Swansea vs. Arsenal: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview
Arsenal travel to the Liberty Stadium to take on a buoyant Swansea City after an epic collapse in the UEFA Champions League. The Gunners were 3-0 up at home against Belgian outfit Anderlecht, only to draw 3-3 and blow their chance of early qualification from Group D.
Knowing how Arsene Wenger's teams notoriously experience a prolonged hangover after such disappointments, the Swans are likely to be favourites on home soil.
Young boss Garry Monk deserves plaudits for some fine work since succeeding Michael Laudrup during last season. Swansea still play a brand of one-touch, expansive football Wenger would be proud of, and in striker Wilfried Bony, Monk has one of the Premier League's best.
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Before a closer look at the game, here's all of the relevant schedule and viewing information:
Date: Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014
Time: 4 p.m. (GMT) / 11 a.m. (ET)
TV: Sky Sports 1 (UK) / NBCSN (US)
Live Stream: Sky Go (UK). NBC Sports Live Extra (US).
Preview
Engineering a quick turnaround following the second-half horror show in the Champions League represents a tough challenge for Wenger. Specifically, he must try to get the balance right in midfield.
That won't be easy without dependable veteran Mikel Arteta. The 32-year-old Spaniard was a casualty against Anderlecht, and Wenger confirmed the savvy deep-lying midfielder will miss the trip to Swansea, per Arsenal.com:
"Arteta will be out for Sunday. He has a mild hamstring strain and he will be out for a short period because it's a grade one. He should be back after the internationals.
"
Losing Arteta is certainly a major blow. When the ex-Everton man limped off against Anderlecht it seemed to hasten the Gunners' collapse, a fact noted by Wenger, per another article from Arsenal.com:
"I think when we lost Mikel Arteta we lost out because he was one of the few who defended well. That didn't help. Apart from that maybe we underestimated subconsciously Anderlecht and got punished. In the Champions League you need to be at the mental level or you get punished and certainly we were not.
"
Wenger is absolutely right to highlight Arteta's significance to this team. He may not be everybody's idea of the prototype defensive midfielder, but Arteta is the only Arsenal midfield player who combines positional sense and defensive instincts with a natural calmness in possession.
Coping without him will likely mean turning to tenacious but erratic Frenchman Mathieu Flamini. Wenger can also welcome back Jack Wilshere, per Daily Star reporter Chisanga Malata.
The Gunners look as though they need the fresh impetus Wilshere's live-wire style can provide. It would also help if Wenger coaxed significant improvement from Aaron Ramsey.
The team's talisman last season, Ramsey suddenly looks utterly bereft of confidence. His touch, control and shooting have all been poor in recent matches.
The Welsh box-to-box ace has also been chided for his lack of inclination to help out defensively. Sky Sports pundit Dietmar Hamann was particularly critical of Ramsey after the Anderlecht fiasco, per Goal.com reporter Liam Twomey:
"The main culprit was Ramsey. He wanted to get on the scoresheet. He wasn’t interested in the team's success, whether the team was going to win or not concede and secure the three points. They wanted to get on the scoresheet and in the end they got punished.
"
Ramsey needs a performance to spark his season and recapture the heights he hit during the last campaign. Of course, the ex-Cardiff City prodigy has all the motivation he needs to deliver against old enemy Swansea.
Ramsey was superb when the Gunners won 2-1 at the Liberty last term. He provided the assist for youngster Serge Gnabry to net Arsenal's first goal, before scoring the second himself.
That day Arsenal ruled because of midfield control earned by a quintet of players. Wenger may need to trust that same formula again. He's adopted a 4-4-2 look in recent matches, but that could leave Arsenal exposed against a Swansea team as capable of dominating possession.
The Swans have played some wonderfully fluid football at times this season. Their intricate passing has usually been aimed at setting Bony free.
The 25-year-old Ivory Coast international already has four league goals and one assist this season, per WhoScored.com. According to Anthony Chapman of the Express, the striker was a one-time Arsenal target. Bony is a quick and skilled target man, equally adept at linking combination play together as he is at finding the back of the net.
His form appears set to be rewarded with a new deal, according to BBC Sport. A motivated Bony will be very difficult for Arsenal's wafer-thin defence to contain.
The group, led by the struggling Per Mertesacker, will need proper protection from a balanced midfield prepared to forgo some forward running for less glamorous work.
Prediction: Swansea City 2-2 Arsenal
The Gunners will enter this game low on confidence. A fact a Bony-led Swansea will exploit early on. However, Arsenal will create enough chances for the Alexis Sanchez-inspired attack to help Wenger's beleaguered squad snatch a dramatic point.
