Much to the consternation of Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, it will be another season without a trophy in north London. Swansea City, though, are still basking in the glory of winning their first such hardware in 101 years and have their eyes on something bigger.
Chomping at the bit to open their most challenging stretch of league play, the Swans try to head into the international break with some momentum on Saturday when they host the Gunners at Liberty Stadium.
Arsenal nearly overturned a massive deficit Wednesday at Bayern Munich in the second leg of their round of 16 tie, rallying with two goals to knot the aggregate 3-3, but the crucial third away goal never came, and the Gunners (13-8-7) became the last English side to be eliminated in the Champions League despite a 2-0 win."Our second goal came a bit too late,'' Wenger said. "Bayern was nervous but we paid the price for not playing well in the first leg.''
Having already been eliminated in all domestic cup competitions - including ousters in the FA Cup and League Cup to lower-tier sides, Arsenal can throw their full attention into the final nine matches in league play to secure a spot in Champions League for next season. The Gunners had a five-match unbeaten streak snapped last Sunday in a 2-1 derby loss at Tottenham and are five points behind fourth-place Chelsea for the last European berth.
"We just have to go into every game focused and try and win every game that we play until the end of the season to try and get back into the Champions League," midfielder Aaron Ramsey told the team's official website.
Arsenal have done a good job following up their midweek matches in league play, going 4-3-0 on their last seven such occasions. Swansea (10-10-9) enter this match on 40 points, four places and seven points behind Arsenal, but this season can already be labeled a smashing success for the Welsh side in just their second season in the top flight. The Swans made a successful transition to new coach Michael Laudrup, found a top scorer in Michu and will be playing at least in the Europa League next season after winning the League Cup.
This will be the fourth competitive meeting between Arsenal and Swansea already this season, with both teams having a W1 D1 L1 record. Now comes a daunting stretch of matches for the Swans, starting with this match and a home match against third-place Spurs after the World Cup qualifying break. The six-match gauntlet concludes with a trip to Stamford Bridge versus Chelsea and a home match against reigning champions Manchester City, and talisman Garry Monk feels the high-profile clashes give the Swans all the incentive they need to surpass last season's total of 47 points and avoid complacency.
"We have got the entire top five to play in the remaining games, and we are targeting more scalps," he told Swansea's official website. "Arsenal are a really good outfit and we've already had some great battles with them this season. "But if we don't maintain our standards for the remaining nine games, then that could take the gloss of our season."
Michu's goals in the 88th and 91st minutes gave the Swans a 2-0 victory at the Emirates in the reverse fixture, but Arsenal gained a measure of revenge by dumping Swans from the FA Cup with a 1-0 triumph at home in a January replay on Jack Wilshire's goal in the 86th minute after the two teams had played to a 2-2 draw at Liberty Stadium.
Predicted line ups from the Guardian
Swansea's last double over Arsenal came in the 1981-82 season. Arsenal with 10 games left to haul themselves into the top four, and cannot afford a repeat of December's meeting in North London when Michu's late double earned Swansea a 2-0 win.
Do you think the Gunners can do it tomorrow at the Liberty Stadium ? What do you think the score line would be? Please comment & leave us your feedback.
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