EPL: Reading vs Arsenal
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Reading v Arsenal
Barclays Premier League
Madejski Stadium
Monday, November 12, 2007
Kick-off: 8pm (uk time), 4am (Sing Time) -
League Table (as of today):
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TV Listing:
channel 27:
Reading vs Arsenal FC - Live - 3.55am (pre-analysis at 3.30am)
==========Start your predictions now========== -
I'm afraid i have to go for a draw. Arsenal drew 3 matches in a row which seems worrying
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uOriginally posted by glacer:I'm afraid i have to go for a draw. Arsenal drew 3 matches in a row which seems worrying for 
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i predict a 2 - 0 win for us... hleb and adebayor to score....
last game of the week! turbo_drift, it is LIVE at channel 27. Monday 3.55am game.. there is a pre-match analysis at 3.30am. Monday 3.55am meaning the early tuesday morning hours..
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thanks.Originally posted by akinos:last game of the week! turbo_drift, it is LIVE at channel 27. Monday 3.55am game.. there is a pre-match analysis at 3.30am. Monday 3.55am meaning the early tuesday morning hours.. -
i think we'll nick this one by a goal from adebayor
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i tink it will be 1 goal to gunners
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Wenger tells Coppell: Arsenal helped you stay in Premier League
Arsene Wenger has held up Reading as a prime example of why a quota on foreign players would be bad for English football.
A key reason behind Reading's survival in the Barclays Premier League last season was the midfield pairing of Steve Sidwell and James Harper.
Both players are ex-Arsenal trainees who did not make the grade under Wenger, with the likes of Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit ahead of them.
Reading manager Steve Coppell is one of those managers in favour of a limit to the number of foreign players in the Barclays Premier League.
But Wenger argues a quota system would deny the likes of Reading a chance to snap up high-quality cast-offs, like Sidwell and Harper, who still have a future at the highest level.
"The rule for success is just live around Arsenal and pick off the players who do not make it completely and I promise you will have a very good team," said Wenger.
"There are very good players who will not all make it here but when they drop out they will still make a good team.
"Harper and Sidwell did not get in here because they had Petit and Viera and Edu in front of them. I think to force the clubs in England to have only English players in the side would be detrimental to the smaller clubs."
Sidwell has now moved on to Chelsea but Reading also boast two other former Arsenal players on their books in John Halls and Graham Stack, although both are currently out on loan.
Others players plying their trade in the Premiership having graduated at Arsenal include Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant, Blackburn midfielder David Bentley, West Ham defender Matthew Upson and Sunderland striker Anthony Stokes.
Wenger added: "I am happy if they have a good life. Sidwell was an important player for them because he had a good partnership with Harper.
"Sidwell's aim was to become a professional football player at a top team. He is. "If we have just contributed a little bit we are happy with that. We take the criticism, no problem.
"As a manager you want to have a positive influence on the life of your football players."
Arsenal's current crop of stars head to Reading on Monday night on the back of a 26-game unbeaten run, following the midweek Champions League draw with Slavia Prague.
Reading, conversely, have been consistently inconsistent so far this season.
But they have won four of their six home league games and Wenger is full of respect for the work Coppell has done at the Madejski Stadium.
"The expectation is not exactly the same at Reading as it is at Arsenal," said Wenger.
"If he can manage to keep Reading in the Premier League for 10 years he will certainly be the manager.
"I think what he has done is absolutely exceptional and I rate it at the same level as I do here.
"With less potential you can achieve less. But what is the purpose of every manager? To do the maximum with what he has at his disposal. "If you judge him on that, then he has done very well for Reading."
Wenger is set to recall Cesc Fabregas and Alexander Hleb, who were rested for the midweek Champions League draw, plus Kolo Toure and Tomas Rosicky after they recovered from injury. -
*Rosicky, Toure likely to return at Reading*
Arsenal are set to welcome back Kolo Toure and Tomas Rosicky for the trip to Reading on Monday.
Both missed the midweek draw at Slavia Prague with minor knocks. Toure hurt his calf against Manchester United while Rosicky was out with a groin problem. Philippe Senderos has returned to training after his back injury but will not be risked. However he and Robin van Persie (knee) are still on course to be available for the visit of Wigan to Emirates Stadium on November 24.
“It looks like Kolo and Tomas will recover,” Arsène Wenger told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday afternoon. “Senderos will not be completely competitive for this game even though he is back in full training. So the only real injury in the squad is Robin van Persie.”
Arsenal TV Online subscribers will be able to see the entire video interview with Arsène Wenger on Friday morning. In it, the Frenchman talks about: the draw at Slavia, winning the group, his rotation policies, going for the Premier League and the Champions League together, signing someone in the January transfer window, Reading, Monday night games and the 26-game unbeaten run. -
reading 0-2 arsenal.
