Preview: Wigan Athletic - Arsenal

Posted Sunday, April 18, 2010 by Goal.com

Will Gunners be hungry or hungover against Latics?

Sunday, 18 April 2010, Kick-off: 13:30 BST
DW Stadium, Wigan, Greater Manchester

Although Arsenal have repeatedly battled their way back into contention for the title this season after appearing to lose significant ground in a gruelling race, Wednesday's defeat away to arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur has almost certainly dealt a terminal blow to their hopes of pipping Chelsea and Manchester United to the Premier League crown. Ahead of Sunday's lunchtime test at Wigan Athletic, even Arsene Wenger has admitted that there is simply too much to do now, and that his team are very unlikely to win the title.

That midweek defeat - Arsenal's first reverse against Spurs in 21 League meetings spanning 11 years - left them six points behind leaders Chelsea with just 12 points left to play for. It also proved costly in other ways, with Thomas Vermaelen - their most consistent defender this season - picking up an injury that will keep him out of the Gunners' four remaining matches. The Belgian centre-back is just the latest in a long line of Arsenal players to succumb to debilitating injury in a season that has almost been defined by the loss of key players before or during pivotal matches.

Indeed, the most poignant feature of the game at White Hart Lane for many Arsenal fans was Robin van Persie's second-half introduction, and the galvanising effect it had on the team's attacking play. Arsenal's season might well have turned out very differently had the Dutch striker not ruptured ankle ligaments playing for Holland against Italy in an international friendly last November.

Van Persie will probably be involved against Wigan on Sunday, though Vermaelen - who scored twice for the Gunners when they beat the Latics 4-0 at Emirates Stadium in September - will not. That emphatic victory was Arsenal's eighth against Wigan in their nine previous Premier League meetings; the other game ended in a goalless draw at the DW Stadium in March 2008. The corresponding fixture last season (exactly a year and one week ago) saw the Gunners triumph 4-1.

Such statistics make sombre reading for Wigan boss Roberto Martinez - as do those that show the Latics have only won two of their last 14 Premier League games, have failed to score more than one goal in any of those matches, and have managed only four goals in their last 10 outings.

They missed an opportunity to take a significant step away from the relegation zone and towards preserving their top-flight status when they were held to a goalless draw by depleted and already relegated Portsmouth in midweek. The Latics could have moved seven points clear of third-from-bottom Burnley by beating Pompey but had to settle for one point instead of three as they inch their way painfully towards safety.

Yet although Wigan have recently been in decidedly inconsistent if not poor form, they will take heart from the fact that they have already beaten both Chelsea and Liverpool at home this season - as well as from the fact that they will be facing an Arsenal side shorn of several first-team regulars and possibly suffering a hangover from their last two matches. Those games saw them eliminated from the Champions League by Barcelona and probably denied the title by Spurs, consigning them to a fifth consecutive season without a tropy to give substance to their much admired style.

FORM GUIDE

Wigan

14 Apr (Premier League) v Portsmouth (H) DREW 0-0
04 Apr (Premier League) v Fulham (A) LOST 1-2
29 Mar (Premier League) v Man City (A) LOST 0-3
20 Mar (Premier League) v Burnley (H) WON 1-0
16 Mar (Premier League) v Aston Villa (H) LOST 1-2
13 Mar (Premier League) v Bolton Wanderers (A) LOST 0-4

Arsenal

14 Apr (Premier League) v Tottenham (A) LOST 1-2
06 Apr (Champions League) v Barcelona (A) LOST 1-4
03 Apr (Premier League) v Wolves (H) WON 1-0
31 Mar (Champions League) v Barcelona (H) DREW 2-2
27 Mar (Premier League) v Birmingham (A) DREW 1-1
20 Mar (Premier League) v West Ham (H) WON 2-0

TEAM NEWS

Wigan

Martinez will be without defender Gary Caldwell, who completes a three-game ban, while Latics midfielder Hendry Thomas is struggling with a thigh injury and may well miss out. Thomas has missed the last two matches with the injury, and is only rated as 50-50. Otherwise, Martinez has a full squad to choose from.

Last starting XI (v Portsmouth): Kirkland, Melchiot, Gohouri, Bramble, Figueroa, Diame, Scharner (Moreno 56), McCarthy, N'Zogbia, Scotland (Moses 88), Rodallega. Subs not used: Stojkovic, Watson, Gomez, Sinclair, Boyce.

Arsenal

Midfielder Denilson is a doubt with a groin problem, but Robin van Persie could start after impressing in a cameo performance against Tottenham in midweek. Centre-back Thomas Vermaelen is expected to miss the rest of the season after picking up a calf injury in that Spurs match. He joins Andrey Arshavin and William Gallas (who also have calf problems), Johan Djourou and Alex Song (both knee), Cesc Fabregas and Aaron Ramsey (both leg fractures), and Kieran Gibbs (foot) on the sidelines.

Last starting XI (v Tottenham): Almunia, Sagna (Walcott 52), Campbell, Vermaelen (Silvestre 20), Clichy, Eboue, Diaby, Denilson (van Persie 68), Rosicky, Bendtner, Nasri. Subs not used: Fabianski, Eduardo, Merida, Eastmond.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Wigan

Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega has been linked with a possible move to Arsenal in the summer (as has Wigan winger Charles N'Zogbia), so Sunday's game will give Arsene Wenger a further opportunity to study the form and assess the potential of the Latics' leading scorer this season. Rodallega has nine goals to his name so far, all in the league, (while N'Zogia has six, four of them in League games) and the South American underlined his big-match temperament by netting against both Chelsea and Liverpool earlier this term.

Arsenal

Robin van Persie's sparkling 25 minutes against Spurs in midweek begged the question: what if he'd stayed fit all season? The Gunners averaged more than three goals per League game until Van Persie was injured in November, and never managed such a strike-rate during the five months he spent recovering from ankle ligament damage. The Dutchman's control, movement and eye for goal were immediately back in evidence on Wednesday, and he'll be looking to score his ninth of a disrupted campaign this weekend.

PREDICTION

Their set-back at White Hart Lane was Arsenal's first defeat in nine League games, although they have only kept two clean sheets in their last 13, highlighting one of the weaknesses of their title challenge.

On the other hand, the Spurs game was the eighth successive League match in which the Gunners scored in the final 10 minutes, suggesting that Wigan will have to maintain their concentration and perspiration levels until the final whistle if they want to take one or more vital points out of this contest.

Arsenal have also lost only one of 17 matches against sides in the bottom half of the Premier League (a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland in November, the first game of Van Persie's absence), so the Latics will hope that the Gunners are still licking their wounds from recent set-backs when they be arrive at the DW Stadium.

Although Wigan edged five points clear of the relegation zone with their 0-0 draw against Portsmouth in midweek, they are still looking nervously over their shoulders, particularly as Arsenal are accustomed to disposing of the Latics in convincing fashion. The Londoners have scored four goals in each of their last two meetings with the Latics, and will be looking to raise flagging morale with another emphatic win on Sunday.

Wigan Athletic 1-3 Arsenal