Arsenal missed the chance to go top of the Premier League as they suffered a 2-1 loss away to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. “We were 1-0 up in the 28th minute and then 2-1 down before the 45th, so our defending on that level was very, very poor”, Wenger was quoted as saying by the local media.
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Mathieu Flamini is likely to start in midfield, and the Frenchman was already looking ahead to the must-win Champions League encounter against Dinamo Zagreb.
“I don’t deny that”, admitted Wenger afterwards, when it was put to him that this was Arsenal stumbling on the kind of terrain that always seems to trouble them the most.
Theo Walcott (calf), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring), Jack Wilshere (leg), Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky (both knee) are all out, but Wenger stated on Friday that Aaron Ramsey should be fit to return following a hamstring issue. “We became a bit too easy at 1-0 [ahead] despite the experience we have in the squad”. They fought with 100 per cent commitment.
Arsenal must beat Zagreb at the Emirates to avoid being eliminated from the Champions League at the group stages for the first time in 16 years.
James Morrison got free to turn in Chris Brunt’s free-kick with his shin, before Mikel Arteta diverted a cross into his own net via his arm and his thigh. “We needed to get our home form going and to do that against one of the top sides in the league was fantastic”.
Wenger will assess Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud’s readiness to play after the pair’s involvement for France during the worldwide break, when terrorists struck in co-ordinated attacks in Paris during their friendly against Germany last Friday. One is a muscle problem for Arteta and the other one is a knee problem and I don’t know how serious that is but we will know certainly tomorrow, for Coquelin.
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“The difference between the teams has narrowed and today it’s more how much can you be close to your best that will decide the result, rather than the team you play against”, he said. “It will be at least two months but I don’t want to speculate more than that”.
