Soccer:Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has urged his team to build on yesterday's impressive Barclays Premier League win at Liverpool by picking up another three points at Burnley on Wednesday.
Andrey Arshavin’s second-half winner helped the Gunners become the first side in six years to triumph at Anfield after going behind, putting Wenger’s men right back in the title hunt.
But the Frenchman knows his team must maintain their momentum at Turf Moor in midweek to make their Merseyside heroics count.
“The win at Liverpool is a very significant victory, but only if it is
followed by good results now over the next few weeks,” said Wenger, whose side lie six points behind leaders Chelsea with a game in hand.
“We have to go to Burnley now on Wednesday, a difficult game
against a side very good at home, and then we have Hull at the Emirates on Saturday. We must maintain our current form in those games.”
The top two, Chelsea and Manchester United, will both be looking to make amends for dropping points at the weekend when they host Portsmouth and Wolves respectively.
New BBC Sports Personality of the Year Ryan Giggs is doubtful for United’s clash with Wolves at Old Trafford tomorrow.
The Welshman was forced out of Saturday’s surprise home defeat to Aston Villa with a hamstring injury and, given the 36-year-old’s past problems, it seems unlikely he will be risked by Alex Ferguson.
Leaders Chelsea are not in action until Wednesday, and will surely aim to tighten up at the back after Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Everton at Stamford Bridge.
A section of the club’s support were clearly unhappy with some poor defending from set-pieces against the Toffees and booed their players off at full-time - much to the dismay of goalkeeper Petr Cech.
He said: “I was surprised because this was our first draw at home this season.
“Look at the games we have played here in the cups, in the Champions League, in the Premier League, all with clean sheets.
“We have beaten Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham when they were second - we beat them all.
“I was really surprised to hear that - which means I didn’t understand it.”
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has called for unity as his team look to bounce back from yesterday’s defeat by beating Wigan.
“We play Wigan on Wednesday here and we know we have to do better,” said the Spaniard.
“We were not bad against Arsenal, we just made a big mistake that changed everything. The only way to change things is to stick together.
“We cannot be complaining, we cannot be arguing about anything. We must keep going and try to discover why we were so bad in the second half in terms of confidence.”
Two teams hopeful of breaking into the top four - Tottenham and Manchester City - go head to head at White Hart Lane on Wednesday.
Croatia playmaker Luka Modric returned as a second-half substitute at the weekend after over three months out with a broken leg, and is pleased to have another game so soon after Saturday’s disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Wolves.
“Three months is a long time and it’s going to be difficult when you come back,” he told www.tottenhamhotspur.com.
“I just need to take it step by step and hopefully I will be back to how I was before the injury very soon.
“It’s always better when you’ve got another game soon after a defeat because you can recover straight away. Hopefully we will play better than we did on Saturday.”
Tomorrow, in-form Birmingham welcome Blackburn to St Andrew’s looking to extend their seven-game unbeaten run, while Bolton take on West Ham and fourth-placed Villa look to pick up a second three-point haul on the road in four days when they travel to Sunderland.
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