Arsenal v Aston Villa – Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds – FA Cup – 29 January 2012
The Gunners host fellow English Premier League side Aston Villa in the 4th round of the English Football Association (FA) Cup. The match will take place at the Emirates Stadium in London, England on Sunday, January 29, 2012. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:00 EST (USA Eastern), 16:00 GMT (UK time), and 17:00 CET (Central Europe).
Arsenal v Aston Villa TV Listings
The match will be televised on Fox Soccer Channel (USA), ESPN (UK), Sky Calcio (Italy), Rogers Sportsnet (Canada), Viasat (Sweden/Norway), Sport 1 (Israel/Russia/Germany), SportKlub (Croatia/Poland/Serbia/Slovenia), SuperSport (Africa), Canal 1+ (Spain), Digi Sport (Hungary/Romania), and Al Jazeera Sport (Middle East).
Arsenal v Aston Villa Preview
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
“If you look at my record, you will see the FA Cup is important for me. If you look at the record of all the other teams, I think our record is better than all of them over the past 15 years.
“Even last year we went for four trophies. How many teams go for four trophies this season? Nobody.
“I think we always try to go for everything and for a long, long time last year we went for trophies late in the season. Still we will try to do the same and try to win the FA Cup [this year].”
“I believe that for an English player, you have to start to play at 18 at the top level if you want to become an international player,” he said.
“They all played at 18 – Thierry, Ferdinand, Rooney, Gerrard. If you don’t make it at 18 you have one or two who come in later but the basis of the national team is players who have come in then.”
“Young players want to join us because they know they will get a chance at the top level. I believe that when Oxlade-Chamberlain was making his choices, he knew that he would have a chance here.
“I think we have always shown we are willing to take out experienced players and put younger ones in when they deserve it.
“[There were other clubs in for him] but we were consistent for a long time. It could have been a decisive factor. What people forget is that we spent a lot of money on him.”
Aston Villa manager Alex McCleish
“Robbie and Thierry are different styles of player.
“But I know one similarity and that is that they are superb footballers who love the game.
“You can see in training that Robbie loves it and wants to be involved all the time. It’s infectious.
“I think it’s the individual’s character. That’s a fundamental.
“Robbie has made it clear he wants to play in this period.”
“I had Gordon in this week for lunch and to observe training. He had Robbie at Coventry and he said Robbie’s movement was terrific.
“Gordon said Robbie was making the same kind of movements now that he did when he was 20.
“He said that he was trying to teach that movement to other strikers at Coventry like Darren Huckerby, who did well for him, but it was difficult for them to make the movement that Robbie did.
“And Gordon said he used to ask Robbie ‘who taught you that kind of movement?’ and Robbie told him it was all done playing in the streets.
“He was laying the ball off and spinning and that kind of stuff. It was all stuff he did as a boy playing street football.
“It is a measure of how much he has made himself a very good footballer.”
“His parent club is LA Galaxy and there is an agreement in place.
“We said if Robbie could come and give everyone a boost, get a couple of goals, if he can make a significant difference in the other games, then that would be great.
“Hopefully it inspires everyone else to give tremendous performances and leave us in a good position going into the tail-end of the campaign.”
Team FA Cup Stats
| Arsenal | Aston Villa | |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | Thierry Henry 1 | Gabriel Agbonlahor 1 |
| Assists | ||
| Yellows | Andrei Arshavin 1 |
Arsenal v Aston Villa Prediction
Arsenal wins 3-1
Arsenal v Aston Villa Betting Odds
Arsenal win – 4/7
Draw – 3/1
Aston Villa win – 9/2
