English Premier League Preview: Bruce’s Sunderland v Wenger’s Arsenal at the Stadium of Light
Arsenal would be visiting the Stadium of Light this weekend hoping to continue their goal-spree. For Sunderland, the prospect of giving their African import Asamoah Gyan his home debut would be an exciting prospect. Gyan scored
against Wigan last week after coming on a sub in the 2nd half. Lee Cattermole will not be available for Sunderland after receiving 2 yellow cards against Wigan; this was his 2nd red in a season that is only 4 matches old. Sunderland may
opt to play with a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Gyan joined by Darren Bent upfront. The injury list for the home side is a worry however; the former Manchester United striker Fraizer Campbell is still out with an injury, Craig Gordon has not recovered from a hamstring
problem and both George McCartney and David Meyler are out with long term injuries.
Arsenal may be dubbed as clear favourites in this match, even though last season Sunderland managed to win 1-0. That was the first loss for Arsenal at the Stadium of light in six visits. Darren Bent was on the score sheet for
the Black Cats in that memorable win last season.
Arsenal are on a scoring spree and for the 2nd time this season knocked in 6 goals in midweek against Braga in the Champions League. In their 2nd game of the season in the Premier league, Arsenal also scored
six without reply against Blackpool. Now in 5 games this season including the Champions League, the London side has scored a total of 19 goals – an average of 3.8 per game.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger decided to rest several players last week against Bolton where they won 4-1. Players like Emmanuel Eboué, Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby were all rested with the all important midweek match
in mind. The French manager is expected to feature a predominantly young side against Spurs in the Carling Cup that follows the Sunderland game, so a strong line-up against Black Cats is to be expected.
Thomas Vermaelen is not fully fit and is expected to not travel with the team, while Abou Diaby has also not recovered in time. Theo Walcott, Robin van Persie and Aaron Ramsey are all long term injuries and are not expected to
be back anytime soon. Nicklas Bendtner’s involvement though may be down to a last minute decision.
The two men in charge of the teams, Arsene Wenger and Steve Bruce, have faced each other 17 times before this game. No points then for guessing that Wenger has the edge with 13 wins and 2 draws. Wenger’s boys have managed 32 goals
in those 17 games against Bruce’s sides.
Wenger looks confident ahead of the game and believes that switching from European football to the domestic front is very necessary. Wenger said, “Everywhere we go we try to win. It will be a big game, but we'll be focused. It's
important for our season as well that we're capable of going from Champions League to the championship and vice versa.”
He added, “From Wednesday night to Saturday it's short but we can rotate a little bit.”
Steve Bruce knows the odds are against his team and said that the home crowd would play a big part in the match. He said that the atmosphere at the Stadium of light is always important and can add to the team’s performance. Bruce
said, “The fans can make all the difference for us. They certainly did against City, and what an atmosphere it was.”
He further noted, “They've made the Stadium of Light one of the most intimidating places to come for away games and we need to make full use of that advantage. It'd be great to see a packed stadium rocking and I'd urge our fans
to get down. We'll be trying our level best to put on a show for them.”
“Of course it won't be easy but the players are up for the challenge. We know Arsenal are an excellent side but I'm focused on what we do rather than the opposition.”
“When the crowd get going the noise is phenomenal and we need them there in numbers replicating that again this weekend.”
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