Arsenal have an eye on Champions League spot
LONDON: Arsene Wenger knows Arsenal cannot afford another slip-up when they face Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium aiming to end a damaging run of three league games without a win.
Wenger’s team played a scoreless draw at West Ham United on Wednesday and is in seventh place going into Saturday’s meeting with Rafael Benitez’s team.
Only one point separates the Gunners from Tottenham Hot- playing at the moment, most of the teams prefer to sit back and bide their time. But that’s a trap Spurs would not like to fall into as results show it clearly hasn’t work. five wins have been 2-1 victories which haven’t been pretty but have got the job done. This City side is not content with merely a draw but always goes for wins. spur in fourth, but in what is shaping up to be a tight battle for the Champions League places, Arsenal can ill-afford to drop more points against a struggling team. The West Ham draw was preceded by a stalemate at Southampton — both games Wenger would have expected to win — reinforcing the view that Arsenal have not yet recovered from the blow of losing to Man United.
Wenger shuffled his pack against West Ham, with both Jack Wilshere and Olivier Giroud making their first League starts .
will have to be positive in his approach when they visit the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and press at every a 3-5-2 formation since last season but if he looks at how the teams playing that formation have fallen prey to City’s relentless attacking, he should go in with
Wilshere declared himself satisfied with his performance but admitted that he has yet to open talks with the club about an extension to his contract, which runs out at the end of the season.
“There’s not really a date in the diary for talks,” the England midfielder said. “At the moment, I’ve just played my first game in the Premier League. I’m concentrating on staying fit and staying in (the) team. That will look after itself and when it’s the right time, I’m sure the boss will pull me (in) so we can have a chat.” given opportunity to try and put pressure on the City defence which hasn’t been tested much this season.
a few matches this season, especially against Liverpool, that they are vulnerable against the high press but no team has managed to do that consistently. a slightly conservative four at the back system which will provide some safety in the defence.
rivals Arsenal, who used the same system, were battered by City attackers and were lucky to not concede more that the final result of 3-1. Huddersfield, Southampton and West Ham, the winning goal has come very late. The one scored against Southampton by Raheem Sterling came in the sixth minute of injury time, which was practically the last kick of the match.
“The games come thick and fast and that’s a good thing because we dropped points tonight (Wednesday) but have the chance to get three points on Saturday,” he added.
Newcastle travel to the North London with problems mounting for manager Rafa Benitez. Even though a £300 million takeover of the club by Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners is set to go through early in the New Year, a battle for survival threatens to overshadow the arrival of new owners. goal Sergio Aguero needs to reach 100 mark for Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in all competitions. He has 99 goals in 133 home games.
away league game out of 17 Spurs have won against the ‘Big Six’ under Pochettino. They have lost 10 and drawn six. The only victory came at City in February 2016.
away EPL games Tottenham have won at City which is more than they have won at any other club. Manchester City have an opportunity to become the first team to beat each of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham in an EPL season before the
New Year.