Wenger Woes
Arsenal have come away from this Barclays Premier League weekend 5 points adrift of the crucial fourth Champions League place. Defeat to bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane yesterday left the Gunners trailing their North London neighbours by 7 points as Tottenham moved to third just 2 points adrift of Manchester City in second. Arsene Wenger will again have to answer serious questions about his side after a game where their defending left a lot to be desired against a potent Spurs attack. With seemingly no chance in the Champions League, securing another fourth place finish is all Arsenal can hope to achieve this season. Defeat yesterday leaves them trailing in that fight, but never write Arsenal off.
Super Shinji
Shinji Kagawa has had a difficult first season at Old Trafford since his move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer. After a promising start the Japanese international was struck by injury, which hampered his progress in England. He played well in the Bernabeu a few weeks ago and on Saturday Kagawa got the confidence boost he so badly needed. He netted a quality hat trick against Norwich in Manchester United’s 4-0 win at Old Trafford. In his time in the Bundesliga, Kagawa was prolific and Sir Alex will be hoping he can recapture similar form for United in the season run-in.
Weekend Round-up
Liverpool produced a quality display away at Wigan on Saturday. Three goals from Luis Suarez and a rare strike from Stewart Downing gave them a thumping win. Brendan Rogers will surely question why his side are so inconsistent and find themselves so far down the league when they are capable of such strong performances. Elsewhere Sunderland fought back from two goals down to draw at home with Fulham, Everton convincingly beat Reading at Goodison, while Chelsea beat West Brom at Stamford Bridge despite the home crowds backlash against interim boss Rafa Benitez. At the foot of the table QPR earned a critical win over Southampton at St.Mary’s to move to within just four points of safety.
Monday Night Football
Aston Villa vs. Manchester City is a game that has serious implications at both ends of the table. City can pull 5 clear of Tottenham with a win while Aston Villa can move out of the relegation zone with a win. On paper Manchester City should win this convincingly, but their away form of late has been patchy and a side like Aston Villa scrapping for their lives can be dangerous opposition.
Champions League
Tuesday night sees the second leg of the tie of the round in the Champions League. Manchester United and Real Madrid meet at Old Trafford with the tie evenly balanced at 1-1 after the first match at the Bernabeu. This game, between arguably the worlds two top football names will once again capture the imagination of the football world. Another big game this week for British teams in Europe sees Celtic attempt to produce miracles by overturning a massive deficit when they head to Italy to take on Juventus. It will surely be a case of damage limitations for Neil Lennons men who will want to put on a show of pride.
Europa League
Tottenham and Newcastle are in Europa League action this week. The Toon Army travel to Russia to face Anzhi while Tottenham will want to build on their derby success when they welcome Italian giants Inter Milan to The Lane. Both sides will believe they can progress through these ties and will want a good positive result from the first legs to set them up for success.
