Arsene Wenger
Arsene Wenger admits Arsenal’s growing injury list is becoming a major concern ahead of the north London derby against Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow.
The Gunners suffered a dreadful 5-1 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich on Wednesday, but sit level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
Arsenal have a string of first-team players — Hector Bellerin (groin), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring), Theo Walcott (calf), Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Jack Wilshere (ankle), Tomas Rosicky (knee) and Danny Welbeck (knee) — currently out of action.
Laurent Koscielny (hip) and Mikel Arteta (foot) will undergo late fitness tests to see if they can be fit to face Spurs, leaving Wenger worried ahead of a crucial period of the season.
“I’m very concerned because we’re only in November and we’ve so many players out,” said Wenger.
“We go into the Christmas period and I’m concerned because we’ve too many out. I give Koscielny 80 percent chance (to play Spurs). He’ll have a test Saturday morning, so will Mikel Arteta.”
Wenger feels it is still premature to properly judge whether his side can win the league, but is happy to be in a position of strength after 11 games.
He added: “It’s too early to say (if Arsenal can win the title). We want to be in the fight and I believe we can but it’s too early.
“At Christmas we’ll see better. Now it’s down to consistency and turning up for every game.
“You want to be up there at the top and we’re at the moment. After the first game against West Ham (a 2-0 home defeat) it’s absolutely remarkable what we’ve done and we want to stay there.
“I enjoy the derby because I believe you want to play important exciting games in football that have meaning and special emotions.”
Tottenham go into the derby on a fine run of form. They sit five points adrift of Arsenal, but have lost just once in the league this term — and that was the opening-day defeat to Manchester United.
Spurs have won five of their last seven league matches and head coach Mauricio Pochettino has been thrilled to see Harry Kane return to goalscoring form after the England striker netted five times in their previous three games in all competitions.
“We never had any doubts about him,” said Pochettino.
“Always the top players sometimes have times when they struggle to score. We’re very pleased with him, very happy he has started to score again.
“Playing on a Thursday (a 2-1 win against Anderlecht in the Europa League) and then Sunday isn’t easy but we’ll be ready to compete and try to win the game, it’s the north London derby and we know this is a very important game for us.”
Tottenham expect to have Danny Rose fit after a knock and Clinton N’Jie will undergo a late check on a hamstring problem. Nabil Bentaleb and Nacer Chadli are both out with ankle injuries, while Andros Townsend is not likely to play after a clash with the club’s fitness coach.
Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney’s goal saw Manchester United re-assert themselves in Europe in mid-week but anything less than a comfortable win over West Bromwich Albion today will leave Louis van Gaal facing fresh questions.
Rooney’s late goal against CSKA Moscow, which lifted him level with Denis Law as United’s second-highest ever goalscorer, took van Gaal’s side to the top of Group B in the Champions League.
Rooney’s header — his 237th United goal — avoided a fourth successive goalless draw for the first time in the club’s history.
It also papered over a few cracks United manager Van Gaal must hope won’t be re-opened against West Brom at Old Trafford in United’s final Premier League game before the international break.
United played positively against the Russian league leaders but still lacked a genuine cutting edge, through either pace or guile, and the impatience of the supporters will again be evident if the goals don’t flow against Tony Pulis’ defence-minded team.
United have failed to score in three of their last four Premier League games and Van Gaal admits that getting his philosophy for winning football to work on a consistent basis is proving a challenge.
English Premier League fixtures
Today: Bournemouth v Newcastle United (14:45); West Ham United v Everton (17:00); Sunderland v Southampton (17:00); Norwich City v Swansea City (17:00); Manchester United v West Bromwich Albion (17:00); Leicester City v Watford (17:00); Stoke City v Chelsea (19:30)
Tomorrow: Aston Villa v Manchester City (15:30); Liverpool v Crystal Palace (18:00); Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur (18:00) — Goal.com/SuperSport.