{"id":360376,"date":"2011-04-01T10:28:02","date_gmt":"2011-04-01T10:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/"},"modified":"2011-04-01T10:28:02","modified_gmt":"2011-04-01T10:28:02","slug":"arsenal-v-blackburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal v Blackburn"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><!--template: $Id: \/\/depot\/feeds\/Sport\/SportsStatsV3\/main\/SOLRenderService\/xslt\/football\/match\/html\/football_match_summary.html.xslt#5 $--><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, 2 April 2011<\/p>\n<p>Barclays Premier League<\/p>\n<table summary=\"This table is for live text and stats\" caption=\"\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"col\"><span>Home Team<\/span><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\"><span>Score<\/span><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\"><span>Away Team<\/span><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\"><span>Time<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Arsenal<\/td>\n<td> v <\/td>\n<td>Blackburn<\/td>\n<td>17:30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"4\"><span><\/span><span><\/span><span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n               <\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>\n               <\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><!--template: $Id: \/\/depot\/feeds\/Sport\/SportsStatsV3\/main\/SOLRenderService\/xslt\/football\/match\/html\/football_match_stats.json.html.xslt#10 $--><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>ARSENAL<\/p>\n<p>BLACKBURN<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>Possession<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Arsenal<\/span> <span>50%<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Blackburn<\/span> <span>50%<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- E IINC --><\/p>\n<p><span><b>Barclays Premier League<\/b><br \/><b>Venue:<\/b> Emirates Stadium <b>Date:<\/b> Saturday, 2 April <b>Kick-off:<\/b> 1730 BST<br \/><b>Coverage:<\/b> Watch live on ESPN and highlights on Match of the Day; listen on talkSPORT, BBC Radio 5 live and local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>TEAM NEWS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><!-- S SF --><\/p>\n<p><b>Arsenal welcome back Theo Walcott, Alex Song, Abou Diaby and Cesc Fabregas, all of whom missed the draw at West Brom, but Denilson and Aaron Ramsey miss out.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner have been passed fit, while manager Arsene Wenger says Manuel Almunia will continue in goal ahead of Jens Lehmann. <\/p>\n<p>Blackburn midfielder David Dunn hopes to recover from a hip problem in time to face the Gunners on Saturday. <\/p>\n<p>Vince Grella will miss the rest of the season after having Achilles surgery. <\/p>\n<p><!-- E SF --><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><b>Arsenal<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Injured<\/b>: Bartley &#038; Frimpong (both knee), Denilson (toe), Djourou &#038; Fabianski (both shoulder), Mannone (thigh), Ramsey (groin), Szczesny (finger), Vermaelen (Achilles) <\/p>\n<p><b>Blackburn<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Suspended:<\/b> Givet (one match) <\/p>\n<p><b>Doubtful:<\/b> Andrews (groin), Dunn (hip) <\/p>\n<p><b>Injured: <\/b>Grella (Achilles)<\/p>\n<p><b>MATCH PREVIEW<\/b><\/p>\n<p> April is supposedly the cruellest month, but March was also fairly miserable for Arsenal, who suffered cup defeats to Barcelona and Manchester United and lost ground in the title race, drawing their two Premier League games, against Sunderland and West Brom.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t    <!-- S IBOX --><\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"231\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" readability=\"2\">\n<tr readability=\"4\">\n<td width=\"5\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/0ca56104o.gif.gif\" width=\"5\" height=\"1\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/td>\n<td readability=\"4\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>\t\t\t<b>Things can change very quickly, and what is important for us is to get back winning&#8230; the psychological lift of coming back from 2-0 down at West Brom was vital<\/b><br \/>\n\t\t<br clear=\"all\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div readability=\"7\">\n<p>Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p><!-- E IBOX --><\/p>\n<p>The Gunners have had two weeks to stew over the slack first-half defending that ultimately cost them victory at the Hawthorns. That result means the Gunners begin the weekend five points behind Manchester United &#8211; a gap that will increase to eight if the leaders beat West Ham in Saturday&#8217;s early game. <\/p>\n<p>Like Arsenal, Blackburn also hit back from two goals down to draw a fortnight ago, although a point at home to fast-fading Blackpool could eventually prove a missed opportunity. That was certainly the verdict of gamblers who lumped on Kean losing his job, forcing bookmakers to make the Scot odds-on favourite to be the next Premier League manager to leave his post. <\/p>\n<p>Rovers&#8217; Indian owners have repeatedly backed Kean &#8211; Venkatesh Rao insists he has &#8220;no idea&#8221; where the latest rumours have come from. But if Kean is to justify the faith shown in him, Blackburn will have to raise their game. <\/p>\n<p>Five of their remaining eight matches come against top-half sides, while trips to West Ham and Wolves look perilous given Rovers&#8217; poor away form. A positive result at Arsenal, where Blackburn have lost their last seven league games, would be the perfect way to engender self-belief.