Match Preview: Arsenal v Olympique de Marseille; Champion’s League Match Day 4
“Ten points would guarantee our qualification but it would not guarantee first place [in the group],” Wenger said. “You want to finish as high as possible but the first step is to qualify. It will be a difficult game against Marseille so let’s be cautious, prepare well and be completely focused.” – So says Arsene Wenger as Arsenal prepare ahead of tonights Champion’s League Group Stage clash with Marseille.
Two weeks ago, the 1-0 win was an unexpected surprise. Arsenal were steadily improving on their home soil but had yet to show that the improvement was anything more than a blip. Sure enough, the first half of the tie at the Velodrome, saw Marseille press their advantage and the Gunners were likely to go into the half drawn 0-0.
It was as has been the case for most of the season, a tale of two halves. Whatever adjustments Wenger made, worked as Arsenal took control of the match in the second half and always looked the more dangerous of the two. And then finally in stoppage time the result came. And usually, as Arsenal fans those stoppage time results haven’t gone our way. This time it did. With Djourou getting a cross into Gervinho you dinked off to a wide open Ramsey, the Welshman, slotted home a rifle shot that put Arsenal up on top of its group.
If anyone tells you they expected that – they are lying. Marseille going into the first tie had been playing the best football in the group. Winning against Olympiakos and utterly dismantling Dortmund. Arsenal on the other hand had struggled to a draw with Dortmund and even their win against Olympiakos was fraught with issues.
Two weeks on however, Arsenal come in on a role and the high of defeating arch rival Chelsea in a wide open affair. They are winners of 8 of their last 9 in all competitions and if not for a Van Der Vaart handball could’ve been undefeated in 9. The three headed attack of Gervinho, Walcott and Captain Van Tastic, is clicking with Saturday their most impressive performance to date. Robin Van Persie is on track to surpass his goal tally of last season (provided he stays healthy). Theo Walcott finally showed that if he puts it all together he can be a force to be reckoned with and Gervinho is establishing a partnership with Van Persie that is going to hurt a lot of clubs.
Arsenal have to either draw or win this game to be in the driver’s seat of the group. A win all but assures them of the group. But as we can all fondly call, going into match day 4 last season, Arsenal were in the driver’s seat and Wenger took his foot off the gas pedal. The resulting mess of the last 3 matches put Arsenal as the group’s second seed which set them up for a heavy draw in the knock out round. So for Wenger the task is to go with the best squad available and not rely on fringe players to get us over the hump. He has to simply use most of the line up from Saturday with some minor adjustments.
Marseille could come out looking for the draw, which in my opinion would harm them in this match. Didier Deschamps seems to be focusing in on their next Champion’s League tie which is a home match against Olympiakos.
“A win would be amazing, but a point would also be a big achievement. The most important game might be our next one, at home to Olympiacos. Anything is possible.
The most important thing for me and my players is to believe that we are capable of getting a result. That’swhat we need to focus on.”
But Wenger is wary of the French team:
“I believe [Marseille] have a team [better suited to] playing away from home than at home. They have a side that can defend well [and are] very physical and quick on the break. I believe counterattack suits them more than dominating possession in the game. They’ve gained confidence, like we have, since the last game, so it will be an interesting tie.
For us it is an opportunity to qualify tomorrow and we want to take that chance.
Marseille showed in the first tie that they can play. They were unfortunate. Arsenal have to adjust their defence which is why I suspect Wenger could opt for the faster pairing of Vermaelen and Koscielny over Mertesacker.
Team News:
Arsenal: Kieran Gibbs is still out with a stomach muscle problem while Marouane Chamakh misses the game with a knee injury. Long-term injured Jack Wilshere (ankle) and Bacary Sagna (broken leg) are still out. The status of Abou Diaby is unknown. He was last reported as being on track to return but rumours were circulating that he had a set back in his recovery.
Marseille:
André-Pierre Gignac came on against Dijon despite suffering groin pains and is questionable for this tie. Stéphane Mbia remains out of action with a broken metatarsal.
Arsenal. Robin Van Persie. If I have to explain why, you’ve been living in a cave or are a Tottenscum fan in disguise
Marseille. Andre Ayew. One of two players on Marseille that I believe Wenger would love seeing on his team. He is pacy, creative and always a threat. Too bad him and Remy don’t have more support to help them lead the way.
