Arsene Wenger and Gerard Houllier may well be good friends off the pitch, but if their friendship is to survive past this weekend, it may well require Arsenal (currently narrow favourites to win the game on odds comparison sites) to take all three points off Aston Villa.
With Wenger well aware that his side is just about hanging in there when it comes to this year’s bizarre title race, he knows that his team needs to come away from Villa Park having picked up the maximum points available. Should they fail to do this, Wenger will be aware that his side are going to struggle to be seen by football pundits as genuine contenders for the title.
However, after struggling to put together a top class performance in quite some time now, and having endured a difficult and ultimately unsuccessful trip to Portugal earlier in the week, they will need to pick themselves up quickly and start strongly if they are to stand a chance of defeating a Villa side which has been on the rise recently.
With the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Vermaelen still missing through injury, the onus is falling more and more on Samir Nasri to keep the Gunners firing. However, unless the likes of Theo Walcott and Van Persie start to show why the Gunners have spent big money on keeping them at the club with improved contracts, it’s difficult to see how the side can keep on picking up results.
This article has so far focused upon Arsenal’s strengths, or the lack of them. However, that is not to say that Villa won’t be able to upset the odds and have a big say on the result of the game, with the likes of Ashley Young desperate to show that they are worthy of a place in the England side, but with the stakes so high for the Gunners, Villa know that they will need to be at their best to keep the visitors at bay.
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