Mansfield Town vs Arsenal – Match Preview
League One outfit Mansfield Town host the Premier League leaders Arsenal in the FA Cup. The Stags come into this fixture on a poor run, having won 1 in their last 10 matches. However, that 1 win came against Premier League outfit Burnley away from home in this competition. The Yellows, as a result of their dire form, are in a relegation scrap. Nigel Clough’s side sit 5 points above Leyton Orient who take up the first of the relegation places. Arsenal come into this fixture off the back of 10 games unbeaten and now sit 7 points clear of Manchester City following their 2-2 draw against relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest, while Arsenal beat Brighton on the road. Bukayo Saka got the only goal in a rather unconvincing offensive performance, but another dominant defensive display. Mansfield Town kicked off their FA Cup campaign with a 3-2 home win against League Two and were then drawn another League Two outfit in Accrington Stanley, away from home, and after a 2-2 draw over 120 minutes, Mansfield progressed on penalties. In the following round, Mansfield faced Championship outfit Sheffield United away from home, where, rather unexpectedly, they edged a 7-goal thriller, winning 4-3. And in the 4th round, the Nottinghamshire outfit beat Premier League opposition Burnley 2-1 away from home, with goals coming from Oates and the other coming from Reed, who has 3 goals in this season’s FA Cup. In the 3rd round of the FA Cup, Arsenal beat Championship side Portsmouth 4-1, after going 1-0 down through an early goal from Bishop. Dozzell scored an own goal and Martinell scored a hat-trick in a comfortable afternoon for the Gunners. And in the 4th round, Arsenal saw off League One outfit Wigan Athletic in N5. Goals from Madueke, Martinelli, an own goal from Hunt and a chip from Jesus gave Arsenal a 4-0 win, setting up a meeting with Mansfield Town at the One Call Stadium. Nigel Clough ahead of Arsenal clash: “We can’t know what sort of team they’ll pick.” “When you’re trying to win the Premier League and the Champions League, the FA Cup will be down the pecking order. With their 25-man squad, they could pick any 11 to wipe the floor with us without breaking sweat. “We can watch Arsenal for their last 10 games. It would just frighten the life out of us. We’ll do some rudimentary work on corners. We know roughly how they’re going to come in, whatever their personnel. But if top Premier League teams can’t deal with them, I don’t know how a bottom-half League One side is meant to. I don’t want the players worrying unduly. There’s only one ball coming in at any one time. Deal with it.” Mikel Arteta on Arsenal’s win against Brighton: “It’s a huge win. We knew how tough it was going to be. We’re coming back from a very difficult game with a lot of intensity, with players really going through the line in every game, with difficulties, not able to train and to come here and get the result that we got, I think it’s remarkable.” On Bukayo Saka: “Unbelievable. Unbelievable numbers at his age to produce the amount of games, to do it in the manner that he’s done it and the stats that he’s got related to those games is just incredible. So a big night for him.”
Brighton vs Arsenal – Match Preview
Arsenal will travel to the south coast on Wednesday looking to build on back-to-back derby wins. These sides have met twice already this season. The first meeting came in the EFL Cup, where Hale End proved to be the difference. Nwaneri and Saka got the goals in a 2-0 Arsenal win. In the reverse league fixture at the Emirates, Arsenal won 2-1. A strike from the skipper Odegaard and an own goal from Rutter put Arsenal into a 2-0 lead after 52 minutes. Gomez scored in the 64th minute, but it only proved to be a consolation for Brighton. The Seagulls have failed to beat The Gunners in their last 6 attempts, with their last win coming in May 2023 in a 3-0 win at the Emirates. Enciso, Undav and Estupinan got the goals in a win that all but ended Arsenal’s title hopes. Brighton come into this fixture off the back of back-to-back league wins. The last time Brighton won two consecutive league games was in November, where they beat Brentford 2-1 and Nottingham Forest 2-0. The first of those back-to-back wins came against high-flying Brentford, where goals from Gomez and Welbeck sealed a 2-0 win. The other win came against relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest. Gomez and Welbeck got the goals again in a 2-1 home win. Arsenal come into this fixture off the back of back-to-back derby wins. The first of those came in N17 against close rivals Tottenham. Eze and Gyokeres both bagged twice in a 4-1 win. The other win came on Super Sunday against Chelsea, where Arsenal utilised their set piece threat. Saliba opened the scoring, getting on the end of a Gabriel header across goal, from a Saka corner. Chelsea equalised just before the interval, Hincapie heading the ball into his own net. On 66 minutes, Timber was first to meet Rice’s corner to give Arsenal