Eduardo Da Silva set for his return: Taylor feels a little better now

Birmingham City’s Martin Taylor has spoken of his relief at Eduardo’s return to fitness, and hopes his own ordeal over the broken leg incident is now at an end.

Indeed, the controversial Taylor received death threats after his tackle Eduardo in last February’s Premier League game left Eduardo with horrific injuries. He has always maintained that the tackle was not malicious, and says he has received plenty of support over the last year.

“I must admit that it’s a relief to see him back playing,” expressed Taylor.

“But there is nothing like that first proper game because you are never quite sure whether you have recovered or not. I had a feeling he would be okay because he’d played for Croatia last week. I think it lifted Arsenal on Monday night and I can understand why.

“To recover both mentally and physically — to get through that training and to get back to that standard — he has done really, really well. We must consider that you have to be exceptional to reach that level in the first place. It is one thing to come back and play at all. It is another to play for Arsenal.”

Speaking about the tackle, for which Taylor was dismissed, the former Blackburn footballer expressed: “‘I know in my heart of hearts that it was an accident. A horrible accident. So I wanted to see him playing again. You can never be sure. I was hopeful because of the updates I received from the Gunners. I kept my fingers crossed when he was playing in the reserves.

It’s amazing to notice that in the immediate aftermath of that tumultuous 2-2 draw at St Andrews, Arsene Wenger called for Taylor to be banned from football for life, comments the Frenchman later retracted.

However, the immediate aftermath of the incident proved incredibly difficult for Taylor and his family.

“I had death threats,” he expressed. “No one would sit here and say that was enjoyable. When I received them, I wasn’t too sure with some of them. A couple were written in crayon, some were more sinister. and in despite of that, generally, I didn’t take them too seriously.

“Ninety per cent of the correspondence I had, though, was encouraging. We must consider that the other 10 per cent wasn’t.”

Asked whether Eduardo would shake Taylor’s hand should the pair meet again, he expressed: “I wouldn’t expect him to. Maybe, I don’t know. It’s up to him.”

Arsenal boss considers impossible to hunt Manchester United

The French coach Wenger has conceded for the first time that Arsenal have no hope of title in the Premier League this season, as he declared the current leaders Manchester United just untouchable for them.

We must consider that Arsenal sit in fifth place, 15 points behind the reigning champions, after United victory over Fulham, a victory that takes Sir Alex Ferguson’s side five points clear of second-placed Liverpool.

All the top five sides will have 13 clashes left to play after tonight, with Arsenal still to visit United, giving them a small chance of reducing the points difference. However, Wenger sees United as being in such amazing form that even an Arsenal victory at Old Trafford would not halt Ferguson’s men on their way to a third successive Premier League title.

In any case, Wenger’s side visit Old Trafford on the penultimate weekend of the season, when a victory might come too late to make any difference. Wenger cannot see United also losing four other games to give Arsenal a chance of the title.

The manager expressed: “We promised ourselves to give everything until the very last day of the season. At the moment Man United look untouchable, they beat Fulham tonight. United’s results are really consistent. They victory 1-0, and in despite of that, you always think during the match they will drop a point tonight, or drop maybe more than two points, and in despite of that, no, they always manage to find, somewhere, the resources to victory the game.

“That means if they victory their game in hand they are 15 points in front of us. That means they need to lose five games for us to catch up. Let’s say they lose one against us, that leaves four. They still need to lose four other games, which they haven’t done yet this season. and in despite of that, we promised ourselves. We are very consistent. We are on a very strong run. We just missed the goals recently we know we are capable of scoring.”

It’s amazing to notice that Wenger saw his side cruise into the fifth round of the FA Cup on Monday night, defeating Cardiff City in their replay 4-0, and they now have a relatively straightforward path through to the semi-finals. They next play Burnley, at the Emirates, and if they victory that they will play either Sheffield United or Hull City in the quarter-finals, again at the Emirates.

However, Wenger has downplayed the importance of the Cup, insisting that it is more important to finish in the top four of the Premier League, thus qualifying for the Champions League preliminary stages.

Wenger, whose last trophy was the FA Cup in 2005, responded, when asked about the Cup being his best chance of silverware: “I believe our basic target is to get in the Champions League. Therefore the championship remains our priority.”

The Gunners’ hopes of overhauling Chelsea or Aston Villa to finish fourth were lifted with the return to first-team action of Eduardo on Monday night. Their Croatia international forward played his first encounter for Arsenal since breaking his left leg and dislocating his ankle against Birmingham City 51 weeks ago.

