Aston Villa vs Arsenal

Saturday 20th Sept, 2015. 3:00pm KO

Venue; Villa Park.

Aston Villa will go into this game with an impressive start to the Premier League having only conceded once in the opening 4 games and have amassed 10 points from 12. Paul Lambert’s Aston Villa currently sits in second position with an undefeated record so far this season, with 3 wins and a draw. Arsenal have been slightly less impressive than this weekend’s rivals but the Gunners are also undefeated with a win and three draws currently good enough to put them in 7th place.

Both sides have had their fair share when it comes to playing the top teams with Villa defeating Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield last time out and Arsenal gaining creditable draws away to Everton and at home to Manchester City. However, Aston Villa looks like the comfortable side going into this clash after the Anfield win last week, while Arsenal on the other hand lost in midweek to Borussia Dortmund with lots of criticism from fans and journalist alike about play maker, Mesut Ozil’s less than impressive impact so far.

Team News

Manager Paul Lambert has just three injuries to contend with although two of them could be classed as his two star players. While star striker Christian Benteke who has been injured since March is out until October with his long term injury, Centre-back Ron Vlaar is still sidelined with a calf injury that forced the Dutchman out of the win over Liverpool. Libor Kozak rounds off the Aston Villa injury list with his broken leg which should keep him out until November.

Despite the Premier League season being only 4 weeks old, Arsenal already have a huge injury list to contend with. The London club currently have the joint most first team players out injured with seven squad members missing at the moment – this is tied alongside Newcastle United and Manchester United who both have seven injuries apiece.

Summer signing Mathieu Debuchy is out with an ankle injury sustained against Manchester City last weekend whilst Jack Wilshere who was a doubt with an ankle injury of his own has been certified fit by the Arsenal boss. Nacho Monreal who was initially out of the clash with Dortmund due to back injury has been ruled out of this weekend’s game as the boss admitted he doesn’t know how long the Spaniard would be out for. Strikers Yaya Sanogo and Olivier Giroud have hamstring and foot injuries respectively whilst wingers Serge Gnabry and Theo Walcott are still some way from fitness with knee and ACL injuries. However, Arsenal supporters can take some solace in the fact that Walcott might be back before the end of this month.

Stats and Facts

Aston Villa had just 25% possession against Liverpool last weekend but had the same amount of shots on target as the home side. Although that didn’t take much because both sides had just one shot on target each.
Villa has beaten Arsenal just three times in their last 11 Premier League attempts.
Aston Villa has created an average of 5.25 chances per 90 minutes played this season compared to Arsenal’s average of 12.50.

Verdict

Despite Arsenal’s poor form in recent games and only 2 wins so far since the league started, i believe this could be the game they get back to winning ways. 1-2 to the Gunners




West Ham vs Liverpool

Saturday 20 Sept, 2015. 5:30 KO.

Venue; Upton Park.

After coming from behind twice to graba 2-2 draw against Hull City away from home last weekend, West Ham United welcome Liverpool to Upton Park in the Saturday tea-time encounter. The Hammers go into the game in 13th place after picking up four points from their first four games whilst Gerrard and co have lost two of their four matches to sit in 8th position going into this weekend games.

The Reds go into the game on the back of a shock defeat at home to Aston Villa after a bitterly disappointing display. Coupled with the defeat at Man City in their second game, Liverpool have already lost twice so far which will be frustrating considering the excellent display against Spurs. Rodgers expects better from his men and after narrowly winning unimpressively aginst Ludogrets in their first game back in the Champions League in midweek, a win would be pleasing for him to be able to keep tabs on the other top teams.

Sam Allardyce will take many positives from his side’s performance against a tough Hull outfit who led twice in the match. An absolute thunderbolt from Enner Valencia alongside a Curtis Davies own goal helped West Ham get a point away from Hull. The Hammers were desperate to gain something out of the match considering their woeful display at home to Southampton in their previous game. In front of their home fans once again, West Ham will want to give their supporters something to cheer about come the end of the game.

It was a controversial affair the last time these two sides met at Upton Park with Liverpool eventually edging the contest 2-1courtesy of two penalties, both scored by captain Steven Gerrard, which was sandwiched between a Guy Demel goal, which was allowed to stand even after Andy Carroll impeded goalkeeper Simon Mignolet in the build up.

After opening his Liverpool account in midweek, Balotelli would be looking to get his 1st league goal for the Anfiled side who continue to be without the injured Daniel Sturridge, while Enner Valencia would hope he can continue his goal scoring form after scoring 1 in West Ham’s away visit at Hull City

Team News

West Ham will hope to be able to call on Matt Jarvis, who has recovered from a thigh injury as well as Carl Jenkinson who tweaked his hamstring in the draw against Hull City. Joey O’Brien could also be declared fit for the Saturday tea-time game after shaking off a knee injury but club captain Kevin Nolan will not be in action for at least another month after fracturing his shoulder. Injury-prone striker and former Liverpool player Andy Carroll will miss the match against his old side as he is still suffering from an ankle injury.

The Hammers went into the game at the KC Stadium with a surprisingly attacking line up after handing debuts to Diafra Sakho and the impressive Enner Valencia who scored an early contender for goal of the season with a thunderous strike in the 2-2 draw. Zarate and Downing provided the support for the strikers but it looks like at least one of the four attacking players will be sacrificed in order to sure up the midfield with Alex Song being a strong contender to start.

The Reds could see the return of Martin Skrtel and Joe Allen to the first team line-up after both missed the defeat to Aston Villa last week. Glen Johnson (thigh) is nearing full fitness but Jon Flanagan (knee) will be missing for a few months after undergoing surgery. Emre Can was recently ruled out for up to six weeks after injuring his ankle on duty with the German U21 team. Sturridge is out with a thigh muscle injury after he sustained the injury while on international duty with the England national team.

Rodgers reverted back to 4-3-3 system against Aston Villa and clearly something didn’t click so he may look to go to his favoured diamond formation in midfield, with Sterling playing either as a second striker or as a number 10 behind the front two. Balotelli will lead the line but Rodgers may spring a surprise by giving Fabio Borini an opportunity up front after impressing as a substitute in the Champions League.



Verdict

Westham would try to make it difficult for Liverpool who will need Sterling to be on top form to boost their chances of coming away with all of the 3 points. However, with the likes of Lallana, Markovic yet to get their feet yet, this could be a tricky tie for the Cops. 1-3





Read More Here

Aston Villa 0-3 Arsenal. my prediction

cosmatika: Aston Villa 0-3 Arsenal. my prediction

U FUNNY DIE. WHO GO SCORE FOR ARSENAL

Aston Villa 2 vs Arsenal 1

ginajet: Aston Villa 2 vs Arsenal 1

[size=30pt]Smh[/size]


CLUELESS