Projected lineups:
Arsenal: Szczesny, Djourou, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Santos, Song, Arteta, Ramsey, Gervinho, Walcott, Van Persie (c)
Marseille: Mandanda; Fanni, Nkoulou, Diawara, Morel, Diarra, Cheyrou; Lucho Gonzalez, A.Ayew, Valbuena, Remy
Domestic Form:
Arsenal. 5-3 win vs Chelsea
Marseille. 3-2 win vs Dijon FCO
Head to Head Tournament Stats:
|
Arsenal |
Marseille |
|
| Goals Scored |
4 |
4 |
| Attempts on Target |
13 |
11 |
| Attempts off Target |
4 |
14 |
| Corners |
18 |
8 |
| Offsides |
11 |
10 |
| Fouls Committed |
35 |
44 |
| Yellow Cards |
6 |
9 |
| Red Cards |
0 |
2 |
TV Viewing:
US: FoxSoccer.TV 0345 pm EST (replay on Fox Soccer Channel at 6PM EST)
UK: Sky Sports 2 1945 GMT
GAMEDAY CHAT IS OPEN!!!: https://youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal – 2
Marseille – 1
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Eh. The result wasn’t as good as our first match against OM but the game was more interesting I thought… at least the first half was. There is a huge drop-off b/w RVP and our other central strikers.
@ChicagoGooner,
Theres a large drop off between RVP and quite a lot of the strikers in the league, but i see where your coming from. I hope those rumours about Lukasz Podolski are true, because frankly sending Chamakh out on loan to regain his mojo seems a good idea to me, and Park, well he can play in the Carling Cup and FA Cup Games against weaker teams
One more match and then a somewhat less welcome int’l break….That is assuming we do the business over WBA on Saturday. We failed a year ago but things have changed….
Maybe. Marseille was a let down we could afford, I guess, and perhaps some good work was accomplished defensively. That Vermaelen guy looks pretty solid….
At the other end we looked pretty poor without the other team to generate all the pace and bravado (as Chelsea did). People are saying that Park was no RVP. True, but his movement looks good enough to me when compared to Chamakh and Bendtner, even if I think Vela could maybe do better. All those guys need RVP’s desire to get touches away from the box (instead of weak fakes) if we’re going to beat this “false 9” thing into the ground….
It takes more creativity from the others. Theo needs a miracle first touch while Gervinho tends to take the ball directly but then have trouble at the end. Theo too. If he could’ve taken some sting off the rebound which he gunned to Ju it would’ve been 1 nil to the Arsenal. Subbing in RVP was a leap in quality but dropping Gerv for Arsh was a giant step the other way. I guess Andrey needs to start matches….it appears he loses his legs just watching all that running….. And where was Benayoun or the OX? Did a Chelsea lynch mob get to the former for failing to respect his owners on Twitter? And I guess Theo and Jenkinson need to work out their relationship down the right rather than have it be all babies learning how to walk….
The real trouble (of course) is in MF. Somebody please teach Aaron Ramsey how to run. When you want to accelerate you shorten your stride, otherwise it appears the pitch has turned to quicksand….. At least he’s young. At their advanced ages I doubt anybody can teach Arteta to feel the space behind him and run onto well weighted passes nor can they teach Rosicky pace or how to use his left foot. Unfortunately, Jack Wilshere is dead while Abou Diaby is having to teach his hamstrings to get used to his new ankle. And Alex Song maybe doesn’t have the range of passes to spring our forwards from our own half more than once in a blue moon…..
Not complaining, not really. A draw and a clean sheet is fine. It won’t be enough at the weekend, but maybe everybody knows that already…..
A performance that brings us back to reality. The thing I wanted clarity on is that due to our fall from grace most teams are not sitting back anymore and are attacking us leaving more space behind than last year. Is this a real observation or do we still get teams sitting off us? Also, a question to Santos, how long does it take to lose weight?
Re: the lack of posts, I go to comment quite often, but the website never remembers me, meaning I have to login everytime, which makes it generally quite frustrating.
Good defensive solidity is really the most you can say about tonight. And Ramsey looks the man most likely to take over Cesc’s creative mantle. I’m liking Arteta, mostly for the fact that he is not Denilson. He is reliable.
Admittedly my expectations have been lowered somewhat.
A big name striker, and an outstanding midfielder in January would get me pretty excited about this team again.
@rocka,
Esteban Granero and Lukasz Podolski suit your fancy? Big money moves for both of them have a high chance of being in the pipeline
Its too early for our pipeline that starts on the 25th January or 25th of August of any given transfer window
Not a great performance from the boys, maybe theyre still tired from the Chelsea game, it looked that way. Gervinho wasn’t great, didnt see Park do much, and we shoulda scored at least 1. Andre Santos is a defensive liability, but he was better in the second half, shame really, now the anti-wenger brigade will be out in force calling saturday a 1 off and all that stuff, not a great game though
My MOTM would have to be ramsey or jenkinson, the former bossed the midfield around and played some good passes in, whereas our young RB rarely put a foot wrong
Starting XI: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Song, Ramsey, Arteta, Walcott, Gervinho, Park.
RVP will start from the bench