Eduardo scored twice, with a header and a penalty, and looked lively throughout his 67 minutes on the pitch, before he was taken off as a precautionary measure, due to a tight hamstring.

Wenger expressed Eduardo, 26 next week, had shown that, “mentally, he is as strong as a mountain” in coming back from such a serious injury.

We must consider that the Brazil-born Eduardo wants to carry on where he left off last season, when his goals looked like they might take Arsenal to the league title. Now he has his eyes on European and FA Cup success.

He expressed: “We have three months until the end of the championship. I am here to help Arsenal to be on top of the Premier League or in the first three. Now we are in the FA Cup, I want to get to the final and in the Champions League we want to go far. I feel I can play again like before.”

Arshavin words after latest Arsenal transfer

As we know, for most soccer players now, the tag 'a dream move' is increasingly becoming a cliche; a statement made just to endear themselves with fans at their new clubs.

However, as far as Andrei Arshavin is concerned, his deadline-busting transfer from Zenit St Petersburg to Arsenal is indeed beyond his wildest dreams.

Indeed, so much so that the Russian star did everything he could to make sure the deal remained a possibility.

Case in point: at the time severe snow threatened to cripple the London transport system on transfer deadline day, he jetted into London first thing in the morning on a private plane and camped himself in a Hertfordshire hotel, just a stone's throw away from Arsenal's London Colney training ground.

And at the time the reported £15 million ($31.5m) deal was on the brink of collapse after an impasse over financial terms, Arshavin offered to take a pay-cut to ease through the deal.

What's more: he also reportedly agreed to pay 'compensation' to Zenit for leaving the Russian champions.

As you can tell, the talented 27-year-old really wanted to join Arsenal. Desperate even.

'Arsenal are one of the leading football clubs in the world, with a group of fantastic young players and a great manager,' declared Arshavin after his move was confirmed by the Premier League on Tuesday - almost 24 hours after the transfer deadline.

'I am looking forward to making the Arsenal supporters happy and helping this great club victory trophies.

'I am so happy to be an Arsenal player, it was my dream.'

One suspects that he really means it. Arsenal supporters will be heartened by Arshavin's show of determination, commitment and sincerity throughout this protracted transfer sage.

No fan likes it better at the time a soccer player appears to be devoting his life to the club.

All Arshavin needs to do is to replicate these qualities on the pitch, and he'll do alright.

Chances are he will. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has made no secret of his admiration of the Russian playmaker.

The feeling is mutual, it seems.

Arshavin, one of the leading stars at Euro08, revealed the prospect of playing under Wenger played a big part in his decision to move to Arsenal.

'I moved because I like the Arsenal style, Arsene Wenger as a manager and I like some of their players,' Arshavin said.

'Every time I talked to Arsene, he said: 'I want you to come to Arsenal'. He had confidence in me.'

But it wasn't Arsenal who made the first move, though.

After his personal success at Euro08, Arshavin - who has 15 goals from 41 caps for Russia - was flooded with enquiries from major European clubs.

Barcelona came calling, but the Spanish champions' 15 million euros ($30m) bid was turned down by Zenit.

Arsenal's north London rivals Tottenham, too, made a bid worth £16m.

It was again rejected by Zenit, prompting Arshavin to blast his club for pricing him out of the market with an exorbitant £22m price-tag.

When Arsenal started their pursuit at the start of the year, their advances were thwarted at every turn by Zenit.

Barbaric

Incensed, Arshavin described Zenit as 'barbaric' and vowed never to play for them again.

Negotiations went back and forth over the course of January and finally, the drawn-out deal was done.

It was tough work, admitted Arshavin, but it was worth it.

'It was a very tough time for me, but now it doesn't matter because I am a Gunner. It is great,' said the 2006 Russian soccer player of the Year.

Arshavin will be cup-tied for the Champions League, but his goals and creative play will be needed to propel Arsenal beyond fourth place in the Premiership to secure automatic Champions League qualification next season.

Even though Arsenal's title bid is all but decimated and the League Cup exit still smarting, the new Arsenal No. 23 has his eyes set on silverware this season.

The FA Cup - with a replay against Cardiff coming up on 16 Feb - is very much a possibility.

The EPL title? Mission Impossible, isn't it?

But Arshavin is not about to give up, just like how he refused to give up fighting for his dream move.

