West Ham vs. Arsenal: Preview, Team News, Projected Lineups

   

After defeating QPR at Loftus Road, the Hammers are ahead of another London derby, but this time the competition will be tougher, because Arsène Wenger and the Gunners will travel to Upton Park to get back on the winning track after last week's disappointing loss against Chelsea.

Saturday's late game will offer the collision of two complete different styles of football - the elegant, slick and catchy Gunners and Sam Allardyce's Hammers, who play unattractively and aggressively, but extremely efficiently, as well. So, who will win the tree points tonight? Only time will tell...

Vital quotes, said before the game :

Ahead of the latest London derby,  Arsène Wenger commented on Andy Carroll's return to the Hammers' squad: "Carroll has the quality and that will come out with time. We expect Carroll to be at his best - it is down to us to deal with that.'

'We can only focus on our own performance and be at our best. I rate Carroll, and don't think we have seen the best of him until now.

'He started very well, then he had to deal with a high level of expectation with a massive transfer on his shoulders [to Liverpool], going to an historic club where a lot was expected of him. Maybe it was a bit too early for him.

'Since I have seen him at West Ham, he looks back to the Carroll we have seen at Newcastle, that means with less pressure."  

Will Andy Carroll produce at the highest level against Arsenal is uncertain, but he will definitely be excited for the game and will try to do that. 

West Ham Team News:

Sam Allardyce has to decide whether Andy Carroll will start after suffering from injury, or will appear again as a substitute, like he did at Loftus Road on Monday night.

Against Queens Park Rangers, both Winston Reid and Joey O`Brien picked up injuries. Rumor has it that the former will play against Arsenal but that the latter will miss out.

Still not available for selection, though is Jack Collison who remains sidelined by his knee problem.

Yossi Benayoun may also start for the Hammers against the club he played for last year, whilst on loan from Chelsea.

                       Arsenal Team News:

For this fixture Arsenal will be hoping to welcome back, Per Mertesacker, who had shaken off a virus. But Arsenal will be without the services of their first choice keeper, Wojciech Szczesny, who is still unable to play due to injury and Abou Diaby will miss the game, as well. In other words, without Diaby, Mikel Arteta will have to be at his best to stop West Ham from dominating the midfield.

Jack Wilshere, who has been absent for over a year, is still fighting his way back to fitness, but has appeared for the reserve side recently which is extremely encouraging for the gunners' young hope.

Match Facts & Stats:

The omens do not look good for West Ham with Arsenal having won six and drawn two of the last eight meetings between the two clubs. Also, the Hammers' have not scored against Arsenal in their last three meetings and it will be hard to break that streak.

Moreover, the Gunners' Lukas Podolski and Gervinho are playing extremely well at the start of the season, having most recently scored on Wednesday's CL game against F.C. Olympiacos.

Referee:

Taking charge of this fixture will be Phil Dowd, ably assisted by his two assistants S. Ledger and M. McDonough and with Andre Marriner as the fourth official. Both clubs' fans do not have a good opinion about Dowd, so it will be interesting how he will perform on Saturday's game.

Match Prediction:

This will be a very competitive game, but I think that Arsenal has what it takes to break down West Ham's opposition.

Projected Lineups:

West Ham

Jussi Jaaskelainen; Winston Reid, Joey O'Brien, James Collins, Guy Demel; Kevin Nolan, Mohamed Diame, Matt Jarvis, Ricardo Vaz Te, Mark Noble; Andy Carroll



Arsenal

Vito Mannone; Carl Jenkinson, Thomas Vermaelen, Per Mertesacker, Kieran Gibbs; Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla; Lukas Podolski, Gervinho, Olivier Giroud

 

     5 Reasons to be excited for "NBA 2K13"

Over the past few years "NBA 2K" proved itself as the best basketball game. This year's edition will be released on the second day of October and every fan can't wait to hold the game in his hands. Here are five reasons why you be excited about the game and give it a shot even if you are not a basketball fan.

1. Jay-Z is the executive producer of the game

Shawn Carter has always known how to get things done no matter what he's doing and "NBA 2K13" is no exception. He has been credited with the idea of having both the 1992 and 2012 United States men's national basketball teams in the game. Initially, Scottie Pippen and Charles Barkley were left out of the game due to the inability to secure use of their likeness. However, after widespread disappointment from fans over his absence, they were then added to the team roster because Jay-Z  simply called them and convinced the two legends to agree to participate in the game.

Moreover, Shawn's touch is all over the game's soundtrack, which is a blend of hip-hop songs and rock hits.
   

2. The 1992 and 2012 US Basketball Teams are in the game

As mentioned in the previous slide, those two amazing teams will take part in the game. In other words, it means that every fan can decide which is the better team for him on his own.

 
3. Signature skills

In 'NBA 2K13" every player will act similarly to the way he does when he plays a real game and that is all because of signature skills. To paraphrase, Ray Allen and Steve Novak will be even more deadlier from behind the arc, Kevin Durant will score in every way possible, Russell Westbrook will be as quick as a lightning, etc. That is a great feature and it will make the game even more realistic. 

