Aston Villa are now third.
A deflected shot by James Milner gave Villa three points at Upton Park on Saturday night.
That puts them four points above Arsenal, two above Manchester United.
Arsenal play Liverpool today at 4pm
Man United’s World Club Final is at 10.30 am on Channel Five
After his kidney stones operation this week, Rafa Benitez won’t be on the bench. Or so we were told. Now there are stories that he will defy doctor’s orders.
And Fernando Torres is still out. If Harry Redknapp is right, and Liverpool are a two-man team, then Arsenal have to stop Stevie Gerrard from scoring. But are they well-equipped to do that?
History means nothing in a tight game like this. But, for the record, Rafa has never won at the Emirates, and Liverpool have not won at Arsenal since Feb 2000, when Titi Camara scored the only goal of the game.
Since the Premier league started in 1992, Liverpool have beaten Arsenal more times than any other team has beaten them : 14 times.
It’s an opportunity for Liverpool, as Arsenal are in fifth place, below where they usually are, with a younger, weaker team than usual. If Fernando Torres was playing, I doubt if Arsenal could win. But I doubt if they can win anyway. They have a marshmallow midfield and flaky strikers. Adebayor has never scored against Reina in the league and RVP never gives you two games in a row.
Now, when it really matters, can Adebayor and van Persie do the business against the rugged league-leaders? In a normal season, this would look like a 1-1 kinda fixture. But with erratic duo Diaby and Eboue on the flanks, a 1-1 draw would be a good point. It’s silly to expect more.
On Boxing Day it’s up the M1 for Aston Villa versus Arsenal. That could be one of the most interesting and significant Premier League games between these two clubs.
On reflection, Martin O’Neill CAN handle the pressure of trying to finish fourth. When you manage Celtic you’re working in a big city whose two biggest clubs are expected to win every game. Celtic’s fans tend to assume Rangers will win every game, so they put a lot of pressure on Celtic to do the same. Therefore Martin O’Neill needed a Celtic team that had a consistency of attitude, application and determination, and he achieved that.
His Villa team is now showing those same qualities. Aesthetically, they are not the best and they did not create at lot at West Ham. But they know how to graft and hang in there and battle for a result, as we saw last week when Ashley Young scored in the 92nd minute right after Lescott had made it 2-2.
Aston Villa have started more English players than any team in the top half of the Premier league. They’ve started nine English players. Arsenal have started one, Theo Walcott, who is injured and badly missed. Also, I think CSKA Moscow will knock Villa out of the Uefa Cup, as the second leg is on a plastic pitch. That would allow them to focus on league points.
Fabio Capello was dismayed by the Champions League draw because three Italian clubs play English teams.
Avoiding the EPL teams, Barcelona’s odds were cut from 9-2 to 7-2. They play Lyon, who are not as powerful as they were. But Benzema will relish such a challenge.
Inter v Man United delighted Jose Mourinho so much he was giving out champagne and cake to the press at the training ground on Friday.
Right now, the best three teams in Europe are Barcelona, Man Utd and Inter. In February, who knows? Expect Mourinho to target Rooney He will be kicked, obstructed and wound up. From what I can see, Mourinho has motivated Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as he did with Drogba.
Arsenal’s pairing with Roma is a nice draw because Roma have no track record in the Champions League. But they have fabulous skills and their passing style has an attractive geometry, and they have Vucinic, one of the deadliest finishers in world football. Nobody finishes better than Mirko Vucinic. He’s like Berbatov with pace, but not such a flicky player as the Bulgarian. Vucinic, with his acceleration and razor-sharp shooting, suits the way Roma play and justifies the way they play. He has true class.
Arsenal v Roma
Manchester United v Inter Milan
Chelsea v Juventus
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v Porto
Lyon v Barcelona
If you like ANR, you’ll love The Professor.
A classic paperback that took 10 years to write. You can read the first chapter for free.