Written by Mean Lean on Saturday, 22 January 2011 00:54

Wigan Athletic does not bring back great recent memories. Our recent draw with them at the DW stadium was the only the second time that we dropped any league points since our 1-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford.

With the team going through a strong patch of form you would expect our players to have too much for a Wigan side that have only won one of their last nine matches away from the comfort of their own home in the Premier League.

Our squad players should be in good shape after turning over a spirited Leeds United side at Elland road during midweek but you would expect Arsene to field a somewhat stronger side for the game later on this afternoon.

Gael Clichy, Jack Wilshere, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie are likely to come back into the starting line up and I believe Wenger's choice of rotation will be between Samir Nasri and Andrey Arshavin.

Samir Nasri played a big part in our victory at Elland Road and it was not just his footballing ability but he covered a large amount of ground in that game so I expect Nasri to either sit out today or against Ipswich on Wednesday.

Andrey Arshavin looks like he is close to turning the corner after working his socks off in Yorkshire but his work wasn't quite rewarded. It wasn't long ago when Arshavin was considered one of the first names on the team sheet so picking him for the game would not exactly be a risk, especially if you have a player like Nasri on the sidelines.

Lukasz Fabianski will have to spend more time on the treatment table with a shoulder problem, therefore Woijech Szczesny will continue to show what ability he has between the sticks.

Wenger has once again got to decide whether or not to rest Johan Djourou, his last breather came in the reverse fixture seven games ago. I would not be at all surprised to see Song drop back to center back with Denilson keeping his place in the center of midfield.

Mean Lean's Predicted Line Up:

One to watch: Robin Van Persie

The Dutchman is getting his groove back, he is finding his swagger at the right time. With practically his first touch of the ball at Elland road, he rose to score our third goal of the game. I believe that he will be pivotal to our attacking play this afternoon and hopefully his run of scoring goals will continue.

Mean Lean's Match Prediction:

Arsenal 4 (Arshavin, Van Persie [2], Cesc) Wigan 0

As with all of our matches with Martinez's Wigan, I expect plenty of goals as the opposition are not the parking the bus type of team, it has not been part of the managers make up. They hit us on the break back at their place, so I expect much of the same.

However it will be a totally different ball game at the Emirates and with our strongest available line up unlike the away game.

What frustrated me about that game was not the selection choice from Wenger, I totally understood and appreciated his decision to change the team 48 hours after such an energy sapping battle with Chelsea but I was disappointed with the lack of pressing and shutting down of the opposition from that team after it had served us so well against the West Londoners a couple days earlier.

That seems to be ingrained in the players minds now, Robin Van Persie spoke about it in a recent interview. so it will be interesting to see how the Wigan players deal with that.

I always fancy us, almost against anyone in the world when we are all working for each other and we pass the ball quickly. That is when we are at our best and if Cesc, Van Persie and co are sharp then I expect us to continue our winning run in the league.

THREE POINTS PLEASE ARSENAL!

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Comments (7)

• 22-Jan-2011 10:46 | | Larry Mbaco
  

  Theo will definitely score today, hope we get a strong start and hopefully wrap up the game early so we can rest a few for the 2nd leg on Tuesday. That would be ideal, but like the Boss said, any win would be fantastic for us. Lets get those 3 points! COME ON YOU GOONERS!
  
  @LarryCMbaco

• 22-Jan-2011 11:59 | | Goonzilla  - A Five Star performance from Theo Van Nasregas
  

  Nice read ML.
  
  I think Arsene will field our strongest squad which will include both Djourou and Nasri. They should then both sit out the Ipswich game (with possibly a spot on the bench).
  
  I'm going with a similar prediction if not by more goals. We have not been privileged to see "our first team" (The one that put 3 past Birm, Chelsea and West Ham) play at home against inferior opposition, plus we have not given a team a hiding for such a long time. Not to mention the little revenge factor, our current form and the fact that Wigan do not know how to park the bus. All this just leads me to conclude in one direction: There will be plenty of goals, and going by the scoring records of both teams, it is only fair to say that we should score most of them, if not all.
  
  5-0 (Theo Van Nasregas to score all 5 goals)

• 22-Jan-2011 13:18 | | Sobin the Indian gooner
  

  My starting 11
  sczezny-sagna-djourou-koscielny-clichy-wilshere-song-fabregas-walcott- vanpersie-arshavin
  come on Gunners

• 22-Jan-2011 15:56 | | MeanLean
  

  We should be way out of sight. Lets hope they sharpen up after the break.
  
  Lost my bloody stream. It was really good as well.

• 23-Jan-2011 02:01 | | richie  - Should've improved our GD
  

  One to watch RvP? You must've read the script ML the Pen apart Robin was back to his magnificent best which bodes very well for us in the 2nd half of this season, lets all hope he stays injury free and fit & healthy.
  
  Three points will do nicely but we really should've added to our goal difference. 6 - 0 was not only possible it was probably! I think Wigans GK was the man ot the match. I said six nil because with Taggarts old prodigy McLeish's side rolling over for the Manu'er, increasing their GD by 5, six would've kept us equal with them.
  
  We know we are more than Equal to them in all other respects. Their team ain't really worth a bloody toss but they've made themself very difficult to beatm, I think Taggart did this on purpose knowing that once Ronaldo left so would all of their flair. Can't wait for them to lose, its amazing they've gone so far unbeaten with who they've got playing fo them.

• 23-Jan-2011 15:24 | | dkgooner
  

  A Man Utd team should never be underestimated - nor should their manager. His record speaks for itself and deserves respect, even if some of his utterances don't.
  This current team are clearly very resilient - they have a very strong back four now that Raphael has found his form. All their players have a lot of experience and it's quite amazing how well Giggs is still playing. They also have a formula for playing against us which has worked very well for them recently. They got a bit lucky at OT this season - 9 times out of 10 Park's header would have missed or been an easy save for the keeper. If we can get our noses in front at the Emirates, we will beat them I think. We're looking so much stronger defensively so let's just pray for an injury-free spring for our back four.
  It's either them or us for the title. I'd be amazed if City won it.

• 24-Jan-2011 05:09 | | richie  - Resilient is the word
  

  I agree Manu'er and Taggart can't be underestimated not with how they've kept churning out results and more importantly kept winning silverwear over the prem years. How they are doing it at the moment beggars belief with the players they have. But it's a lesson to all that its not always best to have 11 great players i.e 11 chiefs a few indians are needed. Taggart has succeeded yet again in building a team, this one might lack flair and creativity but its not easy to beat.

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