Sunderland vs. Arsenal – Match Preview 9/2/2013

admin February 9, 2013 Comments Off

Sunderland vs. Arsenal – Match Preview

Venue and Timings

The match will kick-off at the Stadium of Light on 9^th February 2013 at 1500 GMT (2000 PST and 2030 IST).

Team Form

Sunderland

Danny Rose is back from his injury, after he was featured against Reading.

Danny Graham could be used alongside Steven Fletcher upfront, but O’Neil could use the formation his squad is more accustomed with, i.e., Sessegnon could be used behind Fletcher.

Carlos Cuellar could replace John O’Shea at back instead of Titus Bramble.

Arsenal

Aaron Ramsey would be in the squad, despite missing Wales’ friendly against Austria.

Santi Cazorla will be back in squad, as he was rested against Stoke.

Gervinho has returned, but it is unlikely for him to replace Podolski, Giroud or Walcott.

Recent Meetings

Arsenal 0 – 0 Sunderland

Sunderland 2 – 0 Arsenal

Sunderland 1 – 2 Arsenal

Arsenal 2 – 1 Sunderland

Arsenal 0 – 0 Sunderland

Star Man

Steven Fletcher (Sunderland): The 25-year old Scottish midfielder has made a good name for himself this season. He provides excellent headed attempts for his side, and he likes to play short passes. He likes to do flick-ons. He does not dive onto tackles and is a clean player. He has scored 10 goals and has made one assist from 25 appearances in all competitions.

Santiago Cazorla (Arsenal) : The 28-year-old Spanish central attacking midfielder is not an easy one to handle for any defense. Cazorla’s fatal long shots are unstoppable. He has mentionable crossing, passing and dribbling skills which eventually lead him to assisting goals – or even scoring them. He can take direct free kicks and set-pieces and his midfield indicts make him troublesome for the other side. With him in the squad, Arsenal have a majorly strong midfield. Cazorla has scored a number of goals now and in his last match, he scored a hat-trick. He has scored 7 goals and made 5 assists in 23 appearances in all competitions.

My prediction: 2 – 0 to Arsenal. Arsenal did not really do well at the Emirtates last week against Stoke and they would be looking to score a few more goals against Sunderland. Sunderland are not in any exceptional form and it would be hard for them to pick up a single point here.

Written by Rida Mehtab (@RidaaMehtaab on Twitter)