Arsenal’s Away Support Is Best But Tonight We Need A Strong Crowd

Match Preview – Arsenal vs Swansea- Premier League – 02.03.16

Tonight I shall make my way to the Emirates hoping to put the horror show that was the Old Trafford performance behind me. Despite the terrible defeat it was one of my best ever days at the football. It was my first away game as a bona fide adult and I shall cherish the memories for always – I shall attempt to forget the result but I shall endeavour to remember the day.

Away games are a rare treat for me and visiting Old Trafford was an entirely new experience. Thanks to Membership Rewards supported by Europcar I enjoyed pre-match on a barge covering a Q&A with Arsenal legend Ray Parlour hosted by Tom Watts to celebrate the launch of the Best Travelled Fan competition as part of the #FansOfTheSeason initiative.

This wonderful event which sadly seemed to end just as it had begun, due to Ray’s ability to enthral his audience and make time whizz by like a Bellerin/Walcott footrace, was not what made the day so special. I’ll freely admit to having turned down single tickets to matches in the past in favour of watching it on TV. In the stands I think you can follow the off the ball stuff like Mertesacker’s clever positioning and closing down of channels that you don’t see on TV but overall I think you get a more balanced view of the match on TV. That said, my preference is usually to be at the match but I hate going by myself. I always end up sitting next to miserable people who don’t want to interact with you and recoil in horror when you hug them to celebrate a goal.

I adore the social element of football and that’s why I prefer to go to games with a friend or at least buy a ticket next to someone I’m vaguely familiar with. Football for me is about more than just the 90 minutes. It’s about the camaraderie, the shared expectation, the buzz, the celebrations or communal drowning of sorrows. It’s just not as fun on your own so if it’s on TV and I’m being offered a single next to a random I’ll choose TV. I’ve missed some cracking results that way but that’s how the chips fall.

If it were an away game, however, I would happily trudge anywhere on my own. The away fans are a different breed. Everything I love about sharing football with a friend I can do with a stranger at an away game. The singing is louder, more passionate than at home where the noise is diluted. The stewards are friendlier and more understanding of the tribalism.

Away games are precious social events to be cherished and I had the best of my life on Sunday despite the result. The long journey from my home on the Essex coast to Manchester was shared with a good friend in @JokmanAFC. We talked about the match as you would expect but we also engaged in spontaneous bouts of singing, quizzes about our favourite JRPGs full of kick-yourself-I-knew-that-trivia and chewed the fat about the future of the squad. The return leg was even longer due to insane traffic in and around Manchester that saw it take 90 minutes to travel 30 miles but it was just as fun. We were miserable to start with, still in numb shock at what we had witnessed but as feeling started to return we dissected the match, looked forward to the next game and spent a cracking four hours cycling through some Hip Hop classics and aggressively singing along and gesticulating to Ante Up as well as rapping along to Mama Said Knock You Out and Way I Am which proved to be quite cathartic.

Watching the game away from the Emirates is a completely different experience and I’m certain it will feel particularly pronounced when I turn up at the Emirates tonight however, as long as the result goes our way I won’t care.

There’s not much to say about Arsenal at the moment except we look completely off colour and nothing is clicking. We don’t have the time to fix it over a couple of games – we need to win tonight.

Arsenal from; Cech, Ospina, Chambers, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs, Monreal, Flamini, Arteta, Elneny, Iwobi, Özil, Campbell, Alexis, Ramsey, Giroud, Walcott, Welbeck.

Predicted Line-up

Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey, Özil, Alexis, Giroud, Walcott

I expect to see substitute appearances from Campbell and Welbeck.

Match Quote

“Overall, we need our supporters to be behind the team tomorrow night because it’s a very big game and it’s important that we have our fans behind the team. What makes me angry is to lose the game. That makes me angry and frustrated. The reaction, I know now what to expect. My job is to give importance to what is important and I think, in general, intelligence is to give importance to what is important. I know that, by experience, that your opinions change”  – Arsène Wenger

Last 3 Meetings

• Swansea 0-3 Arsenal (31.10.2015)
• Arsenal 0-1 Swansea (11.05.2015)
• Swansea 2-1 Arsenal (09.11.2014)

Form Guide

Arsenal Last 5
LLDWW

Swansea Last 5
LDWDL

Opposition watch

Swansea City have a full strength squad to call on. Their recent form has been up and down, with more emphasis on down, but they have a good record against Arsenal. They put in a good shift against Tottenham so they could be fatigued slightly. Fabianksi had a good game at the weekend, we just have to hope he doesn’t do what all keepers do against us and channel the spirit of Lev Yashin.

Swansea have a poor scoring record in the league this season, second only to Aston Villa, so if the defence can keep it together we should be able to come out of this one with a crucial three points.

Factfile

• Swansea are unbeaten on their last three league trips to the Emirates, with two wins and one draw.
• Arsenal have lost their last two competitive matches – they haven’t lost three in a row in all competitions since April 2010.
• The Swan’s current points tally of 27 is their worst in a Premier League season after 27 games.
• Swansea have gone four league games without a victory (D2, L2).
• Arsene Wenger’s side have won eight and lost just one of their last 12 league matches at home.
• Mesut Ozil has 18 assists this season in the Premier League – only two behind Thierry Henry’s competition record, set in 2002-03.

Stats courtesy of Opta

Prediction

1-0 to Arsenal. Welbz with a goal.

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