Arsenal vs Hull City – Preview and Team News

Hull City visit the Emirates tonight. Last year everyone were expecting a walk in the park for Arsenal but the Tigers stunned everyone with a 2-1 win. This time around again Arsenal are expected to claim an easy win, especially considering Hull have been a shadow of the side they were at this time last year and are lying way down the table at 16th with just 4 wins so far.

But Hull have only lost one in their last 5 games. Though they have won only one in this period as well! Arsenal on the other hand have lost two and won two in their last 5 matches. Not impressive. So the form of the two sides promises a tough encounter but when you consider Arsenal’s home record this season, 12 wins and a defeat, not many will not be expecting Arsenal to take all 3 points from this one.

As for the team news Cesc Fabregas is out, but his replacement Denilson returns. Eboue might make a return as well but Traore remains out. I am expecting the following line-up:

Almunia
Eboue     Vermaelen     Gallas     Silvestre
Diaby     Song     Denilson
Walcott     Arshavin     Nasri

Now that clearly is not a very strong line-up. Most of us hate to have just the two of those midfield three in the same team but we might happen to see all three of them on the same pitch tonight! I would prefer to put in Ramsey instead of Denilson. And Vela up front instead of Walcott. I am not a big fan of Walcott and I’m sure Vela can do far better than Walcott. In the defence Sagna might be rested. He has been playing consecutively for quite a lot of matches now and deserves some rest. Central defence is perfect but Silvestre was a disaster at left back on Wednesday. But then we don’t have a choice. As for Almunia, I don’t want him to play today. He’s had a lot of chances but he’s not shown yet why he is the number 1. Put in Fabianski and I’m sure he will do better than Almunia.

So there it is then. I’m not expecting a one-sided encounter but still Arsenal should come out with the win. 2-1 I think.

Arsenal can’t win trophies with THIS away form

Arsenal started the season as well as any fan would have hoped for. But it hasn’t lasted. It’s turning into another season of disappointment. They have only managed to win 3 from their last 8 games; clearly not the sort of form that can win you trophies. Now Arsenal lag way behind the top 2 who seem to be battling for the League title and out of the Carling. A lot of the frustration Arsenal fans are enduring can be attributed to the Gunners’ below par away record so far this season. The record so far is as follows:

Wins – 6

Defeats – 5

Draws – 3

That’s not good enough. Period. Arsenal have refused to turn up in a lot of these games. The last three defeats have been pathetic performances. The draw at Burnley was the nth time Arsenal were complacent. They took the lead at United, then gave it away. They took the lead at West Ham, then gave it away. Same at Alkmaar, at Burnley. Yet after each one of those occasions they say they’ve learned the lesson now. But no, they haven’t. Time and again they have given points away needlessly. One week they make you feel yes, the Arsenal that can win the League is here. And then next week you see depressing performances like the one on Wednesday night.

Ok, Arsenal are still in the title race but how many of you honestly think they can win it? And I mean honestly. Deep down most of you know it’s not possible, not with the players we have available at the moment. Buy more quality in January and maybe, just maybe, we will have a chance. Lets face it, with Almunia in goal we are not going to many keep clean sheets! So what we need to do is outscore our opponents. To do that we need quality finishers. Right now only Fabregas and Arshavin seem like getting the goals. Walcott is hopeless. He’s got pace, that’s  it. Can’t pass, can’t shoot, can’t cross, can’t dribble! Bendtner and van Persie are out. Vela and Eduardo only seem to score for their countries and not Arsenal. Vela looks like he can only score from chips. Eduardo’s finishing has gone to sleep. We need quality and we need it quick! Arsene Wenger admits it and he’s got to open his chequebook. I think even a cup tied player will do because it’s clear we stand more chance of winning the Premier League than the Champions League. Especially since Wenger has so much faith in his current squad just let them continue their run in Europe and buy someone world class to re-start our Premier League title challenge. I don’t usually do negative articles and I haven’t been writing for quite some time but I felt I have to get my feelings out. For now let hope for the best. We’re not out of the title race mathematically so we can win it. Just need better, more aggressive and fighting performances from the players not the uninterested performances that we have seen too many of already.

*This article was supposed to be on Arsenal’s away form but I guess I took out far more frustration than just that!

Who should be Arsenal’s number 1?

Firstly, Arsene Knows Best is back! I’ll try to keep up the standard that this site was renowned for but I still might not be updating daily.

I’ll start off with a poll of the quandary that Arsene Wenger is in these days. Who should be the number one. Wenger is a mystery man so you can’t guess what is going through his mind. But who do the fans want as number one? The experience of Almunia or the talent of Mannone? Fabianski unfortunately is out injured again for three weeks so he is not an option right now. Personally I would prefer Almunia. Ok he’s not the world class keeper we should have but he’s the best we have right now. Mannone is really talented but experience is extremely vital in keepers and he doesn’t have much of it. He might put in a few really good performances but his inexperience can cost us matches. What is your opinion? Vote and let us know why in the comments section.

Current and Ex Arsenal Players voted as best in the Game

Read about it here

Wilshere involved in latest diving controversy

Read it here

You are requested to comment in the link given instead of here

Pearce Predicts Bright Future for Wilshire”

Read it here http://arsenal247.webs.com/apps/blog/show/1686100-pearce-predicts-bright-future-for-wilshire

Defender Unhappy At Arsenal

Read it here

Bilic lashes out on Eduardo’s unfair ban

You can read this article at our new domain.

http://arsenal247.webs.com/apps/blog/show/1678322-bilic-lashes-out-at-eduardo-s-unfair-ban

What’s your View?: Eduardo given two-match ban

This article is available on our new site at

http://arsenal247.webs.com/apps/blog/show/1674306-eduardo-handed-2-match-ban-for-diving-what-s-your-view-

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Site is now ‘Arsenal24/7′

First of all, we deeply apologize for the lack of updates over the past month. That of course, was due to a major technical difficulty on wordpress.

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