'Trust in me and Arsenal,' he assured. If your deliver your promise, Arshavin, all will.

Wenger reasons to leave Van Persie on the bech

The Gunners were held to a goalless draw at the Emirates, which meant they were unable to make up ground on fourth-placed Aston Villa, who also drew at home.

Despite having around 70% of the possession, Arsenal Football Club rarely threatened the Hammer goal.

And although Wenger sent on van Persie with 15 minutes to go, there was to be no late goal as if often the Arsenal style.

In fact, when asked whether he regretted the decision to leave the Dutchman out of his starting line-up, Wenger insisted: "No.

"When sides defend like West Ham did you normally expect to score a goal in the last 15 minutes or so and van Persie was on for the last 15 minutes.

"It was done not to get him injured.

"We have to be cautious with him and he had played every minute against Cardiff and also Everton.

"We have bad experiences at the time we pushed him to play lots of encounters."

The Dutch marksman, who is the Gunners' leading scorer with nine Premier League goals, currently has 18 months remaining on his Emirates deal.

Both parties sat down to open negotiations two months ago, but they were postponed as the club underwent a boardroom reshuffle.

Although Arsenal are reportedly just shy of matching Van Persie's £80,000-a-week demands, Wenger is confident an agreement can be reached.

"He knows how much it means to me and we will try to sort him out," said Wenger. "I'm convinced it means a lot to Robin to stay here.

"I've invested a lot of time in them (Van Persie and Theo Walcott) because I feel it is important to them and it means something to them to be at this club.

"He wants to be part of the club and, of course, we have to satisfy his demands as well. I don't think that we're far away."

Van Persie's blistering form has coincided with an injury-free spell and Wenger's main concern is not trying to rely on the 25-year-old services too heavily.

"I believe him being fit has helped him greatly. He is a player who has made an extreme improvement," he continued.

"When you consider the player who arrived here, and who he is today, it's absolutely fantastic. He has ingredients which are very important - talent and motivation.

"The danger is to overplay him at the moment because we still have to be a bit cautious with him."

Wenger names Cesc Fabregas as Arsenal Captain

French coach Arsène Wenger has appointed spanihs star Cesc Fábregas as his permanent Arsenal captain but will welcome the deposed leader, William Gallas, back to his line-up against Dynamo Kiev tonight, confident that the centre-half remains fully committed to the club and will become "stronger as a player" now that he is back among the ranks.

Indeed, Gallas trained with his team-mates, whose spirit and bravery he had questioned publicly last week both in an interview conducted in France and in his autobiography, at London Colney yesterday ahead of a recall for the Champions League group game against the Ukrainians.

We must say that his recall comes after he was dropped from the squad on disciplinary grounds for the weekend defeat at Manchester City. Wenger insisted this was "a new start" for the 31-year-old, but will also hope that Fábregas' appointment will help deflect longstanding interest from Barcelona in re-signing the Spanish midfielder at the end of the season.

The Arsenal boss has attempted to draw a line under a demoralising week at the club, with successive Premier League defeats having left them 10 points adrift of the leaders and Gallas' outburst adding to the sense of chaos. Asked whether he regretted retaining his compatriot as captain in the summer, particularly after his infamous show of petulance at Birmingham City in February, Wenger replied: "I really don't know. I feel the media was out for Gallas and it became increasingly difficult. This season, at the moment, the results are not as good as we expected and the pressure on him was always bigger.

"I must say that William is a player I rate and a man I rate as well. I have a big respect for him and I like him personally. He was working as a captain under big pressure and, at some stage, you do not want this high pressure to affect him or the team.

"He is a player who is committed to the club. He can be stronger as a player. In fact, he took to heart all the problems of the team, so this can be a new start for him and he can be stronger as a player. I believe his team-mates are behind him. He's a fantastic player and I just felt the pressure on him was big and not justified."

Fábregas will relish that pressure, claiming his appointment was "a great honour", with Wenger insistent the 21-year-old boasts "all the qualities of a leader". Yet, while the Spain international attempts to revive Arsenal's season, Gallas must seek to regain the faith of his team-mates.

The Frenchman has not formally apologised to the team for his criticisms - particularly of Robin van Persie - but is understood to regret the disruption his outburst caused. The centre-back jogged with his club-mates in their warm-up yesterday, exchanging the occasional word with Alex Song. "We all respect him," said Gaël Clichy. "He's been sensational for us in the last few years." Yet it remains to be seen how the crowd at the Emirates Stadium receive the centre-half this evening.

