Anfield Preview & Wellington update
Add comment April 21st, 2009
Almost exactly two decades ago, Arsenal travelled to Anfield in a game that would become legend. In the last minute, Michael Thomas scored the goal that the ensured the title would return with The Gunners to London.
Tonight, as then, Arsenal will play in yellow and blue, making the evening all the more evocative of the memory. And tonight, as then, though admittedly with less immediacy, the title is on the line. For Liverpool, that is. We, on the other hand, have less to play for – with fourth place all but assured our main motivation tonight must be the preservation of our unbeaten run in the league and with that our forward momentum.
As much as anything, tonight is about putting right the wrongs of the weekend. Ten points from an available eighteen would absolutely guarantee fourth position, so winning every match is no longer essential. But these league matches against Liverpool, Chelsea and United ought to be viewed as an opportunity to make a statement ahead of next season, when we hope for a renewed and reinvigorated title challenge.
Injuries will again go a long way towards dictating Arsene’s selection. Despite Manuel Almunia’s claims he would be ready to face Middlesbrough, Arsene has suggested that Lukasz Fabianski may remain in goal for the Champions League ties against Man U. Whether or not this is simply an attempt to buffer the drop in confidence Fabianski would inevitably suffer at knowing he was one game away from losing his place remains to be seen. In better news, Bacary Sagna is in the squad. If he is fit enough to start, I suspect Emmanuel Eboue could be shunted forward into midfield, with Theo Walcott taking his turn on the substitutes bench. In the centre, Alex Song ought to return to parter Cesc Fabregas.
After missing out on Saturday, Samir Nasri and Andrey Arshavin seem likely to come back in, with one of the pair taking up a role behind Nicklas Bendtner: yesterday brought the news that both Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor will miss the game – the former’s problem more serious than the latter.
Liverpool aren’t without injury problems themselves, and Steven Gerrard will not be available. In spite of that, they’re still a threat, with Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun particularly liable to cause trouble. However, if we keep the ball on the ground and get Nasri, Fabregas and Arshavin in the game, we could create plenty of havoc ourselves.
A couple of bits of other business: I’m still assured that The Duke will be an Arsenal player come the Summer, and esteemed French journo Philippe Auclair has been in touch to indentify these quotes as originally coming from an interview by he and Bruno Constant of L’Equipe.
Let’s hope tonight is more reminiscent of 89 than our Champions League exit last season. Come On You Yellows.
