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With
just one win over Arsenal in their last 10 encounters, there is no
better time for Aston Villa to play the Gunners than now, as Arsene
Wenger will be missing playmaker and captain, Cesc Fabregas, who
tweaked his hamstring in the 0-2 defeat in the UEFA Champions League
day 5 fixture to SC Braga.

Arsenal have also
lost their last two matches from points of strength, leading 2-0
against Tottenham, but ended losing 3-2. Against Braga, Arsenal had 64%
possession but lost to two counter attacks. Youthful Arsenal
midfielders, Jack Wilshere and Denilson have however come out to
apologise to fans for their defeat to Braga. The Brazilian had a
below-par performance along with his fellow holding midfielder,
Wilshere, who also was disappointed by the outcome against Braga. “It’s
very disappointing and I feel very bad and very sad about this,” said
Denilson. “For the fans, I should say sorry and for the last match
(against Spurs) as well. We have to win trophies this season because
this is very important for us.”

Wilshere, who said
he is struggling to understand how they lost, is expected to start in
midfield with Alex Song in the defensive midfield role. Samir Nasri
will take up Fabregas’ role. Robin Van Persie could return upfront to
partner Marouane Chamakh. Aston Villa though is ready to unleash a
former Gunner against Arsenal on Saturday. Robert Pires is in line to
start for the Villains, according to Aston Villa boss, Gerard Houllier.
After coming on as a substitute in the 2-0 defeat against Blackburn at
Ewood Park, the former Gunner and Villarreal man is expected to play
some part against his former club. “Robert was supposed to play one
half for the reserves but he did an hour so he will be in the 18 on
Saturday, definitely,” he said. Houllier also received more positive
news on Thursday as John Carew, James Collins and Habib Beye are fit
and back in contention to be named in the 18 against Arsenal.

Red Devils set out their stall

Despite not playing
well, Manchester United are joint leaders and can go three points clear
of Chelsea on Saturday when they host Blackburn at Old Trafford.
Qualification for the last-16 of the Champions League saw the return of
Wayne Rooney to goal scoring ways, even though it was from the penalty
spot. With a lot of players rested for the trip to Glasgow, Alex
Ferguson will want to climb the Premier League summit as the congested
December calendar is around the corner. Blackburn Rovers boss, Sam
Allardyce, is delighted with the form of his team going into the Old
Trafford clash. Wins over Wigan, Newcastle and Aston Villa has seen
Blackburn pick up nine points from a possible 12, shooting them up to
11th in the league table, giving the side a massive boost. “We’ve taken
nine points out of the last four games, we’ve 18 points after 14
matches which give us a really good running total for phase two of the
season,” he told the Rovers website.

One Blackburn
players who will relish the Old Trafford turf is Morten Gamst Pedersen.
The Norwegian scored two goals against United on their patch in 2005.
“People remind me of that day in 2005 all the time and want to talk
about it,” he said. “It’s one of my biggest ever days on a football
pitch – probably the biggest. That showed it’s not impossible for us to
go there and get points off them. The league is so tight it’s
unbelievable and lots of strange results are happening. We’ve beaten
Aston Villa so that means we can fully focus on going to United. It
would be great to do something like that again or, if not, do some
other good things from the position I play now.”

And Allardyce wants more improvement as they visit the Red Devils.
“We want to make sure we keep a good points tally ahead of the number
of games played, and the win over Aston Villa has given us the
opportunity to go to Old Trafford with a lot more confidence,” he said.
But the last time that Rovers got any sort of win over United was in
2006.