Indeed, a victory against Dynamo Kiev, against whom Gallas scored a late equaliser in Ukraine in the opening fixture in Group G, would secure passage into the knockout phase and go some way towards replenishing confidence ahead of Sunday's daunting trip to Chelsea. The manager, who has lost Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby to swell his ranks of walking wounded to nine first-choice players, described the past week as having been "interesting, not more than that" but insisted his squad's spirit had not been wrecked by cliques or the disaffection exposed by their former captain.

"The frustration kicks in when the team don't win and, frankly, I'm not happy when we don't win games," said Wenger. "We are very frustrated and very disappointed, but I don't feel morale is a basic problem in our team. You have to consider the big picture. This team has pushed into the 21st century with a training ground, a stadium and a very young, promising team. We are in a very healthy financial situation contrary to many teams we fight against every week. We are in a global situation which is very, very positive.

"We know, that in terms of points, the situation is not ideal. The most important thing is to win against Kiev, but we go towards a world where our healthy financial situation, a new team and our new stadium will be much more important than anything else. People don't realise that at the moment. They still live in dreamland and are spending more money, but you don't know what kind of world we'll be facing in the next 12 or 16 months. These days you go from catastrophe to fantastic, but real life is in between. It is not all doom and gloom" he concluded.

Samuel Eto'o: Emmanuel Adebayor is the best African Player

According to the press, some top strikers are voting for the African award, but none are without their baggage. The popular Samuel Eto'o has been frequently linked with a Camp Nou exit, Chelsea hitman Didier Drogba has become all-too-familiar with the Stamford Bridge treatment room and Emmanuel Adebayor has fought tooth-and-nail with the Fédération Togolaise de Football over unpaid bonus monies.

However, Eto'o believes that Ade has done enough - emerging from the shadow of the departed Thierry Henry for the Gunners - to deserve the continent's top individual honour.

Eto'o expressed: "I would have loved to win this award again, but this year has been Adebayor's year. His performances for Arsenal FC and Togo throughout the year have been outstanding. He should win ahead of Drogba and I."

"Honestly, Drogba and I have been afflicted with injuries for some part of the season and it was Adebayor who was flying the African flag."

We must say that Eto'o's backing will be music to Ade's ears as he recovers from an ankle injury.

William Gallas will not leave the Gunners

Under-fire French defender William Gallas is not looking to leave Arsenal, the player's agent confirmed on Tuesday.

Indeed, Gallas has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy after publicly making critical remarks about the team and questioning their fighting spirit and has since been linked with a move away from north London, with Paris St Germain one possible destination.

"I can say that William doesn't express himself and the English media take advantage of that," his agent Etienne Mendy told French paper Aujourd'hui Sport. "They haven't missed a chance to do that ever since his bad-mood gesture last year at Birmingham, and they envisage him leaving Arsenal. That is wrong."

As we know, Gallas was dropped from Arsenal's first team for last Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Manchester City but will be recalled to the starting XI for Tuesday night's Champions League match against Dynamo Kiev.

And Mendy predicted Gallas will come back better then ever: "He has taken the criticism and has already moved on," he added. "Anyway, William is never better than when he has his back to the wall."

Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in London

The magnificent Emirates Stadium is a football field with a capacity for 60,355 spectators, and it is located in Holloway in the London Borough of Islington

The amazing construction is the home field of Arsenal Football Club since it opened in July 2006. It's important to say that it is the fifth-largest football stadium in the United Kingdom, and the third-largest stadium of any kind in London, after Wembley and Twickenham. Indeed, during the planning and construction stages, it was known as Ashburton Grove, after the road it was located on, before a naming rights deal with the airline Emirates was struck in October 2004. The construction stadium project cost £430 million, but this includes the cost of the associated infrastructure as well as the stadium itself.

It is a wonderful gem that every visitor must see in London. It has alos hosted some very important football games for the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.

