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LIVE Manchester City v Arsenal Listen Live on Talksport

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MANCHESTER (Sporting Alert) — Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany both start for Manchester City in today’s high-profiled English Premier League clash against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

LIVE Manchester City v Arsenal Radio Stream on TalkSport | Live GameCast and Score Updates

The pair return from injuries and will lead the citizens’ attack and defense, respectively, in the hunt for three points to close the gap on leaders Chelsea.

Martin Demichelis and Gael Clichy also start in the backline for the defending champions, with David Silva, James Milner and Jesus Navas also starting.

Brazilian pair Fernandinho and Fernando will be the holding midfielders.

Defender Eliaquim Mangala and forward Stevan Jovetic, who is being linked with a move away from the club, were dropped to the bench, while attacking playmaker Samir Nasri is out with a calf injury.

Frank Lampard, Edin Dzeko and Bacary Sagna are also on the bench.

Meanwhile, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has made two changes to his team that featured the last time out as Hector Bellerin comes in defence for the injured Mathieu Debuchy and midfielder Aaron Ramsey starts ahead of Tomas Rosicky, who dropped to the bench.

Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny will lead the backline and could be in for a busy night against Aguero, who is ready to return to scoring again.

Wojciech Szczesny is on the bench, so too are Kieran Gibbs, Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott.

Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez lead the attack.

Manchester City is five points behind leaders Chelsea and will be hoping to cut the gap to two with a win.

Arsenal, in the meantime, is in desperate need of three points in their push for a top four place, after Southampton, Manchester United and Tottenham all won on Saturday.

Manchester City team: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy, Fernandinho, Fernando, Jesus Navas, Silva, Milner, Agüero. Subs: Caballero, Sagna, Mangala, Kolarov, Lampard, Jovetic, Dzeko.

Arsenal team: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Alexis, Giroud. Subs: Szczesny, Gibbs, Chambers, Flamini, Rosicky, Ozil, Walcott.

Welbeck Strike Gives Arsenal EPL Win At West Brom

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LONDON (Sporting Alert) — A second half goal from Danny Welbeck guided Arsenal to an English Premier League 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Saturday.

The Gunners wasted several opportunities in the first half, but finally got on the scoresheet on the hour mark courtesy of the former Manchester United forward.

Playmaker Santi Cazorla made a skillful run down the left and skipped past Andre Wisdom before crossing inside the box for Welbeck to leap high and head past Ben Foster, who should be disappointed by his efforts to stop the attempt at goal.

“The clean sheet is very important. We always believe we will score goals, so if we get a clean sheet we feel we’ll win the game. It was a vital three points for us today,” Welbeck said afterwards.

“Getting towards the end of the game, they started lumping balls forward and made it uncomfortable for us but we defended well as a team. It’s only one game and the most important thing is to take it one game at a time. We’ve got to prepare correctly for every single match.

“The manager’s got a lot of options going forward, so once we’re on the pitch we’ve got to give 100% for Arsenal.”

The victory saw Arsenal moving back into the top four with 20 points from 13 games, but with a number of later kick-offs to come, Arsene Wenger’s side could drop out of the Champions League slots again.

“We played well but we couldn’t take our chances, sometimes because of the final ball, sometimes because of finishing,” Wenger said.

“After playing on Wednesday, we finished the game more looking more for solidarity because the legs were a bit jaded but we kept it together. We had a bit of luck but as well we had focus to defend to the end.”

Arsenal injured midfielder Mesut Ozil ‏was delighted to see his teammates picking up the three points on the road.

He said on his Twitter Account: “Good job guys! Three very important points!”

Earlier Arsenal left-back Nacho Monreal was had to leave the match early after he suffered a leg injury.

Monreal picked up the knock early in the first half when he collided with a West Bromwich player in the 13th minute.

The Spanish defender tried to shake off the problem, but as the match progressed the pain increased and manager Wenger had no choice but to make the substitution in the 22nd minute.

