We have the opportunity to record back-to-back wins in the Premier League on Tuesday night when we face Cardiff City at Emirates Stadium, so what are the five key things we need to look out for? Read on to find out…
AN EMOTIONAL BACKDROP
There will be a moment of silent reflection before kick-off tonight, as both sets of players and supporters take the opportunity to remember Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson.
Striker Sala – who Cardiff signed from Nantes last week – went missing, along with pilot Ibbotson, when the plane they were travelling in last Monday disappeared from radar.
Also before kick-off, each captain will carry a bouquet of flowers and place them in the centre circle for the silence. They will then be moved next to each dugout for the duration of the game.
WARNOCK'S RETURN
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock described the past week as "the most difficult" of his managerial career, and he returns to Emirates Stadium for his first visit in a league game since 2011.
All three of his previous league games as an opposition manager away to Arsenal have ended in defeat, and in fact all have come with different teams in different decades.
The first was in October 1991, as boss of Notts County, which we won 2-0 at Highbury. Fifteen years later he brought Sheffield United to Emirates Stadium, losing 3-0. Then in December 2011 Arsenal beat his QPR side 1-0.
SCRAPPING FOR GOALS
Cardiff go into tonight's game currently in the relegation zone, two points away from safety, and as the second joint-lowest scorers in the division. They have scored just once in the past six matches – in a 1-0 win at Leicester – and 19 times in the Premier League all season.
Michael Cox, of zonalmarking.net, sums up their problems. "Their top scorer is Callum Paterson, who serves primarily as the side’s target man, and has scored four times – all scrappy goals from close-range, while the loan signing of Oumar Niasse provides extra speed and might tempt Warnock into using two up front more regularly.
"Cardiff’s main goalscoring threat this evening will come from set-pieces. Any time they win a throw-in within 30 yards of the Arsenal box, expect Gunnarsson to jog across to the touchline and haul the ball into the mixer.
"Hoilett is capable of driving brilliant corners into the box, while Ralls and Camarasa can also deliver the ball well. The target for their deliveries is almost always Morrison, who is Cardiff’s top assister this season with three – all after he’d won the first header at a set-piece, and a teammate has latched onto his knock-down, including for Danny Ward’s goal in the reverse fixture."
GOING FOURTH?
We would need a big win, but with Chelsea not playing until Wednesday night, we could be back among the top four come full-time.
In fact we would need to win by at least five goals to move up the league, while Manchester United will also be hoping to put pressure on the Blues. United are at home to Burnley this evening, on the same points as us, but their goal difference is inferior to ours by three.
Chelsea have their chance to reply away to Bournemouth on Wednesday night.
POSITIVE OMENS
Although we lost on Friday night, our form at home in the league is very good. We are unbeaten in our last 11 league games at Emirates, winning nine and drawing two. It's the second longest current unbeaten home run in the league.
The record is even better when limiting the stats to games against teams starting the day in the relegation. We are unbeaten in our last 33 such games, a run stretching back to April 2007, and have won the last 29 against teams in the drop zone, since a 4-4 draw with Tottenham in October 2008.
In addition we are unbeaten in our last 23 home Premier League games against promoted sides (winning 20), conceding just 11 goals at keeping 14 clean sheets in that run.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette have each scored four Premier League goals against promoted sides this season.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
