Arsenal V Swansea City
FA Premier League
The Emirates Stadium
Tuesday 25/03/14
Kickoff: 19:45
Referee: Lee Probert
The Match
Swansea were once again consigned to defeat on their travels by an ex-manager, but that's thankfully the last time we come up against a former Swansea boss for the rest of the season. Unless Laudrup gets a job somewhere in the PL before then, anyway. Despite not picking up too many points over the last few months, most Swansea fans (myself included) still feel the club will pick up the points they need over the coming month or so, so losing at the Emirates isn't as make-or-break as the media will no doubt imply, given our next two games are Norwich at home followed by Hull away. That being said, any points gleaned from this matchup will genuinely go a long way in allaying relegation fears, especially given most people won't have factored in any points from this one when working out their end of season points totals.
Prior Form (Most recent at top)
| Premier League | Chelsea | 6-0 | Arsenal |
| Premier League | Tottenham | 0-1 | Arsenal |
| Champions League | Bayern Munich | 1-1 | Arsenal |
| FA Cup | Arsenal | 4-1 | Everton |
| Premier League | Stoke | 1-0 | Arsenal |
| Premier League | Everton | 3-2 | Swansea |
| Premier League | Swansea | 1-2 | West Brom |
| Premier League | Swansea | 1-1 | Crystal Palace |
| Europa League | Napoli | 3-1 | Swansea |
| Premier League | Liverpool | 4-3 | Swansea |
Team News
Provided by resident fitness guru @BenDinnery - make sure to follow him on Twitter for the latest injury news and views
Swansea travel to The Emirates on Tuesday and Garry Monk is expecting to take the same squad that lost to Everton after the club reported no fresh injury concerns. Jonjo Shelvey and Michu will be hoping to influence the game from the start following their second half appearance on Saturday, while Wilfried Bony could be the man to make way after his tactical withdrawal at Goodison Park.
Arsenal suffered their biggest defeat against Chelsea in over 100 years on Saturday and need to get back to winning ways if they still harbour any hope of a Premier League title. Laurent Koscielny is definitely out, the defender picked up a calf injury in the drubbing at Stamford Bridge; Thomas Vermaelen the man likely to take his place. The Frenchman joins long-term casualties Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Abou Diaby in the treatment room although the latter are reportedly nearing a return. The Gunners however will be able to call upon the services of midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and full-back Kieron Gibbs after the club successfully won their FA appeal following Saturday’s case of mistaken identity.
Completely guessed lineups
Statistics & Trivia
- Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in half of their last twenty home games.
- Since beating Arsenal in two of their first three Premier League meetings Swansea haven't beaten the Gunners, losing the last three meetings.
- There have been eight goals scored in the last 10 minutes of the last five meetings in all competitions between Arsenal and Swansea.
- Arsenal have lost none of their last 13 Premier League home games (W10 D3), conceding just four goals in that run.
- There has never been a league draw between Arsenal and Swansea with the Gunners winning five and the Swans four of the nine meetings.
- Arsenal have not conceded a first half goal in any of their last 11 Premier League matches at the Emirates. The last opposition player to score in the first half there was Stoke’s Geoff Cameron in September.
- 50% of the goals Arsenal have conceded this season though have come in just three games away from home - at home they have the league's best defence conceding just seven goals all season.
- Arsenal have won only three of their last eight Premier League games, just one more than Swansea have in their last eight (2).
Straight from the horse's mouth
Garry Monk feels the team are displaying the right characteristics as they bid to avoid the drop to the Championship:
"They want to get out of the situation that we're in. Their attitude is spot on. They want to be out there every day and want to work hard. You have to worry about your own individual performances as well and really concentrate on what you're good at and cut out mistakes.
"There are no worse critics than the players themselves. They're all an honest bunch. I'm confident with this bunch [and] they're confident we can get out of this situation."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26724631
Wilfried Bony feels the Swans could have got more from the weekend's game at Everton, and that Swansea's goals scored :
“Saturday’s game was disappointing. I don’t think we deserved to lose but we did and that’s football. We created plenty of chances but just couldn’t score and we were unlucky, but at the moment it is all about winning because we need points.
“Hopefully the goals will count at the end of the season and not now. It is a positive thing that we are creating chances, and it is always nice when the striker scores.”
Analysis
Arsenal are liable to be licking their wounds (understandably), and that makes them both dangerous and unpredictable. We could see a deflated Gunners struggling to find their ammunition, but on the other side of the coin it's distinctly possible they could come flying out of the blocks in a bid to exorcise the demons put in place by numerous heavy defeats to Champions League-chasing opposition.
Injuries will aid the Swans' cause. but the home defence will still be a tough adversary for the visitor's attack. Bony, Pablo and whoever else joins the Swansea frontline will have to work their balls off to make the most of any half-chances presented, and if we can maintain our performance for ninety minutes we could well be in with a shout.
Arsenal are, so I'm told, shonky after falling to a heavy defeat so the Swans should go for the kill. Get at them early and get the first goal, but crucially we cannot drop off like we have for entire halves against Palace & West Brom (and others before that), or for the ten minutes which cost us the game against Everton. We consistently show we've got enough to trouble good teams - the problem is doing it consistently for ninety minutes without finding a way to completely shoot ourselves in the foot.
I do expect changes from the Swans. Wenger has preferred the Ox in central midfield of late, and despite Arteta, Ox & Cazorla not qualifying as your traditional central midfield trio they offer a serious, serious threat. Arteta is (as much as I love Leon) essentially Leon at a higher level, while the Ox can run all day. As for Cazorla, the guy is a magician when he fancies it - think of him as a rich man's (very rich) Alejandro Pozuelo and you're not far off the mark. That's why it's absolutely crucial we take them on in the centre of the park. We CAN be a passing force to rival Arsenal, but only with the belief that we can take them on in the centre of the park and win. Can we? Personally I think with Leon in our midfield it'd take two bad central midfielders alongside him for that not to be a possibility.
I expect Shelvey to return to the starting lineup after his impressive Cameo against Everton, and I think we could see a couple of other changes too. After clawing ourselves back into it, we gifted Everton a goal through Lukaku and it could be argued both Ben Davies & Chico Flores could and should have done better. Whether that'll cost them their places in the team remains to be seen, as both have visibly upped their games since Monk took charge.
As with the Everton game, I'm far from confident but I do believe we can get something out of this one. Arsenal aren't unbeatable (despite their amazing home record) and this is the point in the season where one result can shift the momentum of an entire championship race/relegation battle. With the clubs around the Swans so congested, one point or even all three would be absolutely massive in terms of securing our Premier League survival for another year, and would give the team a huge confidence boost ahead of this weekend's fixture against Norwich.
That would be pretty timely, if you ask me…