frame of mind coz man utd will hammer wolves and they will be 4 points clear on Saturday night, meaning we will have to win.

 

[jc8gooner]

I have a good feeling about this game. We were really up for it against Boro and have had a good 8 days break. We will have a strong line-up out, and we will be boosted by the fact that Kanu can play. Wenger is spoilt for choice in defence at the moment, and, providing Ashley is fit, we will be at full strength in that department. This could be the game in which we put our recent problem with scoring more than one goal to one side and really attack.

 

[GoonerGurjit]

I agree with gooner about Mellberg. He's one of the top defenders in the country imo. I think this is another game that if we play well then we'll win. Kanu's presence will be a boost. He and Henry have looked impressive in recent weeks. Angel's been on a good run for Villa but if we cut out the service to him then he can't do much.

 

[Mark]

i don't know if toure and cole will be fit to play will they? hope so, because we will need to defend well as i imagine we will be under a lot of pressure from them, but hopefully we can control them and get them on the break. i think we'll win 2-1. Ljungberg scoring first, Angel equalising and then Henry getting a late winner.

 

[lewdikris]

Cole and Toure have both been passed fit, so it's basically the first choice XI at the moment who'll play before Titi gets his fortnight off.

Lehmann

Toure Sol Cygan Cole

Freddie Silv Paddy Bobby

Kanu Henry

Bench: Stacky, Lauren, Ray, Edu, Bentley

Love us to be a few goals up so Bentley can get a run-out, but it may be another tough one.

 

[Mark]

we're never a few goals up away these days which is a shame, if this one ends as another 1-1 with us having been in front i'll go mad, better than losing i guess but we should really win these games. hopefully we can kill them off as quick as we can so we can take off henry for a rest and give bentley a try.

 

[quattro]

with the season coming to its most critical stages im sure wenger and the team are aware of the importance of this match (along with man u's sure win). we're not going to drop points here. and after the hammering we gave boro im even more confident of a win.

 

[thierrys_girl]

Great write up as usual gooner

i hope we can win this one to keep putting pressure on Utd, the boys know the importance of gaining points at this point of the season and i hope we dont drop valuable points here.

Good Luck Boys

 

[eikaz]

good luck my team..you will do it.. ;D :mrgreen: ;D

 

[Jinn]

I just hope everyone doesn't concentrate only on Angel, and then let Vassell do damage. Other than that, hopefully it will be a walkover.

3-0 to the Arse.

 

[Andrew]

Lehmann

Toure Sol Cygan Cole

Freddie Silv Paddy Bobby

Kanu Henry

I agree with that line-up. Normally I prefer Parlour when we play away but I just think Gilberto will do the job against Villa. Also, there's no reason for Cygan not to play... if he keeps playing well then why drop him? But certainly our attack and most likely the midfield will be like that if there are no late injuries. Very interesting though because Wenger said that none of the players playing in this game will play in the Carling Cup... except for Kanu if he's still available.

 

[flotz]

i agree with gooner line up
maybe put stepanovs instead of toure i saw he is back from beveren
i predict a 2-0 goal in a hard game

 

[Jinn]

i agree with gooner line up
maybe put stepanovs instead of toure i saw he is back from beveren

... or not! :shock:

 

[Archie The Leper]

maybe put stepanovs instead of toure i saw he is back from beveren

to quote John McEnroe " You cannot be serious"

 

[KoLo28]

it's simple... arsenal are a class above aston villa, it all depends on the players attitude and if they want to be there and they want to win... if they are in the right frame of mind 3-1 to the arsenal!

 

[laolu]

3- 1 to the arsenal

 

[wiltord11]

i think it will be tough game but i think we might just nick it and get the three points 1 - 0 to the arsenal

 

[bobbypires]

0-2

Pires & Cole

 

[patrick42uk]

with 17 games to go, we are entering the period where you will be looking to start a run if you want to win the league. ljungberg has come out and said we need to be more ruthless away and avoid draws, which i think will be the general feeling in the dressing room. expect the players, and importantly, henry, to be up for this.

2-0 to arsenal

 

[The Mini]

I cant see Villa being much of a threat, 2-0 or 3-0 to us. Hopefully Kanu will have a good'un