a 2-1 win. Brighton have had a mixed bag of results at home in the league. The Seagulls have won 6, drawn 6 and lost 2 of their 14 home league games. On the other hand, Mikel Arteta’s men have the best away record in the league. The North London outfit have won 8, drawn 5 and lost 2 of their 15 away league games. Fabian Hurzeler on Brighton’s narrow win against Nottingham Forest: “We want to create a desire to defend as a team and to bring an energy to the pitch that involves everybody in the stadium. “The supporters were great, they helped and pushed us over the line to win this game. In the last moments of the game we showed this desire to defend the box and block shots.” Mikel Arteta on Arsenal’s derby win against Chelsea: The players made an incredible performance as well and put so much into the game. After the great victory against Spurs, this would be even another level of difficulty. “Against 10 men, I expected a different game. “Look at the quality on the pitch – immense, but set-pieces are still the ones that made the difference. They are so good at that, and we are so good at that as well.” Jurrien Timber: It’s a privilege to be standing here for Arsenal with my team mates fighting for all these titles, we have to learn to enjoy it and keep pushing.”
Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea: Post-Match Reaction
Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to 5 points with narrow win against London rivals Chelsea. Mikel Arteta on the performance: A proper London derby. We expected that because of the quality of the opposition, because of the individual quality that they have, and because we played them four times already, so we know how good and difficult they are to play against. After we started the game so well, the first half was very, very dominant. I think the margin and the scoreline should have been bigger. But we were 1-1, so game on. I reminded them that we were in exactly the same position against Spurs seven days ago in that dressing room. They said, look what happened in the second half, so we’re going to do it again.” Mikel Arteta on controlling emotions: “That’s what we have to do – train. Gaining context in those scenarios is becoming really difficult because we don’t have time to train. And to replicate those moments is almost impossible because the emotional part is not there, and the quality of the opponent – you cannot do it basically. But it’s certainly something that we’ll discuss tomorrow because we have to improve it and do better. But at the same time, you have to give credit to Chelsea for the manner in which they’ve done it. The way they use the keeper as an extra player, the courage that they show., how they get out from tight situations, it’s unbelievable. Any player, Lavia, Caicedo, Cole, there aren’t many players that can do that, and cause you the problem and turn you around.” Mikel Arteta on Arsenal’s threat from set pieces: “Yeah, but every team to be fair, look where they are in terms of the amount of goals that they score and they have more quality in their score probably than anybody else to create and the team and the game at the end got decided in this aspect. So we haven’t scored set-pieces for a few weeks now, but we scored so many in open play. Today was an option to score from this kind of situation; we’ve done it so well, and we conceded as well.” Mikel Arteta on David Raya’s display: “Well, David is one of our leaders without a doubt, and he’s a keeper that knows how to maintain his focus and decide a football match when you need it. Because sometimes he doesn’t participate at all, and then in one action [clicks], you have to be there, and that’s very, very difficult to do. And the save that he made it in the last action, it’s a cross, it’s not a shot, but he ended up being an unbelievable shot and I got the right angle and my heart almost stopped, but David’s hand was there to bring it back to life.” William Saliba: “It was not an easy game today. “We shouldn’t have conceded the goal before half-time, but we did well in the second-half to score the set-piece, with a beautiful goal from JT. Now, we have to keep it going. We are so happy to win in front of our fans.” Jurrien Timber on the title race: “We have to enjoy it! It’s a privilege to be standing here, with my team-mates, with Arsenal, fighting for these titles. Nine games to go, hopefully something beautiful at the end.” Arsenal fan Rory: “Listen, that’s a massive win and that’s all that matters. But I NEED to see us lock games out better. There’s just that sense of fragility. Still, 3 points and onto the next, we had to bounce back from Wolves and we did.” Arsenal fan Dug: “Same old Arsenal ,always doing things the hard way! Got there in the end though, still in our hands. We have to remember that winning the league isn’t easy and there will be a lot more nervy moments but there is one thing they can do to make things less nervy and that is to cut out stupid little mistakes that seem to be creeping in. Come on Gunners, be calm, let’s do this!”
