Arsenal v Sunderland, Saturday 18th August, 3pm, Emirates Stadium, Premier League


Arsenal hope new faces inspire good start

It couldn't have gone much worse, the beginning of last season. Arsenal fans had to endure one of the worst starts to a campaign the club has ever had. Even Wenger admitted last September it was "terrible" ( http://bit.ly/qZAYbq ) and yet, he still managed to engineer an improvement that looked inconceivable at times. The gunners shot from 17th to 3rd over the course of the season, despite their worst start to a campaign in 58 years. The impact of losing Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, as well as Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby to injury, meant that Arsenal's midfield had been, practically, wiped out. Late arrivals in the transfer market - Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun - enjoyed good seasons with the club and became key performers by the end of it, particularly the Spaniard. And whilst Wilshere is still not back until October ( http://bbc.in/PYYgTj ) and Benayoun has returned to parent club Chelsea, Wenger has Diaby fully fit and has signed Santi Cazorla from Malaga, meaning midfield looks fiercely competitive once more.

The departure of Robin van Persie, and the imminent exit of Alex Song, mean Arsenal fans will question the club's direction similarly to last summer, yet Wenger has already signed Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski for a combined fee of £24m - the same fee Manchester United paid for van Persie. As Wenger said on Friday, "We have already reinvested the money." Song's transfer to Barcelona ( http://bit.ly/S4zd3h ) mean Nuri Sahin is set to arrive.

Sunderland inactive in the market

Thus far in the transfer market, Sunderland have signed Louis Saha and Carlos Cuellar, both on frees. Exiting the club this summer are: Michael Turner (Norwich), Asamoah Gyan (Al-Ain FC) and George McCartney (West Ham) amongst others. Martin O'Neil will hope for this season goes as well as last season did upon his arrival on Wearside. Sunderland appointed the former Aston Villa coach on December 3rd last year, and he masterminded a rise from 17th to 13th in the table, though at one point, the black cats reached 8th place. However, Sunderland haven't won any of their last 8 Premier League games.

Three meetings last season

Arsenal and Sunderland faced each other three times last season. The gunners won both league encounters, though O'Neil's side did knock Wenger's men out of the FA cup in February. The first meeting saw two Van Persie efforts see off Sunderland 2-1 at the Emirates in the league ( http://bbc.in/x2zHZc ) whilst the game at the Stadium of Light saw Thierry Henry's last minute strike give Arsenal three points ( http://bbc.in/zMmtXo ).

Match Stats:

* Arsenal have had debutants sent off in the opening Premier League game in each of the last two seasons - Koscielny and Gervinho.

* When Arsenal last met Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium last season, van Persie scored Arsenal’s fastest-ever Premier League goal (29 seconds).

* Arsenal have lost just one of their last 17 league games against Sunderland.

* The Gunners recouped the most points from losing positions of any team in the 2011-12 Premier League.

* Arsene Wenger’s side didn’t win a single penalty at the Emirates in the 2011-12 Premier League.

* 28 per cent of the goals Sunderland conceded were headers, the highest proportion in the top flight last season.

* Arsenal scored more goals in the opening 15 minutes than any other team in the 2011-12 Premier League (12).

* Sunderland have won none of their last seven Premier League away matches (D3 L4).

* Martin O’Neill has only won one of 16 Premier League meetings with Arsene Wenger.

( http://yhoo.it/RZE2uv )


Team News

Arsenal

Koscielny (calf), Oxlade-Chamberlain (ankle), Wilshere (ankle), Rosicky (tendon), Sagna (leg) and Frimpong (knee) are all out, but Walcott (thigh) "should be ok" according Arsene Wenger. Song will not be involved as his exit to Barcelona is negotiated.

Sunderland

Sessegnon (ankle) is doubtful, whilst Brown (knee), Bardsley (ankle) and Vaughan (groin) all unavailable. Saha could make his debut.



Manager's views:

Arsene Wenger

"Traditionally it is always an intense, physical game against Sunderland. We have to create space."

Martin O'Neil

"It’s going to be a difficult game but playing Arsenal is always a difficult game. I don’t think the departure of Robin van Persie puts any more pressure on Arsenal."

Good job Sam


I'm exciteddddd, didn't realize Sunderland were that poor against us, all-time. Can't wait to see everyone in action. Here's to 3 points!

So if Song's not involved, and Wilshere, Rosicky, and Frimpong are all out, what's the midfield going to look like?

Arteta - Cazorla - Coquelin?

EDIT: By the time I'd finished typing this, you had the predicted line-up on there.

I expect nothing short of a mauling. Need to get that frustration out

Congrats on the 5-0 win guys, Giroud's hatrick was awesome

Sam exclemt job.

Cant wait for the game, we need to send a strong message to the rest of EPL.

Great preview with some informative stats.
Let's start our domination over the PL with a comfortable win.

Great preview as always, Sam!

I'm so excited! Finally the start of the season has come upon us.

