Arsenal vs Liverpool – Advantage Manchester United: Barclays Premier League update (Part 1)
In what appeared to be a dead game between two teams that seem to cancel each other out with regular draws in the past couple of campaigns, late drama at the Emirates ensured that both potential domestic championship candidates were able to share the spoils with a 1 – 1 draw.
The day started with Arsenal 7 points behind Manchester United. Arsene Wenger and his men required all three points to drag the gap down to 4 points with a total of 6 games to be played this campaign. Since Manchester United fared in the FA Cup semi final against Manchester City, they didn’t play this weekend – Effectively drawing the two teams level on the number of games played in England’s first class domestic league.
The last Premier League tie between the two sides was on the first day of the season at Anfield. On the day, Liverpool were able to draw first blood and went 1-0 ahead despite being a man down as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pepe-Reina-c29672.
Sunday saw the two heavyweights of English football with rather different aspirations heading into the final 6 games. Arsenal, appear to be the only team with a realistic shout of catching Alex Ferguson’s men this year. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809, on the other hand, down in 6th at the end 31 games, looked to cement their position for a Europa League Spot – Europe’s second string club competition.
Heading into the week, Arsene Wenger called it as a ‘season defining’ seven days. The Frenchman commented, "When you are in the title race it is always like that. When we played the Carling Cup Final, Barcelona away and Manchester United three days later, we were out of three competitions.”
Wenger further added, "Now Tottenham and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 are out of the competitions. When you fight for big prizes in one week it can be gone. It makes Sunday's game vital of course. If we do not beat Liverpool and Tottenham the season won't be over but the title will be over for sure.”
The Arsenal manager remained true to his word. The game started with Arsene Wenger announcing a strong line up. The Gunners have already been knocked out of the FA Cup, the Carling Cup and the Champions League and looked to turn up the heat for the only competition they appear to still be a part of.
Continued in part 2...
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