England international Kieran Gibbs replaced Monreal and he will be hoping for a good outing as he seeks to return to the national starting setup again.

Earlier striker Olivier Giroud returned to the starting lineup for Arsenal for the first time since August after he recovered from a broken leg.

He scored off the bench in the defeat against Manchester United last week and Arsene Wenger decided to start him at the center forward position — forcing Danny Welbeck out wide to play with Alexis Sanchez on the other side in the attack.

“I think it can work, with Danny Welbeck on the flank and Olivier Giroud more in the middle,” Wenger speaking told BT Sport.

“Alexis Sanchez is playing as well so let’s see if we can find the balance between attacking well and defending today.

“The dynamic in the group is very good, the desire is there. We want to add that defensive focus and get some clean sheets.”

Centre-back Laurent Koscielny is also back for his first start since October.

Arsenal scores late goals in dramatic CL win

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BRUSSELS, Belgium (Sporting Alert) — Arsenal scored two late goals to secure a dramatic late turnaround 2-1 victory over Anderlecht in the Champions League in Brussels on Wednesday night.

Defender Kieran Gibbs and forward Lukas Podolski netted in the final minutes of the contest to seal the win for the English Premier League side in a Group D clash at Constant Vanden Stock Stadium.

Andy Najar had given Anderlecht a 71st minute lead and the home side looked well on its way to picking up three points before Gibbs equalized with one minute of regulation time left and substitute Podolski found the late winner from close range, one minute into stoppage time.

“It’s a nice end to a game. We played against an Anderlecht team that played very well,” Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said after the game.

He added about the late goals: “I know by experience that the last five minutes in the Champions League – the nerves play a part.

“We had to get into these five minutes without conceding the second goal. Of course, if they had scored the second goal, it was game over. I had hope. It didn’t look like it but it happened and that means we took all the risks and in the end, it paid off.

“It’s a little bit of a gambling situation that happens in this kind of games and it worked tonight. It did not look obvious, that is for sure.”

Podolski has been linked with a move away from the London club in the January window, but Wenger believes the German forward is still an important part of his plans.

“We know Podolski can always score. He is frustrated and I understand that of course,” the boss said. “But he’s important as well and he showed that tonight and he will be important in the coming months.

“It took him a while to get back to a good physical level [after the World Cup] and now he’s nearly there.”

Borussia Dortmund v Arsenal Live

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(SportingAlert) — Arsene Wenger makes three changes to his Arsenal side for tonight’s Champions League Group D opener against Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park.

Follow Scores and Updates of Borussia Dortmund v Arsenal Here | Live TV Channels and Streams

Wenger has decided to start 19-year-old Hector Bellerin, Kieran Gibbs and Mikel Arteta and in the three changes from the team that started in the 2-2 draw with Manchester City at the weekend.

As expected, Bellerin gets the start at right-back for the injured Mathieu Debuchy, with Gibbs on the other side and Arteta, recovering from an ankle problem playing in midfield.

Former Manchester United forward Danny Welbeck leads the line for Arsenal with Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil all starting as well.

Despite recently making a scoring return to the German side over the weekend, former Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa has to settle for a place on the bench tonight for Borussia Dortmund, with Milos Jojic, Adrian Ramos, who has been very impressive since joining the team and Matthias Ginter also substitutes.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sven Bender, Sebastian Kehl, Kevin Grosskreutz, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Italian striker all start Ciro Immobile.

Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller, Subotic, Papastathopoulos, Schmelzer, Durm, Kehl, Bender, Grosskreutz, Immobile, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang. Subs: Langerak, Bandowski, Ginter, Jojic, Amini, Kagawa, Ramos.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Bellerin, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey, Alexis, Ozil, Welbeck. Subs: Ospina, Chambers, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Campbell, Podolski

Arsenal v Swansea City, Team News, Live TV Channels and Coverage

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LONDON (Sporting Alert) — Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that central defender Laurent Koscielny will miss the Barclays Premier League clash against Swansea City at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.

