Arsenal managed to take the lead in the match through a set piece goal from defender Per Mertesacker. Despite this victory, Arsenal will have reasons to be concerned in the remainder of the season. They played against 10 men for most of the match, but they were able to create any clear-cut opportunities. As in every other match, Arsenal dominated the possession, but they were not able to convert them into chances. Arsenal also had a man sent off late in the match when Oliver Giroud was given a straight red card.

After the match, Wenger said that the referee was right in giving the red card to Steve Sidwell.

“I think the referee could only give a red card [to Sidwell]. We will see [if Arteta is okay]. He played the second-half. I don’t know how much damage is done. It is a kick, a bad kick. I don’t know if he has twisted his ankle or not. In these kind of things it is a question of a fraction of a second. If you are fully on your foot at the moment you get it you break your leg. If you ease a bit off maybe that is why he got away with it,” said Wenger.

Online video Rating: 5 / five

Due to the home advantage and good run of form, Tottenham are expected to clinch this encounter. This would enable them to open a significant advantage over Arsenal in the table, but the German international Lukas Podolski thinks that this match alone will not determine the top four positions this season.

Arsenal will be left with a real danger of missing out on the Champions League if they lose this match. They will be coming into the encounter on the back of a poor run of form, which has seen them suffered two defeats in the last three matches. Consequently, Unibet are offering longer odds online than might be usually expected.

In contrast, Tottenham have been the best team in London over the last few weeks especially due to the form of the Welsh winger Gareth Bale. Arsenal, though, will be able to recall the 5-2 win earlier in the season, which will provide them a psychological boost. Podolski has said that there are still 11 matches remaining in the season. Hence, this match is not as important.

“I like derbies. It will be a tough match but we want the three points and we have the quality to win there. It is something special when it is a derby, for the fans and for the club. When you play away at your rivals you must fight for the three points. It is a big game but it will not decide who will play in next season’s Champions League. We have 11 matches to go and every match is like a final and we must fight to get into the Champions League next season,” said Podolski.

Video Ranking: 4 / 5

After having qualified for the Champions league consecutively for the past 16 seasons, Arsenal are in danger of missing out on the competition. Chelsea and Tottenham are the main rivals for the fourth position. Podolski has submitted that the slow start to the season has cost Arsenal their place in the top four at the moment, but he is confident that they will be able to recover in the remaining few months of the season. Even though he has not set the world alight on fire, Podolski has managed to score eight goals in 23 appearances for Arsenal this season.

“We must fight for the Champions League places and this is our focus. We want third place and we have a lot of matches to play. We are in the FA Cup and the Champions League but the focus must be on the Premier League. We wanted to finish first but we lost a lot of points in the first half of the Premier League and now the difference is too big. The other teams are really strong so we must fight in every game,” said Podolski.

Video Score: 4 / five

The Latics are currently in the relegation zone on goal difference having stretched their winless run to four games with defeat at Norwich City last weekend.

Their only win in their last seven games came against bottom of the table Reading four weeks ago, though victory this weekend could take them as high as fourteenth place should other results fall in their favour.

Roberto Martinez will be without several key players, with Adrian Lopez and James McCarthy joining Gary Caldwell, Antolin Alcaraz, and Ivan Ramis on the side-lines, while Ben Watson is out until at least February with a broken leg.

Top scorer Jordi Gomez is 14.0 (13/1) with Bet Victor to get the first goal of the game, while you can get odds of 4.5 (7/2) for him to hit the back of the net at any time during the game.

Wigan are as highly priced as 5.0 (4/1) for the victory, with Arsenal available at 1.75 (3/4). The draw is 4.0 (3/1) with Bet Victor.

The visitors 5-2 win at Reading last time out secured back to back league victories for the Gunners for only the second time this season; a third win here would elevate them to third place ahead of Tottenham and Chelsea’s fixtures later in the weekend.

Arsene Wenger has no fresh injury worries, with long term absentees Andre Santon and Abou Diaby still the only players missing.

Santi Cazorla bagged a hat-trick in that rout in Reading, and the Spaniard is available at 9.0 (8/1) to open the scoring.

Movie Ranking: 4 / five

In his place, Arsenal signed to strikers in the form of Lukas Podolski and Oliver Giroud. However, both players have taken some time to settle at the club due to the fact that they were coming in from different leagues with the German Podolski coming from the German league and the Frenchman Giroud coming from the French league. Van Persie was responsible for scoring almost 50% of the goals for Arsenal at this stage of the last season. However, this time around, a number of players have been on the scoresheet for Arsenal, which is a good and important aspect for the club according to Podolski.

“Yes, it’s important to share the goals. Last season there was one guy, Robin van Persie, who scored 30 goals or more. Now we have four of five players who score five, six, seven or eight goals. I think this is important when a good player leaves the club, it’s important for some other players to score the goals,” said Podolski on the official website of the club. Despite the best efforts of Podolski and Giroud, Arsenal have been struggling in the Premier league and are currently just a few places above the 10th place.

Video Rating: 0 / 5