Arsenal will host Swansea City next Tuesday, March 25 (7:45 PM GMT) at the Emirates Stadium, in a Premier League clash. This is a match of the 29th round that was postponed because the Gunners had to play an FA Cup game against Everton on March 8, the former playing date of the round.
Arsenal is in a bad moment after the embarrassing 0-6 loss against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and they will look for a victory at home in order to get a little hope of winning the Premier League, which is actually a very difficult task, taking into account that they’re in the fourth position, seven points behind the leader Chelsea.
Moreover, Manchester City is only one point above them, but the Citizens have three postponed matches and if they win some points in those games, they will climb in the table.
The manager Arsène Wenger confirmed that centre-back Laurent Koscielny, who was substituted against Chelsea because of a calf issue, won’t be available for Tuesday match: “I don’t know how long he will be out for. He has a scan today.” Other players that won’t play against Swansea City -and don’t have a definite return date- due to injuries are the midfielders Aaron Ramsey (thigh), Mesut Özil (hamstring) and Jack Wilshere (foot).
In addition, left back Kieran Gibbs saw the red card against Chelsea due to a mistake of the referee Andre Marriner, who saw him touching the ball with his hand when it was actually Axel Oxlade-Chamberlain the one who did it. Gibbs is suspended but Arsenal appealed the case and the ban will surely pass to Oxlade-Chamberlain, and in that case the Gunners will also appeal the suspension for Ox, arguing that the shot that Ox stopped with his hand was not on target.
On the other hand, Swansea City is at the 15th place with 29 points, and they have to win some points if they want to escape to the relegation zone. They’re four points above Sunderland, which is in the 18th place, but the Black Cats have two less games -postponed- and if they win at least one of those matches, Swansea would be only one point above relegation.
The Swans come to the match after two consecutive losses, 1-2 against West Bromwich at home and 3-2 against Everton on the road, so they want to revert their situation winning at least one point at Emirates Stadium. Defender and former Gunner Kyle Bartley is the only player that won’t be available on Tuesday, due to a hamstring injury.
The coach Garry Monk admitted that his team is not doing all things well and they have to fix some things: “We are just making silly mistakes at the moment. We need to make teams work that little bit harder to score again us, and it’s about managing that. But the players’ attitude has been spot on. They want to get out of the situation we’re in, but we have to cut out the mistakes.” [source: Swansea official website].
Arsenal vs Swansea City Prediction
In my opinion, this will be a very tough match for Arsenal. The Gunners are in a bad mood after the awful loss against Chelsea and it mightn’t be easy for them to revert that situation. In addition, Swansea City need to win points in order to keep their place in Premier League and they’ll play the match with great intensity.
However, Arsenal showed that they can revert bad moments when they beat Liverpool in FA Cup after losing 1-5 against them a few days before, and playing against a weaker opponent like the Swans should be easier than the FA Cup clash. My prediction for this match is a 2-1 victory for the Gunners.
TV Info: Premier League Extra Time (USA)