Premier League: Arsenal vs. Swansea
Tuesday, March 26 at 3:45 PM ET
Live TV Coverage: NBCSports Live Extra

Kosielny has suffered a calf injury, following the 6-0 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday and is not available for the midweek clash.

“We have lost Laurent Koscielny for Tuesday’s game with a calf problem,” Wenger said on Arsenal.com.

“I don’t know how long he will be out for. He has a scan today [Monday].

“Everyone else should be available.”

With Kosielny out, the Gunners have called up 19-year-old Spanish player Hector Bellerin as cover and he was named in the squad.

“Right now only Koscielny is out of the squad and he has been replaced by Hector Bellerin,” the boss said.

Midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and defender Kieran Gibbs are both available after having their suspensions withdrawn following a meeting with Football Association on Monday.

For Swansea City meanwhile, boss Garry Monk has reported no fresh injury concerns from the team that suffered a 3-2 defeat at Everton at the weekend.

Arsenal (squad): Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Flamini, Podolski, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Giroud, Fabianski, Monreal, Bellerin, Gnabry, Sanogo, Jenkinson, Rosicky, Kallstrom.

Swansea (squad): Vorm, Amat, Taylor, Flores, Williams, Britton, Bony, Hernandez, Dyer, Shelvey, Cornell, Lamah, Routledge, Tiendalli, De Guzman, Canas, Rangel, Pozuelo, Tremmel, Vazquez, Richards, Ngog, Emnes, Michu.

Video: Chelsea lead 4-0; Arsenal down to 10-man at half-time

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LONDON (Sporting Alert) — Chelsea are leading Arsenal 4-0 at half-time after jumping out to an early advantage in their Barclays Premier League clash in an electric start at Stamford Bridge.

In the midst of that, Arsenal have been reduced to 10-man and Kieran Gibbs sent off, although replays have shown that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should have been given the red card after he handled the ball inside the penalty area.

Replays also showed Oxlade-Chamberlain walking over and trying to tell referee Andre Marriner that he’d shown a red card to the wrong player, but the referee stuck by his decision to send Gibbs off.

Stunning decision.


Samuel Eto'o Goal ~ Chelsea VS Arsenal 1-0 ~ 22… by All_Goals

Meanwhile, after an opening five minutes of end-to-end encounters, Chelsea took the lead when Samuel Eto’o neatly cut back on his left foot inside the box and then fired past Wojciech Szczesny in that five minute mark.

Two-minutes later it was 2-0, as Chelsea broke away again after Arsenal gave the ball away, which resulted in Andre Schurrle firing past Szczesny in the same bottom left hand corner of the goal as Eto’o did.


Schurrle scores GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal… by dunsjeshua

Eden Hazard scored the result penalty from the Gibbs’ record in the 17th minute for the 3-0 lead. Fernando Torres setup Oscar for Chelsea’s fourth, when the Spaniard found the Brazilian coming in late to fire into the roof of the net in the 42nd minute.

Jose Mourinho, however, was dealt an early blow with Eto’o being forced to be substituted because of an hamstring injury.


Eden Hazard Goal Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal 2014 by All_Goals

Chelsea v Arsenal

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Matic, Schurrle, Oscar, Hazard, Eto’o
Subs: Lampard, Torres, Mikel, Salah, Ba, Schwarzer, Kalas

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud
Subs: Vermaelen, Flamini, Fabianski, Sanogo, Jenkinson, Kallstrom, Gnabry

Referee: Andre Marriner

Bay Munich v Arsenal Live TV Channels and Live Scores – 2nd Leg

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MUNICH, Germany (Sporting Alert) — Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that defender Kieran Gibbs has been ruled out of Wednesday night’s Champions League last-16 second-leg clash away to Bayern Munich.