Arsenal 2008/2009 Jersey

One of the most important things for a real fan is the jersey that our team wears. So, this is the current uniform kit of Arsenal first team. As usual, it is powered by Nike:

Premier League Fixture - 2008/2009 Season

Saturday, 22 November 2008
Aston Villa vs. Man Utd, 17:30
Chelsea vs. Newcastle, 15:00
Liverpool vs. Fulham, 15:00
Man City vs. Arsenal, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Bolton, 15:00
Portsmouth vs. Hull, 15:00
Stoke vs. West Brom, 15:00

Sunday, 23 November 2008
Sunderland vs. West Ham, 16:00
Tottenham vs. Blackburn, 13:30

Monday, 24 November 2008
Wigan vs. Everton, 20:00

Saturday, 29 November 2008
Aston Villa vs. Fulham, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Newcastle, 15:00
Stoke vs. Hull, 15:00
Sunderland vs. Bolton, 15:00
Wigan vs. West Brom, 15:00

Sunday, 30 November 2008
Chelsea vs. Arsenal, 16:00
Man City vs. Man Utd, 13:30
Portsmouth vs. Blackburn, 15:00
Tottenham vs. Everton, 15:00

Monday, 1 December 2008
Liverpool vs. West Ham, 20:00

Saturday, 6 December 2008
Arsenal vs. Wigan, 15:00
Blackburn vs. Liverpool, 15:00
Bolton vs. Chelsea, 15:00
Fulham vs. Man City, 12:45
Hull vs. Middlesbrough, 15:00
Man Utd vs. Sunderland, 17:30
Newcastle vs. Stoke, 15:00

Sunday, 7 December 2008
Everton vs. Aston Villa, 16:00
West Brom vs. Portsmouth, 15:00

Monday, 8 December 2008
West Ham vs. Tottenham, 20:00

Saturday, 13 December 2008
Aston Villa vs. Bolton, 15:00
Liverpool vs. Hull, 15:00
Man City vs. Everton, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Arsenal, 12:45
Stoke vs. Fulham, 15:00
Sunderland vs. West Brom, 15:00
Tottenham vs. Man Utd, 17:30
Wigan vs. Blackburn, 15:00

Sunday, 14 December 2008
Chelsea vs. West Ham, 16:00
Portsmouth vs. Newcastle, 13:30

Saturday, 20 December 2008
Blackburn vs. Stoke, 15:00
Bolton vs. Portsmouth, 15:00
Fulham vs. Middlesbrough, 15:00
Hull vs. Sunderland, 15:00
Man Utd OFF Wigan, 15:00
West Ham vs. Aston Villa, 17:30

Sunday, 21 December 2008
Arsenal vs. Liverpool, 16:00
Newcastle vs. Tottenham, 15:00
West Brom vs. Man City, 13:30

Monday, 22 December 2008
Everton vs. Chelsea, 20:00

Friday, 26 December 2008
Aston Villa vs. Arsenal, 17:15
Chelsea vs. West Brom, 13:00
Liverpool vs. Bolton, 15:00
Man City vs. Hull, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Everton, 15:00
Portsmouth vs. West Ham, 13:00
Stoke vs. Man Utd, 12:45
Sunderland vs. Blackburn, 15:00
Tottenham vs. Fulham, 13:00
Wigan vs. Newcastle, 15:00

Sunday, 28 December 2008
Arsenal vs. Portsmouth, 14:00
Blackburn vs. Man City, 16:15
Bolton vs. Wigan, 14:00
Everton vs. Sunderland, 14:00
Fulham vs. Chelsea, 14:00
Newcastle vs. Liverpool, 12:00
West Brom vs. Tottenham, 14:00
West Ham vs. Stoke, 14:00

Monday, 29 December 2008
Man Utd vs. Middlesbrough, 20:00

Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Hull vs. Aston Villa, 20:00

Saturday, 10 January 2009
Arsenal vs. Bolton, 15:00
Aston Villa vs. West Brom, 12:45
Everton vs. Hull, 15:00
Fulham vs. Blackburn, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Sunderland, 15:00
Newcastle vs. West Ham, 15:00
Portsmouth vs. Man City, 15:00
Stoke vs. Liverpool, 17:30

Sunday, 11 January 2009
Man Utd vs. Chelsea, 16:00
Wigan vs. Tottenham, 13:30

Saturday, 17 January 2009
Blackburn vs. Newcastle, 15:00
Bolton vs. Man Utd, 15:00
Chelsea vs. Stoke, 15:00
Hull vs. Arsenal, 17:30
Man City vs. Wigan, 15:00
Sunderland vs. Aston Villa, 15:00
West Brom vs. Middlesbrough, 15:00

Sunday, 18 January 2009
Tottenham vs. Portsmouth, 16:00
West Ham vs. Fulham, 13:30

