Jay
04-14-2009, 06:50 AM
It was'nt that long ago when no one rated the Gunners and yet now there are flying high in the Premiership and with the draw in the first leg of this tie are looking odds on to make it to the final four of this seasons CL,Villareal are wishing they would'nt of allowed that goal in the second half of the first leg and are now here at Emirates looking to get an away goal and hold the Gunners scoreless,but injuries and the like could hurt them and i'm looking for a narrow Gunners win of 1-0.
Arsenal enter this match after a morale boosting win in their last EPL match on the weekend 1-4 away to Wigan and it was a great second half performance that got them home,but in recent times for them that has been the same old story,their earleier season form is now a thing of the past with the Gunners winning 4 of their last 5 and being unbeaten in their last 5 matches at home,The Gunners could be without Gallas, Clichy, Djourou and Almunia with injuries but they do have both Fabregas and Adebayor back in and there presence and form are majoir reasons to the Gunners last two months of revival.
Villareal come here knowing they need to score but it won't be easy and even more so with them likely missing some big name players,Villareal enter this game after having been beaten by Malaga on the weekend 0-2 and lost that match at home,they have also lost their last 2 away matches to both Almeria 3-0 and Atlectico Madrid 3-2 and have one win in thier last 5 away matches,they come here without Santi Cazorla,Marcos Senna has picked up an injury over the weekend and Cani and Mati Fernandez are also struggling with knocks so the Yellow Submarine could be well under manned here today.
Some Intresting Facts...
The Londoners have won six of their 10 home matches against Spanish opponents in European football (drawing two, and losing two). Arsenal's last home defeat to a Spanish club was against Deportivo La Coruna in a Champions League group match on 12 March 2002 (0-2).
In four away matches, Villarreal have won just once against opponents from England (drawing two, and losing one).
They previously came face to face in the semi-finals of the Champions League three seasons ago. The Gunners won the first match at home (1-0), through a goal from Kolo Toure on 19 April 2006. The return, a week later, was a goalless draw. Riquelme missed a 90th minute penalty which would have taken the tie into extra time.
The Gunners are Unbeaten in 23 home matches in the Champions League and they have Kept clean sheets in the last four home CL matches. This is the club's second best defensive display. Between November 2005 and November 2006, they managed seven successive shut-outs.
The Gunners are in great form here and are getting stronger and stronger as their season carrys on,Villareal are not in form and are not at full strength but they have scored a goal against the Gunners and come here knowing that a goal and a good defensive display could at least earn them extra time and maybe some luck on Penalties,but really all of that is hard to see the Gunners know a single goal here and their defence will do the rest against a Villareal side who are unlikey to mount to much of a serious challenge against them,I fancy Villareal to make a real game of this but not have the quality to take the chance when it arrives while the longer the game go's the more open they will become and I think Arsenal will score the goal that matters and settle for a narrow 1-0 win...Good Luck.
Arsenal enter this match after a morale boosting win in their last EPL match on the weekend 1-4 away to Wigan and it was a great second half performance that got them home,but in recent times for them that has been the same old story,their earleier season form is now a thing of the past with the Gunners winning 4 of their last 5 and being unbeaten in their last 5 matches at home,The Gunners could be without Gallas, Clichy, Djourou and Almunia with injuries but they do have both Fabregas and Adebayor back in and there presence and form are majoir reasons to the Gunners last two months of revival.
Villareal come here knowing they need to score but it won't be easy and even more so with them likely missing some big name players,Villareal enter this game after having been beaten by Malaga on the weekend 0-2 and lost that match at home,they have also lost their last 2 away matches to both Almeria 3-0 and Atlectico Madrid 3-2 and have one win in thier last 5 away matches,they come here without Santi Cazorla,Marcos Senna has picked up an injury over the weekend and Cani and Mati Fernandez are also struggling with knocks so the Yellow Submarine could be well under manned here today.
Some Intresting Facts...
The Londoners have won six of their 10 home matches against Spanish opponents in European football (drawing two, and losing two). Arsenal's last home defeat to a Spanish club was against Deportivo La Coruna in a Champions League group match on 12 March 2002 (0-2).
In four away matches, Villarreal have won just once against opponents from England (drawing two, and losing one).
They previously came face to face in the semi-finals of the Champions League three seasons ago. The Gunners won the first match at home (1-0), through a goal from Kolo Toure on 19 April 2006. The return, a week later, was a goalless draw. Riquelme missed a 90th minute penalty which would have taken the tie into extra time.
The Gunners are Unbeaten in 23 home matches in the Champions League and they have Kept clean sheets in the last four home CL matches. This is the club's second best defensive display. Between November 2005 and November 2006, they managed seven successive shut-outs.
The Gunners are in great form here and are getting stronger and stronger as their season carrys on,Villareal are not in form and are not at full strength but they have scored a goal against the Gunners and come here knowing that a goal and a good defensive display could at least earn them extra time and maybe some luck on Penalties,but really all of that is hard to see the Gunners know a single goal here and their defence will do the rest against a Villareal side who are unlikey to mount to much of a serious challenge against them,I fancy Villareal to make a real game of this but not have the quality to take the chance when it arrives while the longer the game go's the more open they will become and I think Arsenal will score the goal that matters and settle for a narrow 1-0 win...Good Luck.