Hearts edge past Aberdeen to extend gap to seven points at the top
A Claudio Braga first half goal gets Hearts over the line and extends the gap at the top of the league to seven points ahead of tomorrow’s Old Firm clash at Ibrox. Aberdeen were on the front foot right away and were awarded a free-kick from outside the box following a foul on Olusanya but a Nisbet strike struck the Hearts wall. Keskinen moments later with a darting run down the left flank who put it into Olusanya but failing to connect. Milne with a great cross into the box found Magnusson but his header going just wide of target after four minutes. Milne again with a brilliant ball into the box where Claudio Braga met but again just firing wide of goal as Hearts continued to threat Mitov in goals. Kyziridis had a chance from a very difficult angle soon on but wasn’t causing Mitov any issues as it goes just over the bar. Kabore with a gem of a chance, through on goal with just Mitov to beat, chipped the ball but went jusr inches wide of target – a chance he had to take. Aberdeen with a chance after 25 minutes as Keskinen with a darting run down the wing, a through ball into Olusanya who was put off by McCart as he couldn’t hit target. Kabore did brilliantly to get past Morrison who squared the ball into Braga who calmly slotted home to continue their title charge. Hearts had a chance nine minutes before the break, Spittal with a curling effort from the edge of the box which fired just high of goal. Into the second 45, Devlin had chance to level the game but his chance being blocked and out for a corner. A ball in from Cameron found Nisbet deep in the box with his volley striking wide of target. Spittal had another chance from the edge of bos which curled towards goal but a save to Mitov to deny Hearts a second as Kabore moments later had another chance which was stopped by the legs of Aberdeen’s number one. After the hour mark, Braga with a ball across to Kyziridis with his effort going across goal again which found Braga once again with his effort being a simple save for Mitov. A quiet second half Aberdeen just unable to test Schwolow in goals as Hearts doing well to see out the game. Substitute Chesnokov had a strike from inside the box but well blocked to deny Hearts a second. As the full-time whistle goes, a Braga first half goal gives Hearts the deserved three points as Hearts stretch their lead to seven points as Aberdeen’s winless run at Tynecastle continues. Hearts: Schwolow (7), Steinwender (7), Halkett (7), McCart (7), Milne (7), Kyziridis (8), Magnusson (7), Leonard (7), Spittal (7), Braga (9), Kabore (7). Substitutes: Kent )6), Baningime (6), Chesnokov (6). Aberdeen: Mitov (6), Devlin (5), Morrison (5), Milne (6), Molloy (6), Shinnie (5), Olusanya (4), Geiger (6), Cameron (6), Keskinen (6), Nisbet (6). Substitutes: Nilsen (6), Frame (6), Armstrong (6), Lobban (6), Lazetic (6).
Tottenham 1-4 Arsenal: Post-Match Reaction
Arsenal extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to 5 points with an emphatic victory over North London rivals Tottenham. Igor Tudor: “Now in this moment, the team is full of problems. The only key is to work on the training day by day and be humble. We need to be more aggressive – we need to be more compact. These are the keys. You understand the gap with the mental sharpness of one team and other teams. This is a thing we need to change. I saw players available to do this, but we need more time to do this. Thinking about relegation doesn’t bring you anything to anybody.” Mikel Arteta on Eberechi Eze: “He was upset, even with me, because I didn’t play him the other day from the beginning, and some of the decisions that I made. “I just have to understand how we’re going to get the best out of him now. I could see that he wanted to prove something.” On the key to Arsenal’s win: “The attitude. Again, how you approach thing and that’s a decision that you have to make. You can feel sorry for yourself, you can look at it, oh, at this stage, I mean, when we’re all kids, we dream to play these kind of games. So when we have the possibility to do that, just do it in a manner that recognises the opportunity that we have to be where we are.” On Declan Rice: “When you talk about attitude… What Declan has done today. I mean, he can make an error, the way he played afterwards. That’s attitude. That’s personality, and courage, and to stand up in a difficult moment.” Viktor Gyökeres: “We can do even better, I’m sure. I was involved a lot. When you get to know the players around you better, it makes a difference. “I always try to come in with my attributes and help the team.” Eberechi Eze: “Today it worked out, thanks God.” “Why do I always score against Spurs? I try to score against everyone but it always seems to work against them.”
