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| Match Date 04.05.13 Kick Off 17.30 |
Arsenal will be aiming to strengthen their top-four position as they visit Loftus Road to play relegated Queens Park Rangers on Saturday. The Gunners (18-10-7) are sandwiched between Chelsea and Tottenham in the race for Champions League qualification, but their rivals play each other in their game in hand on Wednesday evening. Without striker Olivier Giroud for this run-in, Arsene Wenger has spoken of his desire to play Lukas Podolski in a central role in the club's remaining three matches.
"He has the qualities to play through the middle, because he is a good finisher," Wenger said about his German attacker. "He has a good technique and because we have a game based on very quick combinations, I believe he can be a part of that. Overall I am convinced in the coming games he will show it. A definite decision has not been made, but if there is an opportunity then there is a good chance I will play him there."
Full Interview from Wenger Click Here
QPR (4-13-18) were relegated to the Championship last weekend, but chairman Tony Fernandes is confident the club have a plan in place to survive the drop and challenge for an immediate return to the top flight.
"We've been through who Harry wants to keep and who he is happy to let go," said Fernandes. "There are some that will want to stay, others that might want to move on. I am a positive person, so people will say I'm not being realistic, but if you go through player by player, we'll sort it out. It's not insurmountable.
"A lot of our investment has gone into building up the squad. Now we're in a position where we can trade. We weren't able to do that before - we were just buying, buying and buying. The policy was how long do we sign a player for and what kind of wages are we paying. That's all been cleared up now though. I don't think we're going to be in a bad position from that. We'll come out of it okay."
Rangers have won just twice at home all season, which is unsurprisingly the worst home record in the division. Their 14 points picked up, 12 goals scored and minus-13 goal difference are all league lows. Arsenal have gone a season-best seven games unbeaten and lost just one of the last 13. The Gunners have the best away defence in the league, with just 14 goals conceded in 17 games.
Arsenal won 1-0 when these teams met in October, with Mikel Arteta scoring a controversial offside winner six minutes from time. The Gunners have not won any of their last six visits to Loftus Road.
TEAM NEWS:
Arssenal :
Arsenal are without Lukasz Fabianski (rib) and Abou Diaby (knee).
QPR:
QPR have doubts over Christopher Samba (knee), Andros Townsend (hamstring), Shaun Wright-Phillips (ankle) and DJ Campbell (foot).
The game is up for Queens Park Rangers and have nothing to play for again but Arsenal will hope confirmation of relegation does not free the hosts of their shackles or turn them into keen spoilers on the day.
Arsenal cannot afford any form of slip up in this game, they must prevail to maintain their good run, as victory at the Loftus road will move back into third.
Its indeed really worrying that Arsenal have never won at Loftus Road in the Premier League era (D3 L2), but a bit of respite that
Arsenal have won their last three away league games.
The Gunners have not won four in a row on the road since November 2010, can they change that and get all 3 points on Saturday evening?
"Arsenal are on a really good run of form dating back to their defeat in the north London derby at the start of March, and they should continue that at Loftus Road. "
Match Facts Via BBC
Arsenal are one of only two Premier League teams who have yet to lose after taking the lead this season. Manchester United are the other side with that record.
The Gunners have surrendered just six points from winning positions this term, the second best record in the top flight. In comparison, fellow Champions League hopefuls Chelsea and Tottenham have dropped 16 and 23 points respectively.
Arsenal have lost just one game against a side in the bottom half of the league table so far this season (against Norwich in October).
Theo Walcott is set to make his 200th league appearance in English football (including 21 games for Southampton).
No Premier League player has had as many shots as Aaron Ramsey (39) without scoring this season.
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