The future of defender Thomas Vermaelen could have easily jeopardised Arsenal’s challenge for a top four spot, but the impressive form of defender Laurent Koscielny has helped them keep several clean sheets in the last few weeks. Koscielny has managed to form an impressive partnership with German international Per Mertesacker. Further, Aaron Ramsey has also been very influential for Arsenal in the absence of Jack Wilshere, who has suffered several recurrence of injury problems in recent weeks.

Arsenal are unbeaten in the last eight league matches, which has put them in a great position to finish in the top four. There are only a few matches left the season.

“Koscielny at the start of the season was not a regular player. Ramsey for a while was not in the team. If you keep going, if you have that stamina and persistence in your attitude, at some stage you will be rewarded. Certainly their outstanding performances have been noticed but as well the quality of their spirit has been rewarded by our fans,” said Arsene Wenger. Ramsey, who has had a lot of stick due to his poor performances, recently managed to win the club’s player of the month award for April.

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This led to a chorus of disapproval from the Arsenal fans, who were shocked at the display of the Arsenal players. However, the club staged a stunning comeback in the final 30 min of the match. The striker Oliver Giroud pulled one back for Arsenal before the winger Theo Walcott equalised the match 3 minutes later. After the match, Wenger said that he is extremely satisfied with the response of his players to come back from being two goals down. He has also asked for the fans to believe in the players by saying that he expects more from them in the future.

“This squad is top, top level. We have to learn to trust these players again and to keep faith in them. We have signed a bunch of young, English players who have committed to the club for the next four or five years. I think there is a lot to come out of this team, but we have to trust and keep faith with them. Gibbs was an important player for us going forward and the game we want to play. It is a shame he is out for the next three weeks,” said Wenger.

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Due to the fact that players like Theo Walcott have been linked with a move away from the club in the summer, Wenger has indicated that he is likely to bring in a few players during January move to strengthen the team. Wenger is no stranger to being players during January with the likes of Andrei Arshavin brought to the club during this period. The team has also sent out Johan Djourou and Marouane Chamakh on a loan deal, which means that their options are limited in both areas of the pitch. Arsenal could only manage a 2-2 draw with Swansea during the weekend in the third round of the FA Cup.

“Abou Diaby’s coming back and if we find one or two on the transfer market, then we can cope with the fixture list. Let’s first keep the players we have and maybe add one or two. We lost Chamakh and Djourou now, so there’s some room. We should have won this game. I felt the first half was a bit locked and one-paced, as much as the second half became much more open,” said Wenger after the match with Swansea.

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In the meantime, Swansea managed a spectacular 3-1 win over highflying West Brom, which has boosted the confidence of Michael Laudrup’s team. Swansea come into the encounter with real opportunity to overtake Arsenal in the seventh position. The only advantage is that Arsenal have ahead of this match is the home advantage. Wenger has said that it is time the players started utilising this advantage much better. Arsenal have just one victory in the last five matches. This victory came at home in the Champions League against Montpelier. They are undefeated in the last four encounters at home.

“If you look at the Premier League at the moment we have played 14 games, eight away, and now we have played at the two Liverpool clubs and the two Manchester clubs. If we play well at home and get the results at home we have a chance to come back, that is our job now. We have rebuilt a new team, we have Jack Wilshere back and hopefully we can go from strength to strength,” said the Arsenal manager ahead of this match. Arsenal will now be having two straight home matches in the Premier league.

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