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Arsenal – Match Preview
20th place Wolves take on the League leaders Arsenal on Wednesday night, who will be looking to return to winning ways in the Premier League. The last time these sides met was only in December. Johnstone scored an own goal to put Arsenal in front after 70 minutes, but in the 90th minute, Tolu scored to equalise for the away side, however, in the 4th minute of additional time, Mosquera also put the ball in the back of his own net to give Arsenal all 3 points. Both sides come into this fixture off the back of victories in the FA Cup. Wolves beat League 2 outfit Grimsby Town 1-0 courtesy of a goal from Bueno on the hour mark. The Gunners come into this fixture off the back of a comfortable 4-0 home win against Wigan, with all 4 goals coming in the opening 27 minutes. Madueke, Martinelli, an own goal from Hunt and a lovely chip from Jesus put Arsenal through to the 5th round. In the Premier League, Wolves have struggled to say the very least. The Wanderers have only picked up 9 points from 26 games, and in those 26 games, conceded 48 and only scored 16 times. Unsurprisingly, Wolves have the worst home record in the division, only picking up 5 points at the Molineux from a possible 39. On the other hand, Mikel Arteta’s men have enjoyed a sensational campaign thus far in every competition. The North London outfit sit 4 points clear at the top of the Premier League, finished 1st in the Champions League group phase, recently qualified for the League Cup Final, where they will face Manchester City, and comfortably progressed through to the 5th round of the FA Cup. The Gunners have been solid away from home in the Premier League, picking up 25 points from a possible 39, which is the best record of any side in the division thus far. Wolfe on Wolves’ win against Grimsby: “We’re very happy. We obviously knew it was not going to be pretty, and we would not be able to play the football we want to play, so it was just a battle about doing the basics in football the best. We did better in the second half, we suffered quite a bit in the first half, but second half we were much better and I think we made the best of it. “Progressing is all it was about today. We knew that it wasn’t going to be a game like the last one in the FA Cup against Shrewsbury. We knew it was going to be tough and that we’d have to fight very hard, and I’m happy that we stood up to it.” On Arsenal: “It’s an important, and big challenge. They [Arsenal] are first in the table, but we made it very difficult for them a couple of weeks ago, and I believe we can do that again.” Mikel Arteta on Eze: “Eberechi Eze was really positive, that’s what we want. He’s already playing a big role, he’s played a lot of games for us and he will continue to. Those players need those moments. It’s good for the mood, the confidence.” On Norgaard’s performance vs Wigan: “Very pleased and not surprised. The way he looks after himself and every teammate, and how he handles the role, is just exceptional. I’m not surprised by what he’s done today.”