Monday, 19 January 2009
Liverpool vs. Everton, 20:00

Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Portsmouth vs. Aston Villa, 20:00
Sunderland vs. Fulham, 19:45
Tottenham vs. Stoke, 20:00
West Brom vs. Man Utd, 19:45
Wigan vs. Liverpool, 19:45

Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Blackburn vs. Bolton, 20:00
Chelsea vs. Middlesbrough, 19:45
Everton vs. Arsenal, 20:00
Man City vs. Newcastle, 19:45
West Ham vs. Hull, 20:00

Saturday, 31 January 2009
Arsenal vs. West Ham, 15:00
Aston Villa vs. Wigan, 15:00
Bolton vs. Tottenham, 15:00
Fulham vs. Portsmouth, 15:00
Hull vs. West Brom, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Blackburn, 15:00
Stoke vs. Man City, 12:45

Sunday, 1 February 2009
Liverpool vs. Chelsea, 16:00
Newcastle vs. Sunderland, 13:30
Monday, 2 February 2009
Man Utd vs. Everton, 20:00

Saturday, 7 February 2009
Blackburn vs. Aston Villa, 15:00
Chelsea vs. Hull, 15:00
Everton vs. Bolton, 15:00
Man City vs. Middlesbrough, 15:00
Portsmouth vs. Liverpool, 15:00
Sunderland vs. Stoke, 15:00
Tottenham vs. Arsenal, 15:00
West Brom vs. Newcastle, 15:00
West Ham vs. Man Utd, 15:00
Wigan vs. Fulham, 15:00

Saturday, 21 February 2009
Arsenal vs. Sunderland, 15:00
Aston Villa vs. Chelsea, 15:00
Bolton vs. West Ham, 15:00
Fulham vs. West Brom, 15:00
Hull vs. Tottenham, 15:00
Liverpool vs. Man City, 15:00
Man Utd vs. Blackburn, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Wigan, 15:00
Newcastle vs. Everton, 15:00
Stoke vs. Portsmouth, 15:00

Saturday, 28 February 2009
Arsenal vs. Fulham, 15:00
Aston Villa vs. Stoke, 15:00
Bolton vs. Newcastle, 15:00
Chelsea vs. Wigan, 15:00
Everton vs. West Brom, 15:00
Hull vs. Blackburn, 15:00
Man Utd vs. Portsmouth, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Liverpool, 15:00
Sunderland vs. Tottenham, 15:00
West Ham vs. Man City, 15:00

Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Portsmouth vs. Chelsea, 19:45
Stoke vs. Bolton, 19:45
Tottenham vs. Middlesbrough, 20:00
West Brom vs. Arsenal, 19:45
Wigan vs. West Ham, 19:45

Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Blackburn vs. Everton, 20:00
Fulham vs. Hull, 20:00
Liverpool vs. Sunderland, 20:00
Man City vs. Aston Villa, 19:45
Newcastle vs. Man Utd, 19:45

Saturday, 14 March 2009
Arsenal vs. Blackburn, 15:00
Aston Villa vs. Tottenham, 15:00
Bolton vs. Fulham, 15:00
Chelsea vs. Man City, 15:00
Everton vs. Stoke, 15:00
Hull vs. Newcastle, 15:00
Man Utd vs. Liverpool, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Portsmouth, 15:00
Sunderland vs. Wigan, 15:00
West Ham vs. West Brom, 15:00

Saturday, 21 March 2009
Blackburn vs. West Ham, 15:00
Fulham vs. Man Utd, 15:00
Liverpool vs. Aston Villa, 15:00
Man City vs. Sunderland, 15:00
Newcastle vs. Arsenal, 15:00
Portsmouth vs. Everton, 15:00
Stoke vs. Middlesbrough, 15:00
Tottenham vs. Chelsea, 15:00
West Brom vs. Bolton, 15:00
Wigan vs. Hull, 15:00

Saturday, 4 April 2009
Arsenal vs. Man City, 15:00
Blackburn vs. Tottenham, 15:00
Bolton vs. Middlesbrough, 15:00
Fulham vs. Liverpool, 15:00
Hull vs. Portsmouth, 15:00
Man Utd vs. Aston Villa, 15:00
Newcastle vs. Chelsea, 15:00
West Brom vs. Stoke, 15:00
West Ham vs. Sunderland, 15:00

