Carling Cup: Arsenal vs Wigan - Preview
Arsenal tonight host Wigan in the Quarter Finals of the Carling Cup at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal just recently turned around a run of two defeats in a row, to Tottenhm and Braga, by vanquishing a young but rocking Aston Villa side at Villa Park, but
a Villa side that has been jaded by injuries over the course of the season.
The last time Arsenal and Wigan met was back in April, in a match where Wigan all but officially ended Arsenal's title hopes with a come from behind victory which saw them score three goals in the last ten minutes after Arsenal had taken an apparently unassailable
2-0 lead.
Interestingly though, back in the 2005/2006 season Arsenal were dumped out of the Carling Cup by Wigan when Jason Roberts scored in injury time to send his team to the Final after Thierry Henry and Robin Van Persie had given Arsenal a 2-0 lead. But because
Arsenal had lost the first leg at the DW Stadium, courtesy of a Paul Scharner goal, Arsenal were sent packing on the away goals rule. It was a result that was masterminded by Paul Jewell, the Wigan manager who has seen his stock go from hot to cold in a heartbeat.
So, its easy to say that Arsenal will definitely have revenge on their mind. And it would be naive to underestimate a good Wigan side who can hurt teams on the break. Wigan will definitely look to build on that spectatcular result at the DW last season.
But Wign are a team in desperate need of some kind of form and results. Wigan's last game was against fellow strugglers West Ham United, and they lost that game 3-1, a result which has left them just 2 points off the bottom. Wigan's away form isn't any better,
they've only won once away from home this season, a 3-2 reverse against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
And neither is Arsenal's away form as imperious as we've come to expect from them over the years. Arsenal have already crumbled at home three times, to new boys West Brom and Newcastle and bitter arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur. So both teams will be out looking
to improve their respective records.
The lack of trophies at the Emirates Stadium over the past few seasons has also ensured that Wenger has started fielding considerably strong line-ups to those he would've fielded last season or the season preceeding that. The games against Tottenham and
Newcastle have featured the likes of Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Laurent Koscielny, Marouane Chamakh, Jack Wilshere and Bakary Sagna. A trend uncommon in an Arsenal Carling Cup side.
This game won't look to be any different. Wenger will be pondering who to start in attack as he gives Marouane Chamakh some well deserved rest, and his options are Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner and Robin Van Persie, players who are quality starters and
not only replacements. The fans have been etching for the chance to see Van Persie back in action as he brings a unique creative invention to the side that is missing in the other strikers, and it is a feature of his game which will be extra important in the
absence of Captain Cesc Fabregas. Sebastien Squillaci sits out due to a knee problem but Eboue has returned after injury away against Braga.
This should be a game Arsenal should see off with relative ease, especially when you consider their recent problems and the fact that their best striker over the past few seasons, Hugo Rodallega, sits out as he serves his three match ban for the red card
he took against Manchester United for a dangerous two footed lunge. But if football has taught us anything, its that anything is possible, and these two have served up some impossible moments in the past.
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