Airdrieonians 0-1 St Johnstone – Match Report
St Johnstone move 5 clear of Partick Thistle with narrow win against Airdrieonians. In the opening few minutes, St Johnstone could have took the lead. A ball over the top found Gullan, who backheeled it into the path of McPake, whose tame effort from inside the box was easily saved by Stone. The Saints thought they found the breakthrough when Fowler got on the end of Diabete’s cross and volleyed home from close range, but the striker was flagged for a marginal offside. Airdrie had their first sight of goal when Mochrie had a go from outside the box, but his effort was comfortably saved by Steward. McPake played a dangerous ball into the Airdrie box, which avoided everyone and looked destined for the far corner, but Stone stuck out a left hand do deny the Hearts-bound winger. Henderson found McKinnon with a cross, but the Airdrie number 24, who found himself unmarked inside the box, put his volley over the top. A golden chance for the hosts. The Saints took the lead when Gullan played a brilliant ball over the top which found Paton, who chipped the ball, on the volley, over Stone, to give Simo Valakari’s side the lead. The perfect way to introduce yourself to the St Johnstone faithful. Into the second period, Gullan found McPake, but similar to his chance in the first period, his effort was easily saved by Stone. The ball fell to McGrattan on the edge of the box after a quick Airdrie counter attack, but his curling effort went sailing over the bar. With over 15 minutes to go, Steward made a tremendous stop to keep The Saints in front. Henderson played a low ball across goal into the path of Mochrie, who looked like he had a tap in, but Steward got across to somehow deny the forward. Airdrie had another golden opportunity to get themselves back on level terms. Mahon’s cutback was deflected into the path of Henderson, who attempted to flick the ball in at the near post, but Steward made himself big to keep Airdrie out once again. Airdrie kept piling the pressure onto the St Johnstone backline. Substitute Mahon found himself with space to shoot, but his effort towards the near post was saved by Steward. Into additional time, Gallagher got on the end of a cross from the right and his effort, on the stretch, went inches wide. After 4 minutes of additional time, the referee brought the game to a close as the game finished 1-0 to St Johnstone. As a result, The Saints move 5 clear at the top of the Championship, while Airdrie remain only 1 point ahead of Ross County in 9th, who face Queen’s Park tomorrow in a huge game at the tail end of the Championship table. Airdrieonians: Stone (7), MacDonald (6), Ross (6), McArthur (6), Strapp (5), McMaster (6), Telfer (6), McKinnon (6), Barjonas (6), Mochrie (5), Henderson (5) Substitutes: McGrattan (6), Thomas (5), Gallagher (5), Mahon (5), Constable (5) St Johnstone: Steward (9), Diabete (6), Baird (7), Boyes (7), Forrester (6), Holt (6), McAlear (6), Gullan (7), Paton (8), McPake (5), Fowler (6) Substitutes: Agyeman (5), Steven (5)
Brentford vs Arsenal – Match Preview
High-flying Brentford host league leaders Arsenal on Thursday night under the lights. The last meeting between these sides came in December. Merino and Saka got the goals in a 2-0 Arsenal win. The West London outfit have not beaten Arsenal in their last 9 attempts, with their last win in this fixture coming on a special day in 2021, where they kicked off their first campaign in the Premier League with a 2-0 home win under Thomas Frank. Brentford come into this clash off the back of 3-2 against Newcastle United at St James’ Park. Janelt, Thiago and Ouattara all found the net to give Brentford their first win at Newcastle in 92 years. As a result, The Bees sit in 7th, level on points with Liverpool in 6th. In their last 5 Premier League games, Brentford have picked up 9 points out of a possible 15, which puts them 6th in the form table. Arsenal come into this fixture off the back of a comfortable 3-0 win against Sunderland. A goal from Zubimendi and a brace from Gyokeres gave The Gunners all 3 points. As a result, the title race remains the same, with Mikel Arteta’s men leading the race by 6 points after Manchester City left it late to secure maximum points at Anfield. In their last 5 Premier League fixtures, Arsenal have picked up 8 points out of a possible 15, which puts them 7th in the form table, 1 point and place below Brentford. Keith Andrews will be without on-loan forward Reiss Nelson on Thursday, along with the suspended Kevin Schade and Antoni Milambo, Fabio Carvalho and Josh Dasilva through injury. It is understood that Leandro Trossard, who was forced off during Arsenal’s 3-0 win against Sunderland, will be assessed ahead of Thursday’s London Derby. English Winger Bukayo Saka is unlikely to return for Thursday’s match but is expected to return in time for the North London Derby on February 22nd. Martin Odegaard has missed Arsenal’s last 2 matches but could be set for a return to the squad, although not guaranteed. Prospect Max Downman has been out with an ankle injury since December and is only a few weeks away from recovery. The Gunners will not be missing any players through suspension. Rico Henry: “The gaffer [Keith Andrews] has been good to me. He kept saying that we have good squad depth. He told me to keep doing what I’m doing and that my time would come. “That’s what I did. I’ve been pushing the boys. It’s a team effort. Even when you’re not playing, you still want to help the boys and try and win.” “Now I’m back playing a bit more, it’s easier. I’ve been able to build connections with the boys. Nathan [Collins] is playing left centre-back now, and I’d never played with him like that before – it had been Sepp [van den Berg] or Eth [Pinnock]. Mikel Arteta on Viktor Gyokeres’ goals against Sunderland: “Very happy. He deserves it. He is a super committed player, and he wants to get better. He saw the line-up up and I told him he’d come in and make an impact.