Sunday, 5 April 2009
Everton vs. Wigan, 15:00

Saturday, 11 April 2009
Aston Villa vs. Everton, 15:00
Chelsea vs. Bolton, 15:00
Liverpool vs. Blackburn, 15:00
Man City vs. Fulham, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Hull, 15:00
Portsmouth vs. West Brom, 15:00
Stoke vs. Newcastle, 15:00
Sunderland vs. Man Utd, 15:00
Tottenham vs. West Ham, 15:00
Wigan vs. Arsenal, 15:00

Saturday, 18 April 2009
Aston Villa vs. West Ham, 15:00
Chelsea vs. Everton, 15:00
Liverpool vs. Arsenal, 15:00
Man City vs. West Brom, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Fulham, 15:00
Portsmouth vs. Bolton, 15:00
Stoke vs. Blackburn, 15:00
Sunderland vs. Hull, 15:00
Tottenham vs. Newcastle, 15:00
Wigan vs. Man Utd, 15:00

Saturday, 25 April 2009
Arsenal vs. Middlesbrough, 15:00
Blackburn vs. Wigan, 15:00
Bolton vs. Aston Villa, 15:00
Everton vs. Man City, 15:00
Fulham vs. Stoke, 15:00
Hull vs. Liverpool, 15:00
Man Utd vs. Tottenham, 15:00
Newcastle vs. Portsmouth, 15:00
West Brom vs. Sunderland, 15:00
West Ham vs. Chelsea, 15:00

Saturday, 2 May 2009
Aston Villa vs. Hull, 15:00
Chelsea vs. Fulham, 15:00
Liverpool vs. Newcastle, 15:00
Man City vs. Blackburn, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Man Utd, 15:00
Portsmouth vs. Arsenal, 15:00
Stoke vs. West Ham, 15:00
Sunderland vs. Everton, 15:00
Tottenham vs. West Brom, 15:00
Wigan vs. Bolton, 15:00

Saturday, 9 May 2009
Arsenal vs. Chelsea, 15:00
Blackburn vs. Portsmouth, 15:00
Bolton vs. Sunderland, 15:00
Everton vs. Tottenham, 15:00
Fulham vs. Aston Villa, 15:00
Hull vs. Stoke, 15:00
Man Utd vs. Man City, 15:00
Newcastle vs. Middlesbrough, 15:00
West Brom vs. Wigan, 15:00
West Ham vs. Liverpool, 15:00

Saturday, 16 May 2009
Bolton vs. Hull, 15:00
Chelsea vs. Blackburn, 15:00
Everton vs. West Ham, 15:00
Man Utd vs. Arsenal, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. Aston Villa, 15:00
Newcastle vs. Fulham, 15:00
Portsmouth vs. Sunderland, 15:00
Stoke vs. Wigan, 15:00
Tottenham vs. Man City, 15:00
West Brom vs. Liverpool, 15:00

Sunday, 24 May 2009
Arsenal vs. Stoke, 16:00
Aston Villa vs. Newcastle, 16:00
Blackburn vs. West Brom, 16:00
Fulham vs. Everton, 16:00
Hull vs. Man Utd, 16:00
Liverpool vs. Tottenham, 16:00
Man City vs. Bolton, 16:00
Sunderland vs. Chelsea, 16:00
West Ham vs. Middlesbrough, 16:00
Wigan vs. Portsmouth, 16:00

Arsenal 2008/2009 Squad

1 GK Manuel Almunia (2nd vice-captain)
2 MF Abou Diaby
3 DF Bacary Sagna
4 MF Cesc Fàbregas
5 DF Kolo Touré (vice-captain)
7 MF Tomáš Rosický
8 MF Samir Nasri
9 FW Eduardo
10 DF William Gallas (captain)
11 FW Robin van Persie
12 FW Carlos Vela
14 FW Theo Walcott
15 MF Denílson
16 MF Aaron Ramsey
17 MF Alexandre Song
18 DF Mikaël Silvestre
19 MF Jack Wilshere
20 DF Johan Djourou
21 GK Łukasz Fabiański
22 DF Gaël Clichy
24 GK Vito Mannone
25 FW Emmanuel Adebayor
26 FW Nicklas Bendtner
27 DF Emmanuel Eboué
28 MF Amaury Bischoff
35 MF Francis Coquelin
38 DF Jay Emmanuel-Thomas
39 FW Rui Fonte
40 MF Kieran Gibbs
41 DF Gavin Hoyte
42 MF Henri Lansbury
43 MF Fran Mérida
45 DF Håvard Nordtveit
47 MF Mark Randall
50 FW Jay Simpson
56 MF Emmanuel Frimpong

Adebayor likes it red and black

We have some information about Arsenal selling Emmanuel Adebayor for €31.5m, but the striker has told the club he only wants a move to AC Milan, and will not join Barcelona.

