After the morale-denting 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa in the previous league match, Arsenal is now going to face Manchester City on the road today in an after-noon clash in premier league. Going into the match on the back of a 2-2 draw at Hull City in the previous outing, Manchester City is now looking to cause an upset at home by defeating struggling Arsenal who are currently 9 points behind leader Chelsea. Manchester City, on the other hand, is clearly out of the title race with 14 points from 13 matches. The best thing they can go for this season is to clinch a spot for the next year’s Champions League.
Match: Manchester City vs Arsenal, English Premier League 2008-09
Date: 22 November 2008
Venue: City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, England
Kick off: 15:00 BST (British Standard Time)
Arsenal’s lack of consistency once again frustrated the fans as they were defeated by Aston Villa at home in the previous league match. Arsenal has got off to a mixed start to the current season with 7 wins, 4 defeats and 2 draws so far this season. Arsenal currently secures 4th spot in the league table with 23 points from 13 outings. Manager Arsene Wenger will also have to come to terms with star winger Theo Walcott’s recent injury during training with England national team for a friendly match against Germany. Walcott’s injury might appear as fatal if other midfielders can not fill out his void in the ring wing. Reports out in the media suggest that Walcott will require at least 3 months to recover from his shoulder injury. Arsenal now demands compensation from FA for his injury.
Goal.com reported:
The blow is expected to keep the speed-merchant sidelined for three months or more, meaning the Gunners would be entitled to around £1.1 million - the price of Walcott's wages for a 12-week spell.
In the wake of the incident, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger dismissed the injury as an accident and refused to attribute individual blame, but he still wants the FA held accountable.
"There should be compensation of course," the French tactician told the press.
Well, no doubt, Arsenal has enough justification for claiming the monetary compensation, but even that amount would not help Arsenal much on the field without Walcott. Moreover, Emmanuel Eboue is also on the sideline with injury and will not be able to catch the trip to Manchester City. Cesc Fabregas will sit out for the match due to suspension, while Robin van Persie will come back to action after serving one-match ban. However, Kolo Toure is doubtful for the match. Arsene Wenger has ruled William Gallas out of the match after taking away his captaincy for claiming unrest and lack of determination among the Arsenal players.
For Manchester City, they are currently at the 12th position in the league table with only 14 matches. Their premier league campaign has been disastrous so far as they could win only 4 matches and drew 2 matches against 7 defeats. After the Arab takeover, Manchester City recruited some big budget players like Robinho and initially they looked pretty much confident for the title race, but the City players gradually lost their pace and rhythm and started slipping in the point table of the league. City will get Richard Dunne and Gelson Fernandes available for the match as both the players will return from suspension. However, English forward Daniel Sturridge is doubtful for the match.
Online Live Score and Updates
Here, I am giving some names of online live score and updates websites from where you can get the live score and updates of the match:
Live Score
Goalzz
Live Football Scores
Goal.com
Footie Scorez
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