Arsenal v Manchester City (Match Preview & Team Predictions) by Gunner Baines Goonertalk http://goo.gl/CMcm3 比賽時間：台北時間，明天凌晨3:45開打。 Arsenal face another stern test in their Premier League title quest as they take on fellow title contenders Manchester City tomorrow night at Emirates Stadium. Arsenal 將面臨嚴峻的英超奪冠考驗，明晚將於主場 Emirates 球場迎接同樣要來競爭冠 軍的 Man City。 Roberto Mancini’s side, who currently sit in second place, two points ahead of the Gunners, but a win for Arsenal tomorrow would see them go into second ahead of the Citizens with a game in hand. Roberto Mancini 的球隊，目前第二名並領先 槍手 兩分，但若 Arsenal 贏了明晚的比 賽，就能超越 Man City 並握有少賽一場的優勢。 It is undoubtedly a huge game and looking at the current table it has become equally important as the game against Chelsea last week. After putting a good string of results together over the Christmas period, with huge wins against Chelsea and at Birmingham, Arsenal can now look to push on in the New Year with a succession of games against bottom half sides after tomorrow. Doing the double over City would show huge progress from last season as well as instilling further belief in the side that they are able to win the title. 無疑這是一場非常重要的比賽，而且就目前的積分來看，這場比賽幾乎和上週對抗 Chelsea 一樣重要。在聖誕節賽程裡表現不錯(2勝1平)，漂亮地擊敗 Chelsea 和 Birmingham，Arsenal 現在應在新年之際，持續地在連續賽程？連續擊敗 City 以展現 自上季以來的明顯進步，也能鼓舞 槍手們 更相信自己可以奪冠。 The corresponding fixture last season was arguably one of the worst seen at the Emirates, ending in a goalless draw. I would expect Mancini to line up a typically Italian style for a similar result this time around. City have little to offer in terms of creativity in midfield, with an abundance of strong holding players that will set up to form a stubborn defence aiming to catch Arsenal on the break. Earlier this season Arsenal pulled of a 3-0 victory at Eastlands but notably this was after City had been reduced to 10 men and they will provide much tougher to break down tomorrow. 在上個賽季同樣的對戰，可以說是在主場最糟的表現，以零和結束了比賽。我猜想 Mancini 會排出典型的義式風格陣容來力保平局。City 就中場的創造性而言表現相當普 通，但有著一批強力的後腰球員足以建立起最堅硬的防禦，並抓住 Arsenal 的空檔反擊 。在半賽程之前 Arsenal 在 Eastlands 球場拿下 3-0 的勝利，但那次是因為 City 被 迫以十人應戰 ( Boyata 鏟了 Chamakh 而紅牌出局) ，明天他們會以更堅強的防禦來攔 阻一切的進攻。 It will be interesting to see how Wenger approaches the game with this being our 4th game in 9 days. After the performances of what now appears our first XI against both Chelsea and Birmingham most would like to see the same line-up in such a big game. However, Wenger has used both Djourou and Van Persie with caution after their long injury lay-offs and with both having played twice within a week already, they could be benched. Djourou in particular has been fantastic so far this season and I would personally like to see him play in what will be another physical game, especially after he excelled against Chelsea’s Didier Drogba. 另一個值得注意的是，教授 會怎樣安排這九天裡第四場賽事的陣容。在 Chelsea 和 Birmingham 取得漂亮佳績的先發十一人，很有可能明天會原封不動地繼續先發。然而， 教授 冒險地使用過去長期因傷缺陣的 Djourou 和 Van Persie，且他們也在一週內踢了 兩場比賽，故可能會被安排為替補球員。但是 Djourou 在本賽季以來有著突出的表現， 所以我期待能看到他繼續勝任亟需力量的比賽，特別是看過他壓住 Chelsea 前鋒 Didier Drogba 的表現。 Injuries:(傷兵球員) There are no fresh injuries from the weekend with Manuel Almunia (Ankle), Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles) and Emmanuel Frimpong (cruciate knee ligament) all being long-term absentees. 自上週後依然沒什麼令人期待的復出消息，Manuel Almunia (腳踝)、Thomas Vermaelen (阿基里斯腱)、以及 Emmanuel Frimpong(十字韌帶) 都還是長期養傷的階段。 Abou Diaby suffered a calf injury in last week’s fixture away at Wigan and faces a 3 week lay-off. Kieran Gibbs (Ankle) returned to full training today and should be available for the weekend but the game against City comes too early. Abou Diaby 在上週比賽對 Wigan 時弄傷小腿，將面臨 3週缺陣。Kieran Gibbs (腳踝) 於今天回到正式訓練裡，週末有機會上場，但別指望明天對 City 就看到他上場。 Predicted Starting XI(預測先發十一人) Fabianski Sagna – Djourou – Koscielny – Clichy Fabregas – Song – Wilshere Walcott – van Persie – Nasri For Man City, summer signings Mario Balotelli and David Silva have suffered knee injuries in the last week, ruling them out of tomorrow’s game. Silva particularly will be a huge miss for City after becoming their main playmaker in recent games. 至於 Man City，自去年夏季引進了 Mario Balotelli 和 David Silva 都在上週弄傷了 膝蓋，使得他們會缺席明天的比賽。尤其是 Silva 的缺席會對 City 是一大損失，因為 他在最近比賽裡都是主要的組織球員。 In terms of any impact on City this will probably make little difference, as Tevez would have started as the lone striker regardless of Balotelli’s fitness. 他們雙雙缺席對 City 的影響也許損失不會太多，因為還有 Tevez 可以擔任單箭頭前鋒 ，而不必擔心 Balotelli 的狀態如何。 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will also be hoping that Emmanuel Adebayor’s bust-up with Kolo Toure goes someway to effecting City’s match preparation. Arsenal 主教練 教授 也許會希望 Emmanuel Adebayor 和 Kolo Toure 的爭吵影響了 City 的賽前預備。 ※兩位都是前任(-08賽季之前)槍手球員，而且最近他們都很少在先發之列，多少心裡 會有點不服氣吧。 ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊ 說真的，我挺擔心對方的鐵桶陣，加上又有 Tevez 威脅極高的前鋒。 Silva 的缺席還真的給我鬆了一口氣， 之前他和 Tevez 的配合頻送威脅，而且還是在十人應戰的劣勢之下。 期待槍手把握每一次的射門機會， 拿下主場勝利以饗宴槍迷們吧！ Goal! Goal! Arsenal! We r the Champions ! --

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