Arsenal's chance to go top of Premier League this weekend
This weekend presents a mouthwatering clash for all you football fans out there as the tone for the weekend will be set by an enticing fixture, Aston Villa versus Arsenal.
You can say that the bar has been set pretty high for the weekend with this game, a game that always promises to be open, with beautiful counter attacking football and intricate passing. Both teams are loaded with pacey players with a keen eye for goal.
Arsenal's representation would obviously be Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Andrei Arshavin and Robin Van Persie, who is just coming back from a lengthy lay off. Villa, on the other hand, have a whole array of attacking speed merchants namely Ashley Young, Gabriel
Agbonlahor, Stewart Downing, Mark Albrighton and Nathan Delfouneso, players whose pace can cause problems to any team in the league, as they so capably demonstrated against Manchester United at Villa Park when they sped their way to a 2-0 lead only to allow
United to claw back with two goals of their own. But whatever the final result, the way they took the game to United with their blend of pace and power was impressive.
And that blend of raw pace and brute strength could just spell doom for Arsenal, but Arsenal aren't without strengths of their own. First and foremost, they will be motivated by the fact that if they win they will go top of the league, even if it is for
possibly only a few hours. Second, Arsenal will be determined to break their run of successive defeats to Tottenham and Braga, and come away from Villa Park with a vital away win. And Arsene Wenger surely won't have it any other way. Something else that will
boost spirits in the Arsenal camp is the fact that Arsenal have the best away record in the league, losing only once away from home to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. And Wenger must be praying religously, praying that this away form continues. Especially since
Arsenal's home form this year has been in shambles.
Interestingly though, this match also presents an opportunity for an Arsenal legend to reunite with his former club. Robert Pires, the Arsenal player who graced Highbury with his exquisite touch and phenomonal goalscoring rate for six years has signed for
Villa in the past week and now has the opportunity to disrupt Arsenal's title aspirations further. Pires was a firm favourite amongst the Arsenal faithful, an object of cult worship. His exceptionally consistent displays during his tenure at Arsenal earned
him two Premier Leagues, three FA Cups and the 2002 Footballer of the Year accolade.
Of course Pires and Villa have the chance to be the iceberg to Arsenal's Titanic, which will also propell them from lowly 13th to 7th. But Arsenal will firmly have their sights set upon the summit of the Premier League, and expect Arsenal to make a statement
of intent. Arsenal have endured their fair share of misery this season, stinging defeats that must burn in the back of their minds like acid, but now they need to rise up and show what they're made of, prove they have the character and mettle to lift the trophy
come May.
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