Live TV Channels: BBC Radio 5 Live, ITV Live Player, ITV 1, UTV, STV Scotland, Sky Sports Red Button, Fox Sports 1 USA, Fox Deportes, Fox Soccer 2Go, Ten HD, Ten Action, V3 Ireland, beIN Sports 1, UTV, Sky Go.

Gibbs has a calf injury against Everton in the FA Cup win and did not make the trip to Germany, but centre-back Laurent Koscielny returns to the squad after he missed the Everton clash with a hamstring problem.

“We have lost Kieran Gibbs from the squad on Saturday with an ankle problem,” Wenger said on Arsenal.com.

“Laurent Koscielny is back in the squad, so the only change in the squad is Koscielny for Gibbs.

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is suspended for his sending off in the first leg defeat, while striker Yaya Sanogo, who started the first leg at home, has been ruled out with a foot problem.

Defending champions Bayern Munich lead the contest 2-0 and are favourites to finish off Arsenal at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night.

However, the English Premier League side refuses to give up.

“Bayern are the best team on the continent at the moment, but I am confident,” Wenger said. “It is difficult to say if Bayern are better this year than last.

“We will see. But of course, they have the quality to be there right at the top. Performances win you games, not being favourites.”

He added: “We are focused on putting on a great performance. The history, with last year, is important. We know we can do it this time because we already did it last year.

“It is a possible task for us. My team has quality and ambition. With a top performance we can do it. It would be absolutely great to win. A big win would set us up for the last few months of the season.”

Bayern Munich warmed up for the clash with a convincing 6-1 hammering of Wolfsburg at the weekend in the Bundesliga and Pep Guardiola believes his team is on the right path to make the quarter-finals.

“Well, of course 2-0 was a good result for us. Though it is dangerous, we have a good chance to go through,” Guardiola said.

“We have to bring our ideas to fruition. The Champions League is more important than the Bundesliga and we have to do our best.

“The main thing for us is avoiding conceding a goal. We have to play with the mentality that we want to win the game. We will play in a way that makes sure that we want to win the game.

“They have very good midfielders and you really have to do well against them. We have to win this game, it doesn’t matter what we did in the first leg. This is what we have to concentrate on,” he added.

Arsenal squad: Fabianski, Viviano, Sagna, Vermaelen, Arteta, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Giroud, Ozil, Podolski, Jenkinson, Rosicky, Flamini, Gnabry, Miyaichi, Hayden.

Live EPL Soccer Scores, Team News: Arsenal v Cardiff

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Theo Walcott
Theo Walcott of Arsenal celebrates

LONDON (Sporting Alert) — Leaders Arsenal head into their New Year’s Day English Premier League clash with Cardiff at Emirates Stadium with a lot of injury worries, with several stars already ruled out.

ARS v CAR

Follow Live Football Scores | Listen Live Commentary Stream on talkSports.com | Watch Live on NBC Sports Network @ 10:00 AM ET

Midfielders Aaron Ramsey (thigh) and Mesut Ozil (shoulder) were already ruled out of the contest and the likes of striker Olivier Giroud (ankle) and full-back Kieran Gibbs (calf) have joined them on the injured list.

Arsene Wenger will also be keeping his fingers cross that Theo Walcott (shoulder), Jack Wilshere (ankle) and Tomas Rosicky (calf) will all pass fitness tests. Defenders Nacho Monreal and Thomas Vermaelen who only recently returned, are also being monitored.

“Starting of course first with Ramsey and Ozil who are out, and we lost Gibbs at Newcastle with a calf strain,” Wenger said on Arsenal.com.

“We have as well Monreal and Vermaelen who are not certain to be ready because they have come just back from illness, then we have uncertainty about Rosicky, Wilshere, Walcott.

“We lost Giroud to an ankle problem at Newcastle so this morning will be more medical checks to see who will be available for the game.”

