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Aston Villa and Arsenal last met in December at the Emirates Stadium. It was a memorable match. Arsenal's Spanish International, Cesc Fabregas, came on as a sub in the 2nd half, took the game by the scruff of its neck, and scored two goals to lead the Gunners to a 3-0 victory. Arsenal moved into 2nd place in the table with that win and Fabregas reinforced his reputation as the creative force that powers the Arsenal midfield engine.
Although they still sit 2nd in the league table, the Arsenal squad that arrives at Villa Park on Wednesday is one that was humbled at the weekend by Stoke City in their 4th Round FA Cup match at Britannia Stadium. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had already made clear that the league title was his priority and his team selection for the cup tie against Stoke proved the point.
Sol Campbell made a surprising first team debut at center back, partnered by Mikael Silvestre and Armand Traore. William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen, so effective both in defense as well as attack this season, didn’t even appear on the bench. Eighteen year old Frenchman Francis Coquelin started in the midfield and nineteen year old Jay Emmanuel-Thomas started up front for Arsenal.
Arsenal’s unusual team selection
Indeed, Wenger made nine changes from the team that beat Bolton the previous midweek, retaining
only Fabregas and Denilson in the side. Apart from veterans Campbell and Silvestre, 35 and 32 years old respectively, Wenger fielded what could almost be called a youth team against Stoke. Average age of the remaining outfield players who started the match? 19.875 years. The combination of experience and youth was unable to cope with the physical nature of the match at Stoke.
Following Manchester United’s shock 3rd Round exit from the FA Cup Arsene Wenger observed that it might be a good for United to be out so they could concentrate on the league. Hmmm. Wenger admitted his selection’s inexperience, but defended it nonetheless. ''We were exposed to a fight, and some of our players were a bit young and could not cope with it. I do not regret the side I put out, I did not have much choice. We had 10 injuries and a very difficult program coming up.”
Difficult? Following the Villa match the Gunner’s meet Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League, then they have a Champion’s League tie away against Porto. Wenger has clearly become adept at the art of English understatement.
Villa aim: 4th place! (And stay ahead of Birmingham?)
Villa is the first hurdle though. Martin O’Neill’s men currently sit 7th in the league table, just a point behind Liverpool, and they'll be looking to avenge their 3-0 loss to Arsenal at The Emirates in December. A win against the Gunners could vault Villa as high as 4th place. Perhaps more importantly to certain elements among the Aston Villa faithful, a win could put more distance between themselves and hometown rivals Birmingham City, who’ve been in rip-roaring form and trail the Villains by just three points.
Recent results have been good ones for Villa. Three wins over Blackburn this month alone, one an FA Cup encounter and the other two Carling Cup Semi-Final ties. The latter of these was a raucous affair that Villa won 6-4 at home to go through to the final of the Carling Cup. The victories over Blackburn were punctuated by a 0-0 draw with West Ham in the league and a 3-2 FA Cup 4th Round victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
With Heskey, Carew and Agbonlahor available in the attack, supported by the likes of Stuart Downing, Stiliyan Petrov and James Milner in midfield, Villa are not short of handy fellows to rely upon. The speedy Agbonlahor can be especially effective. He has 8 goals this season and is well on his way to eclipsing his previous best of 11.
Wenger no longer in his cups! O’Neill relishing Campbell’s return?
Now that Arsene Wenger’s mind is free of any domestic cup-related worries he can settle in and buckle up for the second half of the season, which is sure to be an interesting ride. But if the Frenchman expects to overcome Aston Villa and ultimately go on to win the league he’ll avoid the May-December kind of lineup he fielded against Stoke. Thirty five year old Sol Campbell can’t hope to keep pace with the likes of Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor, and nineteen year old Jay Emmanuel-Thomas can’t hope to push defenders like Villa’s Richard Dunne around.
Look for Arsene Wenger to field a more familiar lineup against Villa; in particular look for Gallas and Vermaelen to be back in the lineup. On the other hand, look for Villa manager Martin O’Neill to salivate at the prospect of Sol Campbell in the Arsenal defense, for his cumbersome pace is an exploitation waiting to happen.