It will be interesting to see how our midfield starts tomorrow. It's the opening day of the season, at home, against Sunderland. We got firepower in Giroud and Podolski upfront, midfield should juz provide them with great service, and i'm fairly confident they'll score and as long as our defense is good and organised and ERRORLESS (shame how we always gotta worry about our defense, but that's how shitty it can get) then we oughta give the Black Cats a big whipping tomorrow.

to 3 points

C'mon Arsenal!!!

oh.. lets get started...
Btw. where is Santos.. i think he must start.. Jenkinson and Gibbs will be atleast too immature... also chance that Coquelin may start at RB...
and with Song gone, excited that we will see more from Coquelin..

Our team tomorrow according to "Arsenal ITK's on Twitter".

---------------------------

Great preview Sam! So thrilled about the new season, hopefully we'll start with a clean-sheet like last season and no red card for the debutant like Koscielny and Gervinho the past two seasons. I have to change my prediction about this match, no Giroud

Let's go gays /andresantos

Great work Sam! Hopefully the new guys can hit the ground running tomorrow and get the season off to a great start.

I'm worried about the right hand side of our defence for this game. The pace of McClean and Campbell or Sessegnon up against the inexperience of Jenkinson and the slowness of Mertesacker. It would not surprise me if we conceded a goal down that side.

We'll have to be mindful of giving away silly free-kicks around our penalty area since Larsson is a well-known danger from them.

I expect we'll have most of the ball and Sunderland will be parking the bus, which may result in Campbell being isolated. Still, if we aren't care, they have the pace to hurt us on the counter down our most vulnerable side.

We should be able to break them down if our midfielders and forwards have good games and it'll be great to start the season with a good win with good performances from the new guys, just to dispel some of the gloom that's been creeping in this week.

GoonerJay29 wrote:
We'll have to be mindful of giving away silly free-kicks around our penalty area since Larsson is a well-known danger from them.

sold song just in time

If we play Yennaris on the right and deploy Coquelin in front of the back four then they could stifle the runs down the right I think because Jenkinson isn't too fast himself.

cazorla starts, so does podolski. Podloski will play as a striker with giroud on the bench

According to AFCAMDEN

Podolski plays FAR better centrally than as a LW so thats good news for you guys. Hes best as a SS, but is great as a CF too. Wenger should maybe try to figure out a way Podolski, Giroud, and Cazodla can all start, with Poldi and Giroud both centrally though. But lineup looks great for tomorrow.

Excellent preview Sam.

Really looking forward to the game, Kinda optimistic compared to last season. We still aren't at our best in terms of fitness but we are getting there and it's a very good thing that we are at home in the 1st match. It will give time for Koscielny, Giroud, Oxlade to get back to fitness.

I agree with jay about the defensive issues. The pace of MClean n Campbell might hurt us however we will have most of the possesion so as long as we make good use of it, It should be alright. But i really would like a clean sheet so less of the silly errors leading to the goals. Furthermore, i don't think Mertesacker will be beaten by pace. He is too clever for that

I worry about Jenkinson, he had a very poor pre season and technically Yennaris should start instead of him. But wenger wouldn't bench Jenkinson now.

Diaby is going to start alongside Arteta by the looks of it. Giroud on the bench. Gervinho n Theo to support Podolski. Expecting Gervinho to shine.

juventus101 wrote:Podolski plays FAR better centrally than as a LW so thats good news for you guys. Hes best as a SS, but is great as a CF too. Wenger should maybe try to figure out a way Podolski, Giroud, and Cazodla can all start, with Poldi and Giroud both centrally though. But lineup looks great for tomorrow.

Our left winger plays pretty narrow. When Podolski plays there, he'll be close to Cazorla and Giroud so I don't think there'll be many issues.

Great work sam
Really hope we can score early Goals and see out the match with fitness concerns
that FA cup match was so frustrating though sessegnon may not be at his best
Remember Cesc cameo vs villa
cazorla played whole game wednesday night
introducing him off the bench would have been my choice
i will support Jenko and have faith in him

Great work Sam!

I am so excited about new season despite losing our star players. I hope our new signings do well and get 3 points without any injuries.

The impact of the loss of "star players" this summer was well softened by proactiveness and anticipation in the market. I am cautiously optimistic of our season.

(I will be writing a transfer market round up special at the end of the month, unless or someone else wants to do it more than me - please tell me then, to avoid duplication!).

It is by no means an easy match and we will have to be sharp and hit the ground running. 13 hours more to kick off and I can't wait for it!

Tonight I was invited to a party that could maybe, possibly result in me being tired tomorrow and missing kickoff. I am not going to said party.

Here. We. Go

Eman wrote:Tonight I was invited to a party that could maybe, possibly result in me being tired tomorrow and missing kickoff. I am not going to said party.

Here. We. Go

Smart man

The pains of being a USA/Canadian Gooner, although I'll be back in Lebanon in a few weeks where I'll only be 2 hours ahead of UK time so I can temporarily empathize with you to an extent.

I was hoping to see Giroud start with Poldi on the left, but I guess we need to take advantage of Gervinho's current sharpness.

Expecting Theo to do some big damage.

Graduation party tonight after going out game will start when I get home