English Premier League News: Arsene Wenger Confirms Cesc Fabregas Is Out For Chelsea Clash
Arsenal released an official statement confirming that captain Cesc Fabregas would not participate in their English Premier League clash against title holders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this Sunday.
Until Thursday Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger had not given any clear indication of whether the Spaniard was playing in the explosive fixture, saying there was a “50-50” chance of him playing. However, an ill-timed hamstring
injury has ruled him out.
Fabregas’ injury adds to the already long list of players unavailable for the important fixture. Goal keeper Manuel Almunia and defender Kieran Gibbs are both sidelined for an indefinite period of time. These injuries have
come at a very unfortunate time for the Gunners, as they have had a decent start and currently sit in third place; but that could change soon because of a few poor performances.
Arsenal suffered an embarrassing 3-2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion at the Emirates last weekend and despite doing well in Europe will be looking to do well in the League. It will be necessary to get a decent result against
the Blues to ensure they get their season back on track, before it’s too late. With the current squad situation and considering that the match is at Stamford Bridge - a fortress for the Blues - a draw would not necessarily be bad result.
Wenger told reporters, “Fabregas is not fit to play in this one and nor is Almunia. We lost Gibbs as well on Tuesday night with a calf problem and he is out of the England squad as well. He is out for two to three weeks.”
Other players who are not yet fit from previous injuries are Thomas Vermaelen, Nicklas Bendtner, Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie. This is typical Arsenal - losing important players early on for long periods of time and that is one of the reasons
they haven’t finished top of the League in a while.
First choice goal keeper Almunia is out with an injury and Lukasz Fabianski is set to replace him. The second choice Arsenal keeper has made some very high profile mistakes during his career which have cost Arsenal important
matches. However, Ray Wilkins, the Chelsea assistant manager, who is replacing Carlo Ancelotti for the time being until the Italian returns, said Arsenal’s goal keeper woes were the last thing the Blues were concerned about.
Wilkins said, “Everybody on a football field makes mistakes but when you are a goalkeeper it ends up in the net. If you gauge the amount they make compared to midfield player, it's minimal. That's their problem and they have
to address their own problem but we're not too concerned about it. There are other areas we'll speak about that are more important. Whenever we've played against them, I can't remember them making a mistake against us.”
He said he was surprised that the Gunners had not won any silverware for over 5 years. He stated, “Yes, I am surprised, with the quality of football they play it is quite exceptional, their passing and moving is probably
the best in the Premier League. But we are very pleased with the style of football we play by using the attributes we have as a group of guys to maximize our chances of winning games.”
However, he was pleased with his team’s performance and improvement after the losses to Newcastle United in the Carling Cup and Manchester City in the English Premier League. He was reported as saying, “If we have to play
with power and strength then we will. But we have played a brand of football that has been quite exceptional and only on a couple of occasions have we let ourselves down. We are thrilled with the way things are going as a group and we will continue to play
in that vein. We had two defeats which was unusual and so we were hurting. It was important that we got back to winning and playing well. We didn't play well against Manchester City.”
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