Airdrieonians 1-2 St Mirren – Match Report
Championship side Airdrieonians host Premiership side and current League Cup holders St Mirren for a place in the Last 8 of the Scottish Cup. Devaney found Young on the edge of the box, who had a shot, but his effort was comfortably saved by Stone in the Airdrieonians goal. The visitors found the breakthrough after 19 minutes. Mandron flicked the ball into the path of Devaney, who found space on the edge of the box and found the top left corner. A moment of magic from the Manchester United youngster to give St Mirren an early lead. St Mirren continued to pile the pressure on. The ball eventually broke to Richardson inside the Airdrie box, who had a go on the volley, but his effort was well saved by Stone. Phillips found Richardson down the right flank, who played a dangerous ball across goal looking for Mandron, but Ross came sliding in and denied the striker a tap in. From the resulting corner, Devaney sent the ball straight out of play. On 33 minutes, the Airdrie supporters and players were adamant that their side should have been awarded a penalty. Barjonas was caught by the right leg of King, but the appeals were waved away by the referee Kevin Clancy. Mandron found space on the edge of the box down the other end, but dragged his shot past the post. Into the second period, Henderson spotted the run of McArthur, who had a shot inside the box from a tight angle and hit the side-netting. Not long later, Idowu found himself in acres of space inside the Airdrie box, but the substitute kicked the ground as he shot and the ball went well wide. Strapp received a lay off from Barjonas and had a go from just outside the area, and his effort, which left George stranded, went narrowly over the top. 66 minutes in, Airdrie found the equaliser. Henderson received the ball from Barjonas, after a brilliant move, and took a touch before volleying the ball past George, to give The Diamonds a well deserved leveller. A smart finish from Henderson, who now has 17 goals this campaign. Idowu worked the ball onto his right foot and let fly, but his effort was very well saved by Stone, who had to settle for the concession of a corner, which led to nothing. With 2 minutes of normal time remaining, Idowu worked the ball onto his left foot and had a go, but his strike went just pass the post. After 4 minutes of additional time, the referee blew the full time whistle, which was met with boos from the away end. Into the opening exchanges of the second period of extra time, Calvin got on the end of Idowu’s cross, but his effort, on the stretch, went just wide. With 5 minutes of extra time remaining, St Mirren regained the lead. Idowu got on the end of a long ball and hit the ball on the volley, which found its way past the hand of Stone. Into additional time, McMenamin found Idowu through on goal, but the forward’s effort was saved by the foot of Stone. St Mirren progress through to the Last 8 after a tight match against Championship side Airdrie, who made the Paisley outfit work for their win. Airdrieonians: Stone (7), MacDonald (6), Ross (6), McArthur (6), Strapp (6), McMaster (6), Telfer (6), McKinnon (6), Barjonas (7), Mochrie (6), Henderson (8) Substitutes: Bruce (5), McGrattan (5), Gallagher (6), Constable (5), Hastie (5) St Mirren: George (6), Fraser (6), King (5), Freckleton (6), Richardson (5), Phillips (6), Devaney (8), Gogic (7), John (6), Mandron (5), Young (6) Substitutes: Idowu (9), Etete (3), McMenamin (6), Dijksteel (5), Calvin (6), Donnelly (5)
Dundee sign young Mexican forward
Dundee have completed the signing of Mexican forward Aldahir Valenzuela, who joins on a loan deal from Mexican outfit Monterrey until the summer of 2026. Valenzuela previously trained with Dundee in the summer, where he clearly caught the eye of boss Steven Pressley. Several players have made the switch from Monterrey to Dundee due to the strategic partnership the 2 clubs have. Cesar Garza and Victor Lopez previously made the switch. Aldahir after signing for Dundee: “I feel very proud to join Dundee FC. It is a new challenge to join this great club, and I hope to add as much as possible during my time here.”
