
Emirates Stadium, London
Monday, April 16
3:00 p.m. EDT, 8:00 p.m. BST
- Match Officials
- Referee: Andre Marriner
- Assistants: Gary Beswick and Scott Ledger
- 4th Official: Kevin Friend
- Reverse Fixture: Wigan 0 - 4 Arsenal
- This Match, Last Year: Arsenal 3 - 0 Wigan
- All-Time in All Competitions: 13 Arsenal wins, 2 Wigan wins, 2 draws
- Arsenal's Current Form: W-W-W-L-W-W
- Wigan's Current Form: D-D-W-W-L-W
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YAYYYYYY!!!! Photo: Daily Mail. |
But, I won't go into detail about that, because Arsenal can't pick up ten points against Wigan on Monday, so let's just focus on picking up three.
Wigan have been on an inspired run of form lately, beating Manchester United in midweek. A week ago, they were hard done in a losing effort against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They won at Anfield a few weeks ago. They have 16 points from their last 10 games (by comparison, Arsenal have 27, Tottenham have 10.) Wigan have been catching teams by surprise. Arsenal are not in a position where they can afford to be complacent again. Having been burned by QPR two weeks ago, I can't see Arsenal really underestimating this Wigan side like so many other teams have recently.
Arsenal Squad News
Out: Diaby (hamstring), Coquelin (hamstring), Mertesacker (ankle), Frimpong (knee), Wilshere (ankle)
Doubts: Gibbs (fatigue)
Suspended: Koscielny (second of two, accumulation)
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Benayoun has been in fine form since the start of Passover. I'd make a joke about him passing over others for the starting spot, but that joke would be horrible. Photo: Daily Mail. |
Laurent Koscielny will serve the second match of his two match ban for accumulating ten yellow cards. He will be available to return against Chelsea next weekend. Kieran Gibbs is still 50/50 in returning from his fatigue, so while we will certainly see Johan Djourou in the middle, we could still see a start from Andre Santos on the left.
Gervinho is expected to return to the squad, having recovered from an ankle problem. No idea if he'll be re-inserted into the starting XI; with the way Yossi's been playing, Benayoun deserves to retain his place. Elsewhere, I'd start Tomas Rosicky again in the middle after his day off and drop Aaron Ramsey to the bench, but we'll see what the boss ends up doing.
Abou Diaby and Francis Coquelin will return to training next week, both from hamstring problems. The next two weeks in Jack Wilshere's progress will be "decisive," according to Arsene Wenger, regarding whether he'll return for Arsenal this season.
Predicted XI: Szczesny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Djourou, Santos, Song, Arteta, Rosicky, Benayoun, Walcott, van Persie.
Wigan Squad News
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I find it hard to believe that this guy ate all the pies. Photo: Manchester Evening News. |
Doubts: Rodallega (knee), Jones (knee)
Another match where the opponent does not have much in terms of injury news. That's great for me, it means less research. Wigan have an injury concern over Hugo Rodallega, who has been out for a month with a knee injury. He was too short to come back midweek against United, but stands a chance to be fit for this one. Fellow forward Victor Moses had picked up a knock against Chelsea last weekend, but was fit to play midweek and played 90 minutes. Midfielder David Jones is on the way back from a knee injury himself and could be ready by Monday.
This section looks a bit too short again, but I can't just fill it with facts about wolves again, now can I? So, here are some things you may not have known about the city of Wigan!
- Wigan is the home to the annual World Pie Eating Championship.
Current Form
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Wigan shocked United on Wednesday, and have now won three of four. Photo: Daily Mail. |
Since the start of February, Wigan have won four league games, drawn four, and lost only two, for a total of 16 points out of 30. They have three wins from their last four, beating Liverpool at Anfield 2-1, Stoke at the DW 2-0, losing to Chelsea 2-1 at the Bridge (though they deserved something from that game,) then beating Manchester United at the DW on Wednesday 1-0. You would have to go back to December 2008 - January 2009 to find the last time Wigan picked up this many points over a four match span. That four game winning streak, tied for second longest in their top flight history, included wins over Blackburn, Newcastle, Bolton, and Tottenham.
Match Facts
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"Throw me your hats, for I have scored a hat trick!" Photo: Daily Mail. |
Wigan have four results all-time in 17 matches against Arsenal and all four have come with Wigan at home. They picked up a draw at the DW last year (damn you, Sebastien Squillaci!) and a win at the DW the year before that (damn you, Lukasz Fabianski!) The other draw came in 2008; the other win came in the first leg of that Carling Cup semi-final in 2006.
In the reverse fixture this year, Arsenal coasted to a 4-0 victory. Mikel Arteta and Thomas Vermaelen each scored a minute apart to give Arsenal a 2-0 lead just before the half hour mark. Gervinho added the third just after the hour mark, and Robin van Persie got his name on the score sheet on 78 minutes. Speaking of van Persie, he had a hat trick in this fixture last year, scoring in the 21st, 58th, and 85th minutes. He also put a penalty into Row Z of the stands around the 71st.
The Referee
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Andre Marriner thinks that playing for Spurs is a bookable offense. Photo: Zimbio. |
Those three matches have seen two Arsenal wins and a loss: the 4-3 setback at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers in September, the 5-3 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in October, and the 7-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at the Emirates in February. That 7-1 win started Arsenal's positive league run of form, but came at a time when they were seventh in the table. I said in that match preview, "given these trends, you'd expect seven or eight goals to be scored in this match, but I'm not sure if Arsenal knows how to do that anymore." It's a good thing they could.
Marriner was in the middle of a controversy in a Wigan 3-3 draw with Blackburn in November. Marriner was highly criticized for allowing a Blackburn goal from a corner that was not taken legally, then awarded Rovers a late penalty to get a draw deep into injury time. He did not work another Premier League game for a month after that.
Wigan's other match with Marriner in the middle was a 2-0 loss to Swansea. In both of those matches, Wigan failed to win despite having an opposing player sent off.
Around the League
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Four teams will be watching this weekend's action from their couches. Probably not like this. Photo: Flickr. |
That means that aside from Arsenal v. Wigan, there will only be five other league matches this weekend. Four of them take place on Saturday, as the early match sees Manchester City travel to Carrow Road to face Norwich City. City have now closed the gap to five points at the top; Norwich are currently 10th. Later, Sunderland hosts winless-in-seven Wolves, Swansea hosts Blackburn, and West Brom hosts QPR. On Sunday, Manchester United hosts Aston Villa at Old Trafford.
These are the reverse fixtures of those played the weekend of December 3-4.