Aston Villa, who are bottom of the Premier League, sacked Tim Sherwood as manager on Sunday.
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On Saturday Arsenal will be taking on the only team that did the double over them in last season’s Premier League.
But not this time. The Costa Rica worldwide was part of the lineup that lost 3-0 to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday, but Wenger insists he has full confidence in the 23-year-old to make a positive contribution in the coming weeks. No-one represented this better than Ozil, as he had the space to again look so special.
Midway through the half, the Gunners added a second when Laurent Koscielny tapped home after Lukasz Fabianski failed to gather.
Olivier Giroud is now the only fit striker at the club, with Wenger set to give Joel Campbell or Alex Iwobi their first league start against Swansea City.
While Coquelin remains a combative and tenacious presence in midfield in retrieving the ball and putting the opposition under pressure, Cazorla arguably links up perfectly with him with his ability to build play from a deeper position using his impressive vision and distribution. “Walcott is more a runner”.
Centre-back Gabriel knows just what to expect from Pep Guardiola’s well-drilled team and said: “When we play away, we also have to have a slightly different outlook, but that doesn’t mean we will spend the whole game defending”.
Last Meeting: Arsenal found it tough to break through against Swansea in November 2014, but eventually managed it in the second half when Alexis Sanchez forced the ball from close range.
In 58 Premier League matches the playmaker has provided 22 assists, giving him the best ratio of games to assists in the competition’s history. Bafetimbi Gomis will perhaps be asking the biggest questions of himself, as he could initially have put Monk’s side out of sight.
Wenger has a tempestuous relationship with Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho and the Gunners manager was presented with a golden opportunity to take a swipe at his old enemy following Saturday’s stroll at the Liberty Stadium. Gomis couldn’t maximise it, though, as he paid for a moment’s hesitation in the 21st minute.
The home side did look capable of getting in behind Arsenal, despite their toil. First of all, because it’s very tight at the top, but also because of the quality of the teams you face.
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If Wenger was left disappointed by Campbell’s inaccuracy, from 15 yards, opposite number Garry Monk was nothing less than crestfallen when Swansea’s opening chance of the game arrived in the 21st minute. The home game here we went on the attack, played an open game and scored goals at the right time and showed character to come back.
