Arsenal hosts Aston Villa on Sunday with manager Arsene Wenger
insistent that his current four-year spell without a trophy
represents the most satisfying period of his time in the Premier
League.
Wenger won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups in
his first nine years with Arsenal but has won nothing since the
2005 FA Cup.
With Arsenal paying for a new stadium since then, the
Frenchman has overhauled his squad on a limited budget and built on
youth team players - but still kept the club in the top four.
The Gunners are third in the Premier League going into
Sunday's match and victory over a team trailing them only on goal
difference could provide a crucial boost to hopes of a first league
title since the unbeaten 2003-04 season.
But Villa has beaten Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool
already this season and is seeking to complete a sweep of victories
against last season's top-four sides.
It won 2-0 at Arsenal last season before holding the Gunners
2-2 at Villa Park.
"We're a really good counterattacking team," Villa defender
Curtis Davies said. "That's how we beat Arsenal at the Emirates
last season."
Davies said defensive midfielder Stiliyan Petrov could be his
team's key player against what can be a devastatingly quick Arsenal
attack.
"If we hit them, they'll come straight back at us," Davies
said. "You know how quick they can break out and how well they
play. Stan's got to be able to sit in that hole, and hopefully just
slow them down a little bit so the others can get back."
Wenger is hoping to have captain Cesc Fabregas back from the
hamstring strain that forced him to miss last week's 3-0 win over
Hull, but contends that his team should not be judged on victories
and titles alone.
"People forget we have been reasonably consistent and it has
been the most difficult period, but as well for me, the period
where I worked the best," Wenger said. "People should respect the
fact we have still made some money in every single year without the
team dropping a level and maintaining a successful period in the
Champions League and reasonably in the league.
"I think it was quite difficult."
Arsenal and Villa are just two points behind defending
champion Manchester United, which in turn trails leader Chelsea by
four.
United manager Alex Ferguson is responding to his side's
continuing problems in defense by rushing brothers Fabio and Rafael
Da Silva back from injury for Sunday's match at Hull.
Without the Brazilian pair, Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Wes
Brown and Nemanja Vidic, United slumped to a 3-0 loss at Fulham
last week. Ferguson is hoping Brown or Vidic could play, although
he is certain to have them back against Wigan on Wednesday.
Ferguson is expecting Hull to play a physical game after
seeing burly Fulham striker Bobby Zamora cause his team problems.
"The power and the strength of Zamora made things difficult
for us and we looked fragile," Ferguson said. "You can get away
with playing midfielders at center back once or twice, but it
proved to be very difficult for us at Fulham."
Leader Chelsea is at Birmingham on Saturday hoping for a
decent result in its last match before losing Didier Drogba,
Salomon Kalou, Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel to the African Cup
of Nations tournament.
Also Saturday, Burnley hosts Bolton, Fulham hosts Tottenham,
Liverpool hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester City hosts
Stoke in Roberto Mancini's first game in charge, Sunderland hosts
Everton, West Ham hosts Portsmouth and Wigan hosts Blackburn.
After United and Arsenal play on Sunday, there is another
round of matches spread over three days.
On Monday, it's: Blackburn vs. Sunderland, Chelsea vs.
Fulham, Everton vs. Burnley, Stoke vs. Birmingham, Tottenham vs.
West Ham and Wolves vs. Manchester City.
Chelsea will already have played Birmingham without the
injured Nicolas Anelka before meeting local rival Fulham without
Drogba and Kalou. That will leave coach Carlo Ancelotti with
strikers Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini, neither of whom have
scored in their debut seasons with Chelsea.
Liverpool is at Villa on Tuesday, when Hull is at Bolton. A
day later, Manchester United hosts Wigan and Arsenal is at
Portsmouth.