Wenger added: “Walcott has a little shoulder problem. Rosicky got a little kick on his calf. They are all going to be assessed this morning.”

The Frenchman must also decide on whether to start Nicklas Bendtner or play Lukas Podolski

Arsenal sits atop of the EPL standings with 42 points, one more than Manchester City and the Gunners will be hoping not to slip-up at home.

Cardiff City reports that experienced forward Craig Bellamy will again miss out as he is not fully recovered from a knee injury.

Caretaker boss David Kerslake hoping his team can bounce back from the disappointing late-late draw with Sunderland when they seemed to have had the game won at the weekend.

Arsenal is at 1/4 for a victory, according to UK’s Sky Bet, with Cardiff 12/1 for the away win and 5/1 for a draw.

Teams

Arsenal (from): Szczesny, Fabianski, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Jenkinson, Monreal, Vermaelen, Arteta, Flamini, Gnabry, Frimpong, Wilshere, Cazorla, Walcott, Rosicky, Bendtner, Podolski.

Cardiff (from): Marshall, Connolly, Caulker, Hudson, Turner, Medel, Cornelius, Brayford, Whittingham, Kim, Smith, Noone, Cowie, Maynard, Lewis, John, Theophile-Catherine, Gunnarsson, Mutch, Odemwingie, Campbell.

West Brom v Arsenal Starting Team, Live Scores

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LONDON (Sporting Alert) — Wojciech Szczesny is not in the squad at all for Arsenal for today’s Barclays Premier League clash with West Bromwich at The Hawthorns.

Szczesny, who had a late drop in form sees his place continue to be occupied by Lukasz Fabianski with Vito Mannone sitting on the bench in the unchanged Gunners side.

Jack Wilshere (ankle) and Theo Walcott (groin) continue to be out because of injuries, but full-backs Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal have passed late fitness tests and start.

Meanwhile, Youssouf Mulumbu, who picked up a red card in the 3-1 defeat to West Ham last week will be unavailable for the home side, which is also without the injured George Thorne and Zoltan Gera.

West Brom v Arsenal

West Brom: Foster, Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Yacob, Brunt, Dorrans, Morrison, Thomas, Long

Subs: Myhill, Popov, Rosenberg, Lukaku, Tamas, Fortune, Isaiah Brown

Arsenal: Fabianski, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Rosicky, Ramsey, Gervinho, Cazorla, Arteta, Giroud

Subs: Mannone, Vermaelen, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Jenkinson, Gibbs

Referee: Howard Webb

Schalke 04 v Arsenal: Champions League

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(Sporting Alert) — Theo Walcott is doubtful for Arsenal’s Championships League Group B clash with Schalke at Veltins Arena on Tuesday, with the club reporting that the forward has not been feeling well.

Walcott has been struggling to get a starting place in the league for Arsenal, despite impressing when coming off the bench.

The England international started on the bench in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in league on Saturday before eventually coming on early in the second half.

He was expected to start for the injured Aaron Ramsey against Schalke.

However, Arsenal manger Arsene Wenger said his speedy attacker picked up a virus overnight Sunday and didn’t practice Monday.

“He has been sick overnight [and] didn’t practice today so we have to see how he is on Tuesday morning,” the boss said on Arsenal FC official website at www.arsenal.com.

Jack Wilshere, who was red carded during the Manchester United should start, Wenger said.

“I think I will play him,” the Frenchman said. “Then we have a block of three games and maybe the fact that he gets a period of recovering will be just right for him.

“He gets better in every game.”

Arsenal are without wingers Gervinho (ankle) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hip) midfielders Abou Diaby (thigh) and Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) and defender Kieran Gibbs (thigh).

Arsenal (squad): Mannone, Shea, Sagna, Vermaelen, Arteta, Djourou, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Wilshere, Giroud, Cazorla, Santos, Podolski, Walcott, Arshavin, Jenkinson, Coquelin, Chamakh.