West Brom Preview: 3 points needed before internationals 19 March, 2011

This is it now, there are no other distractions with cup competitions; we have one sole aim – to win the Premier League. Ten games stand between us and the title. Some very tricky ones, some winnable ones but today we start with a trip to West Brom and it’s one of the 10 I’ve highlighted as ‘must win’.

They’re a tough side and I know that because I was at the game earlier in the season when they went 3-0 up on us. They were under a different management then and they showed that they weren’t afraid to attack. They now have Roy Hodgson at the wheel but the players will take confidence from the way they were able to break us down in September. They know we are fragile at the back and they know that today we’re coming to the Hawthorns with a depleted defense.

Wenger says he’s not worried about Squillaci but I have to admit I am a little. I mean I’ve seen him do well and I’m confident he can step up his game again but what I’m worried about is if he can be consistent for 90 minutes of the ten remaining games. It’s a big chance for him to make his mark in his debut season and I’ve got my fingers crossed that he forms a solid partnership with Koscielny now. It’s not just down to those two though, the whole side must not forget their defensive responsibilities. That’s Denilson, Wilshere, Ramsey, Diaby, Nasri, Rosicky, Bendtner and especially Arshavin – not only do they need to be looking forward but also when not in possession we need to close every team down quickly and win the ball back. I’d love it if we could emulate Barcelona performance against us in the Nou Camp where we found it so difficult to keep the ball never mind attack.

We have a few injures for today so the side might look something like this:

Almunia
Sagna – Squillaci – Koscielny – Clichy
Wilshere – Denilson
Nasri
Rosicky – van Persie (c) – Arshavin

Bendtner could also come into that side at the expense of Rosicky but I’m not sure, Arsene likes the option of Tomas at the moment and he is better at tracking back than some of the others.

West Brom’s current form from the last five games is: LDDDW. That last win was against Birmingham City, it was a big win for them and they’ve had two weeks to prepare for this game. They’ll be ready and confident that they can nick something today to help their fight against the drop. It’s not going to be easy today but I still fancy us to win. We need to start well and put them under pressure from the first minute whilst not forgetting to defend with everything we’ve got. An early goal would be brilliant, I’m not saying by any means that West Brom are going to hold out for a 0-0 but the longer it remains that way the more tense it’s going to get.

I’m off to the game today, in fact I better wrap this post up quickly as my train is at half 11. I’m really looking forward to it, every game in the Premiership is massive now and I’m sure the Gooners will be in full voice today. It’s also going to be a chance to see Jens Lehmann in the flesh, the last time I saw him he was waving to the fans at Ashburton Grove to chants of ‘Leee-man! Leee-man!’ I’m expecting something similar today. I’ll report back on the game tomorrow but you can follow my trip over on my twitter – twitter.com/the_cannon.

Enjoy the game however you’re following it. Let bring back those three points from Birmingham. COME ON YOU GUNNERS.