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guys, i have a bad feeling dat manure want to win big to overtake us as leader before we even have our match in order to give us pressure to perform.
whatever it is, i hope arsenal should heck care wif manu performance n concentrate on winning as priority regarding who is the leader rite now.
cos we r two matches on hand n it is only at the end of the season the leader is counted as champ.
we need to be consistent n handling pressure well. -
consistent is the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle for any team who wish to win the BPL.
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I'm going for Reading 1 Arsenal 4.
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LL no apply position in our Arsenal 300.Originally posted by LazerLordz:I'm going for Reading 1 Arsenal 4.
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10-0. arse wins
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Originally posted by corebooster:LL no apply position in our Arsenal 300.
I did I did. 
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u dun frequent our forum anymore.
i tot our director die ler. -
Originally posted by corebooster:u dun frequent our forum anymore.
i tot our director die ler.
I only come in when there's a match happening. -
muz frequent more wor.
ornot our chairman may banish u back to BMT. -
SONKO READY TO PUT BOOT IN
Ibrahimo Sonko has been given a family secret on how to stop Emmanuel Adebayor: Kick him!
Reading's giant centre-half - nicknamed Superman - decided he would need some extra help to halt the Arsenal centre-forward when they meet tomorrow night.
So he called his cousin Daniel Bocande, who used to play alongside Adebayor for Metz in France. Sonko (right) revealed: "My cousin said to me, 'Be careful, he is so quick! When he has the ball at his feet he can be really fast'.
"I think he is the complete player, but apparently he doesn't like being kicked.
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"I'm not really like that but if I have to kick him I will do it. My cousin told me kicking him is the only way to stop him playing. "If you do it early on it puts him off. When he starts smiling you know he is going to play well; I hope he won't be smiling."
Adebayor hit a rich vein of form early in the season, grabbing six goals by mid-September - but hasn't hit the target since the 5-0 demolition of Derby.
seriously,wad a c u n t this sonko is. the togonator must shoot the ball and smash his face..and when arsenal face reading again,,adebayor will said " sonko doesnt like a ball to be smashed onto his pitiful face" -
Gunnarsson has Cesc in his sights
The Iceland international is one of the Premier League's least flamboyant characters but that suits his role in the team.
He is a spoiler rather than a creator and that was exactly what was lacking last season when Arsenal came away from the Madejski Stadium with a 4-0 victory.
Royals boss Steve Coppell usually employs him as a central midfielder but occasionally hands him a special man-marking mission.
And that was the case in the first game of the current campaign when the Royals held Manchester United to a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford in the Red Devils' first game since being crowned champions.
Regaining the Premier League title is unbeaten Arsenal's aim but Gunnarsson was looking forward to the prospect of trying to stop Spanish sensation Cesc Fabregas in particular..
He said: "Against United we followed our man. Me and James Harper were up against Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick and we shared them between us. I was more on Scholes than Carrick and we got the point. We limited their chances. They only had three or four good ones.
"I would be fine about doing the same with Fabregas. It's a job. If you are given a job you do it."
But the former Watford man admitted he could hardly have been handed a tougher task.
He said: "Fabregas has been fantastic so far. He has 11 goals already, which for someone who didn't score that many goals last season, is unbelievable.
"They are just creating chances - maybe 10 good ones a game - and there are five or six different players who could be on the end of those chances. Fabregas plays in the middle of the park and makes runs forward so he is always around the box.
"They pass it around well and their movement is fantastic. They are not rigid like other teams who have a back four, four in midfield and two up front. They come at you from all directions."
That point at Old Trafford remains Reading's only away from Berkshire so far but in front of their own fans they have been more impressive, with Everton, Newcastle, Wigan and Derby all beaten.
Gunnarsson made it clear he would be happy with a stalemate, especially as the Royals had not budgeted for any points against the top four teams.
He said: "A point at home would be a good result for us, if we got more it would be fantastic.
"Our season doesn't depend on how we do against these teams. That won't keep us in the league or get us into Europe. It is the points against the Fulhams and the Middlesbroughs that are going to make our season. Anything we get we see as a bonus."
Defender Michael Duberry is unlikely to feature after cracking ribs in last week's 3-1 defeat at Fulham so Ivar Ingimarsson stands by for a recall. Winger John Oster is available again following an ankle injury. -
Wenger predicts changes for trip to Reading
Arsène Wenger will rotate his side for the trip to Reading on Monday but, as yet, he does not know how much.
The Arsenal manager made eight changes for the Champions League game at Slavia Prague on Wednesday and, although the performance was disjointed, the 0-0 draw they obtained suggests it was a gamble worth taking.
Wenger will have the octet back at his disposal on Monday and, given that Manchester United may have assumed top spot by the time his side kick-off at the Madejski Stadium, many of them are likely to come back.
“I will change things around,” he said at Friday’s press conference. “I don’t know by how much though. I left out eight players at Slavia and they are all capable to play again.
“We have just Van Persie injured now. Senderos is back in full training but we will not use him on Monday because he has not played at all. Rosicky is back and Toure is back. They had a good session today.
“Kolo has a small calf problem in midweek but had it been a Champions League Final then he would have played.” -
siao liao