Milan have stated on numerous occasions that they would like to sign a top class centre forward ahead of next season, and it was widely accepted that Adebayor, Samuel Eto’o and Didier Drogba were the three main targets.

The African striker has been the player that they have been pursuing the most, and it has even been claimed that the Togolese hitman has already agreed personal terms with the San Siro outfit.

Barcelona have also been heavily linked with a move for the 24-year-old, and there have been reports in some papers this week that he was on the verge of signing for them.

But Adebayor has notified the Gunners that he has no intention of joining Barca, and will only accept a move to Milan.

Adebayor’s €100,00-a-week wage demands have left the GunnersArsenal with no other choice but to sell the striker, and the North London outfit will let him go if their asking price of €31.5m is met.

Barcelona director Marc Ingla flew into London on Friday to make a €28m bid, and although this falls just short of what Arsenal are asking for, they would prefer to sell to the Spaniards rather than Milan, who angered them when snapping up Mathieu Flamini on a free transfer.

However, Adebayor is said to have sent an email to Arsene Wenger demanding a face-to-face meeting with his manager, and forwarded a copy of this to Arsenal managing director Ken Friar and Ac Milan general manager Adriano Galliani, but not to any one from spanish FC Barcelona.

Wenger mad at the defensive men

Gunners' boss, Arsene Wenger, says that de defenders bad performance is the critical factor in Arsenal's lack of success in the Champions League and Premier League.

"It is the lowest week I have had here in all this time," Wenger admitted. "We have lost the 100 metres on a photo-finish. That's what happened. It's tough to swallow because you have still made a good race and you finish empty-handed. It hurts bad, really bad. Maybe for me more as I really believed that we could do it.

"We were leading against Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United, and at home against them. So we can score goals. What we could not stop is conceding goals in big games. Nine times out of 10 the guy who wins a big game is the guy who scores first, and we lost all these games after being in front. So I think we suffered more as a team defensively than offensively."

The french coach, who has set a deadline of the end of this month to settle negotiations with the midfielder Matthieu Flamini, said: "My first target is to keep the team together. If you ask me how many players I want to buy, it's not a question of numbers, it's a question of one or two quality footballers."

He ruled out signing the Valencia forward David Villa, who expressed a willingness to move to the Emirates Stadium this week. "No," he claims. "I feel up front I need to give time to [Nicklas] Bendtner and Theo Walcott because they have made big improvements. Walcott is now coming on and I have to give him an opportunity at some stage."

Furthermore, Wenger had words about Philippe Senderos: "He's in the squad. But I feel sometimes you have to give the time to refresh mentally. He is so intense, Philippe. He is genuine and dedicated and he's disappointed by his performance at Liverpool but only time can get you over that."

Wenger assured that defeat in the Champions League was worse than losing to Barcelona in the 2006 final. "Against Barcelona we played with 10 men for 70 minutes. The first time you play in a final it can happen that you lose. But to go out to Liverpool after the two games we played was very, very disappointing."

Almunia's injury could bring Lehmann back to the team

Manuel Almunia is the first goalkeeper at Arsenal, but now he is a major doubt for the home game with Reading. That could mean the experienced Lehmann might have a chance to return to the first team.

In fact, further complications to the Spaniard’s wrist complaint, which kept him out of the defeat at Manchester United last weekend, could open the door for Lehmann’s farewell match at the Emirates Stadium since his departure in the summer is almost a fore-gone conclusion after being benched for most of the season.

"Maybe Manuel Almunia will be available, I just don't know," Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger stated. "I will make a decision on Friday morning. He got injured in training on the Friday before Manchester United. It's important to say that we sent him for a scan and there was an inflammation so he could not take part of the game."

Rosicky can't wait for his come back

Tomas Rosicky, the talented Czech Republic player, has been out of action since January with a knee problem, and when asked about how long he will remain sidelined for, he admitted he has no idea.

"In fact, it is still the same, there is no prospect, I don't know for the present,” said Rosicky. “I have missed football badly. I have never had such a long break. Not even when I broke my arm as I could take part of the game afterwards with a bandage.

"I take it as this simply is a part of this sport, and strong individuals must cope with it. And I will cope with it. It will not stop me nor break me down. However, I have realised how much I love football" he concluded.