<\/p>\n<p><b>MATCH FACTS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Head-to-head<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Arsenal have won their last seven home league games against Blackburn, scoring a total of 25 goals and conceding just four. Rovers have leaked 18 goals in their four visits to the Emirates Stadium. <\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Blackburn&#8217;s last win away to the Gunners was a 2-1 victory at Highbury on 26 October 2002. <\/p>\n<p><b>Arsenal<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 The Gunners are unbeaten in their last 12 league matches &#8211; their longest run in two years since a 21-match streak between November 2008 and May 2009. However, they have won only one of their last six games in league and cup (W1, D2, L3). <\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Robin van Persie has scored 16 goals in 16 games for club and country in 2011 (14 in 14 for Arsenal). <\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Samir Nasri has failed to score in his last 11 appearances for Arsenal. He last netted in the 3-1 win at Leeds on 19 January. <\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Arsenal have conceded just one goal in six Premier League games at the Emirates Stadium in 2011. That goal was scored by Louis Saha in Everton&#8217;s 2-1 defeat on 1 February. <\/p>\n<p><b>Blackburn<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Rovers are winless in their last six league games (D2, L4). It is their longest run without a victory since a nine-match streak between November 2009 and January 2010. <\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Blackburn&#8217;s comeback against Blackpool, when they hit back from two goals down to force a 2-2 draw, was the first time this season they had collected Premier League points after conceding the opening goal. <\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Rovers have lost all five of their away Premier League games in 2011, conceding a total of 16 goals. <\/p>\n<p><b>LEADING GOALSCORERS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Arsenal<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Van Persie: 15 goals (11 league); Nasri: 14 goals (9 league) <\/p>\n<p><b>Blackburn<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Kalinic: 6 goals (5 league); Mame Diouf: 6 goals (3 league) <\/p>\n<p><b>MATCH OFFICIALS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Referee<\/b>: Phil Dowd <\/p>\n<p><b>Assistant referees<\/b>: Dean Mohareb &#038; Ceri Richards <\/p>\n<p><b>Fourth official<\/b>: Anthony Taylor <\/p>\n<p><b>LAST LEAGUE MATCH LINE-UPS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Arsenal <\/b>(D2-2 v West Brom, a): Almunia, Sagna, Squillaci, Koscielny, Clichy, Wilshere, Denilson (Chamakh 46), Ramsey (Bendtner 57), Nasri, Arshavin, van Persie. Subs not used: Lehmann, Rosicky, Eboue, Gibbs, Miquel. <\/p>\n<p><b>Blackburn<\/b> (D2-2 v Blackpool, h): Robinson, Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Olsson, Emerton (Phil Jones 59), Nzonzi (Roberts 72), Jermaine Jones, Diouf (Pedersen 79), Santa Cruz, Hoilett. Subs not used: Bunn, Kalinic, Rochina, Benjani.\n<\/p>\n<p><!-- E BO --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read this article:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/go\/rss\/-\/sport1\/hi\/football\/eng_prem\/9439731.stm\" title=\"Arsenal v Blackburn\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arsenal v Blackburn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> \u00a0 Saturday, 2 April 2011 Barclays Premier League Home Team Score Away Team Time Arsenal v Blackburn 17:30 ARSENAL BLACKBURN Possession Arsenal 50% Blackburn 50% Barclays Premier League Venue: Emirates Stadium Date: Saturday, 2 April Kick-off: 1730 BST Coverage: Watch live on ESPN and highlights on Match of the Day; listen on talkSPORT, BBC Radio 5 live and local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles TEAM NEWS Arsenal welcome back Theo Walcott, Alex Song, Abou Diaby and Cesc Fabregas, all of whom missed the draw at West Brom, but Denilson and Aaron Ramsey miss out. Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner have been passed fit, while manager Arsene Wenger says Manuel Almunia will continue in goal ahead of Jens Lehmann. Blackburn midfielder David Dunn hopes to recover from a hip problem in time to face the Gunners on Saturday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-360376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Arsenal v Blackburn - 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\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Arsenal v Blackburn - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"\u00a0 Saturday, 2 April 2011 Barclays Premier League Home Team Score Away Team Time Arsenal v Blackburn 17:30 ARSENAL BLACKBURN Possession Arsenal 50% Blackburn 50% Barclays Premier League Venue: Emirates Stadium Date: Saturday, 2 April Kick-off: 1730 BST Coverage: Watch live on ESPN and highlights on Match of the Day; listen on talkSPORT, BBC Radio 5 live and local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles TEAM NEWS Arsenal welcome back Theo Walcott, Alex Song, Abou Diaby and Cesc Fabregas, all of whom missed the draw at West Brom, but Denilson and Aaron Ramsey miss out. Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner have been passed fit, while manager Arsene Wenger says Manuel Almunia will continue in goal ahead of Jens Lehmann. Blackburn midfielder David Dunn hopes to recover from a hip problem in time to face the Gunners on Saturday\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/0ca56104o.gif.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Arsenal v Blackburn\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-01T10:28:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/\"},\"wordCount\":805,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/0ca56104o.gif.gif\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/\",\"name\":\"Arsenal v Blackburn - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/0ca56104o.gif.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-01T10:28:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/0ca56104o.gif.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/0ca56104o.gif.gif\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Arsenal v Blackburn - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/01\/arsenal-v-blackburn\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Arsenal v Blackburn - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"\u00a0 Saturday, 2 April 2011 Barclays Premier League Home Team Score Away Team Time Arsenal v Blackburn 17:30 ARSENAL BLACKBURN Possession Arsenal 50% Blackburn 50% Barclays Premier League Venue: Emirates Stadium Date: Saturday, 2 April Kick-off: 1730 BST Coverage: Watch live on ESPN and highlights on Match of the Day; listen on talkSPORT, BBC Radio 5 live and local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles TEAM NEWS Arsenal welcome back Theo Walcott, Alex Song, Abou Diaby and Cesc Fabregas, all of whom missed the draw at West Brom, but Denilson and Aaron Ramsey miss out. Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner have been passed fit, while manager Arsene Wenger says Manuel Almunia will continue in goal ahead of Jens Lehmann. 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