{"id":16034,"date":"2011-12-18T08:23:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-18T08:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/micah-richards-hopes-manchester-city-defenders-can-keep-arsenal-striker-robin-van-persie-at-bay\/"},"modified":"2011-12-18T08:23:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-18T08:23:00","slug":"micah-richards-hopes-manchester-city-defenders-can-keep-arsenal-striker-robin-van-persie-at-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/18\/micah-richards-hopes-manchester-city-defenders-can-keep-arsenal-striker-robin-van-persie-at-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Micah Richards hopes Manchester City defenders can keep Arsenal striker Robin van Persie at bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Micah Richards<\/a> hopes his Manchester City<\/a> team-mates Vincent Kompany<\/a> and Joleon Lescott<\/a> will be able to ensure that Robin van Persie<\/a> does not hit the back of the net when Arsenal<\/a> visit Eastlands on Sunday.
<\/span><\/p>\n


Roberto Mancini’s men are currently at the top of the Premier League, two points ahead of Manchester United after losing their unbeaten record in their last game against Chelsea.<\/p>\n

Now they take on the Gunners at home, with the north London club themselves undefeated for eight consecutive league games, winning seven in the process.<\/p>\n

Their captain, Van Persie, has also been in prolific goalscoring form throughout the course of this year, and is close to breaking Alan Shearer’s record of 36 goals in a calendar year, achieved in 1995.<\/p>\n

The Dutchman is only three goals behind the legendary hitman, but Richards hopes City’s centre-halves will be able to stop him on the day.<\/p>\n

“Van Persie is an amazing talent,” he said, according to The Sunday Mirror<\/em>.<\/p>\n

“When he signed for Arsenal, you could tell he was going to be a massive player for them and he\u2019s \u00adcontinued improving.<\/p>\n

“But Vincent Kompany has been outstanding and Joleon Lescott has probably been our best defender. I\u2019m sure these two, between them, will be able to sort him out – hopefully!”<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old also tipped the Gunners’ forward and David Silva to be contenders for the Player of the Year award. Van Persie has scored 15 goals in as many appearances in the league this season, and is currently at the top of the goalscoring charts.<\/p>\n

As for the Spaniard, he has created eight goals so far in the league, and is at the top of the assists rankings.<\/p>\n

“Van Persie and Silva are \u00adprobably the best two players in the Premier League on form. If both keep up this form, I think one of them will be player of the year,” said Richards.<\/p>\n

“You don\u2019t know what\u2019s around the corner and one of them could get an injury, but they are the two stand-out candidates.<\/p>\n

“Silva is awesome. When we first bought him, people didn\u2019t know quite what he could do, but now he\u2019s shown that he\u2019s a world-class \u00adplayer.<\/p>\n

“Not many people so small can play so well in the Premier League, but he\u2019s got everything. He makes us tick.”<\/p>\n

City beat Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford earlier in the season and are currently ahead of them by two points, but Richards still feels that Sir Alex Ferguson’s men are the favourites to win the title.<\/p>\n

“We have got a lot of games against top teams coming up, so it\u2019s going to be hard, but this is the test for us now to show what we can do,” said the defender. “Man United are still, in my opinion, the favourites. They\u2019ve been there, done it, \u00adalthough Nemanja Vidic being out injured for so long is going to be a \u00admassive loss.<\/p>\n

“The Uniteds, Chelseas, Arsenals, Liverpools have been doing it for so long. I think Arsenal are genuine title contenders as long as they keep \u00adeveryone fit, especially Van Persie. Spurs are looking good. With players like [Aaron] Lennon, [Gareth] Bale, [Emmanuel] Adebayor and [Luka] Modric \u2014 it\u2019s scary. But we can \u00addefinitely take the \u00adpressure.<\/p>\n

“After losing at Chelsea, people are thinking what the effect will be. But that\u2019s part of football and we\u2019ve got an amazing game to come back to.”<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you stay up to date with football when on the move? With http:\/\/m.goal.com<\/a> \u2013 your best source for mobile coverage of the beautiful game.<\/em><\/span><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Micah Richards hopes his Manchester City team-mates Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott will be able to ensure that Robin van Persie does not hit the back of the net when Arsenal visit Eastlands on Sunday. Roberto Mancini’s men are currently at the top of the Premier League, two points ahead of Manchester United after losing their unbeaten record in their last game against Chelsea. Now they take on the Gunners at home, with the north London club themselves undefeated for eight consecutive league games, winning seven in the process. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nMicah Richards hopes Manchester City defenders can keep Arsenal striker Robin van Persie at bay - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/18\/micah-richards-hopes-manchester-city-defenders-can-keep-arsenal-striker-robin-van-persie-at-bay\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Micah Richards hopes Manchester City defenders can keep Arsenal striker Robin van Persie at bay - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Micah Richards hopes his Manchester City team-mates Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott will be able to ensure that Robin van Persie does not hit the back of the net when Arsenal visit Eastlands on Sunday. 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