4. The All-Star Weekend

In "NBA 2K13", it will be possible to see if Blake Griffin could defeat Spud Webb in the Slam Dunk Contest, or if Larry Bird could take down Ray Allen in the Three-Point Contest. The Rising Stars Challenge and the All-Star Game itself are also available; once the NBA announces the rosters for the 2013 versions of those games, "NBA 2K13" will be updated to include them. In addition, the All-Star Weekend content will be fully integrated into the game's Association and My Player modes. The only bad thing is that to get all this content you have to preorder the game in order to get the All-Star Weekend as a DLC.


5. My Career 


NBA 2K13's developers at Visual Concepts changed the name of the series' career mode from "My Player" to "My Career" this year.

According to producer Erick Boenisch, Visual Concepts' goal was to "blur the line" between your player's on- and off-court lives. The game's commentators will mention things you do off the court. At the same time, a social media area — similar to the Twitter integration in Madden NFL 13's Connected Careers mode, but without the official branding features comments on your in-game performance.

Those comments come from fellow NBA players, legends like Michael Jordan, media personalities including ESPN's J.A. Adande, and celebrities such as Justin Bieber. (It's unclear if the people in question actually wrote the in-game tweets-that-aren't-tweets, or if Visual Concepts wrote them in the style of tweets from those individuals.)

The developers also say they've made improvements to player AI in "My Career", so your teammates will respond to the way you're playing around them. And "NBA 2K13"'s new "Signature Skills" can be purchased with the game's virtual currency, which is integrated with the career mode this year.

Conclusion

The game has all of the qualities to be a major success. Only time will tell if "NBA 2K13" will be as good as every fan is expecting, but one thing is sure, this will be the best basketball simulator ever created.

Preview : Manchester City vs Arsenal

Preview : Manchester City vs Arsenal

Lukas Podolski is in a very good shape and has already scored 3 goals this season. (Photo: Reuters/Dylan Martinez)  

   

 Just a few years ago, this match was not considered a derby, but since Sheikh Mansour bought the Citizens, they have bought some of the Gunners' most prolific and promising players. In a nutshell, the situation is something like this: Arsenal develop a young talent into a great player; Manchester City want that player and offer a great deal of money for him; Wenger's club cannot turn down the offer and sell the player. It sounds like everyone is happy, except for the fact that the sky blues are winning trophies and the Gunners are not.

      

 Nevertheless, Arsenal has started the season in great fashion, winning their last three games and conceding just one goals in the EPL, while being still unbeaten. Arsène Wenger believes in his team abilities and thinks that they can prove the doubters wrong this season : “I am very ambitious and I know that before the game starts,” said the Frenchman. “It will tell us a lot about our quality. How we handle the big games will decide how well we do in the championship. That is why it is an interesting weekend for us.

    “I have no doubt about the desire and hunger of my squad. It will just tell you how strong we are at the moment.

    “I believe we are quite strong but we have some room for improvement. All is not perfect but the signs we are giving are very good and very strong.

   “The hunger is massive in this squad. They want to do well. They are focused. They want to win. We want to continue to improve because we have many new players. It is a big test to see how strong we are.”

    There are no new injury worries for the Gunners, and the Frenchman is expected to put out a similar line-up from the Champions League away game against Montpellier. Expect Olivier Giroud to start with Lukas Podolski and Gervinho making the front three.

    The midfield trio of Mikel Arteta, Abou Diaby and Santi Cazorla have been amazing so far, and it will be crucial for them to take control of the midfield in order for Arsenal to dictate the pace of the game. Jack Wilshere also will be available to play soon, but will miss Sunday's game at "Etihad".

     Arsenal's backline coped well after the defense came under big pressure from Montpellier in the second half of their Champions League game, and City are sure to pose questions in the match at the "Etihad". Kieran Gibbs, Per Mertesacker and Thomas Vermaelen have shown great chemistry, while Carl Jenkinson is a weak link and the Blues will try to crush the gunners from his zone. Laurent Koscielny might return in the starting line-up. as well.

    On the other hand, Manchester City have started the season hesitantly, most recently losing their game against Real Madrid in the Champions League. However, the defending champions are one of the best teams in the world right now and they can win when their back is against the wall. 

    Samir Nasri will miss the game after picking up a minor knock against Madrid. That will leave one less player for Arsenal fans to boo, but the Citizens have great midfielders even without the Frenchman.

    Roberto Mancini commented on Mario Balloteli's attitude before the game, saying that he was "upset" :  "It is difficult to keep Mario happy if he isn't first choice," Mancini said. "He was upset. This is normal. I don't think any player who doesn't play in the Bernabeu is happy about it.

"Three strikers on the bench would be too much so it could be that sometimes a striker goes to the stand. But after Mario went in the stand in Madrid maybe he can play against Arsenal."

City have arguably the best backline in the Premier League with player like: Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy and  the new addition Maicon. Joe Hart will also be a very significant player to wach in Sunday's game. He made some impressive saves againt Real, but he also conceded some easy goals.

All things considered, it is the prefect time for Arsenal to make a statement and while this will not be easy at all, I think that it will happen.

Details: Sunday, September 23, 16 a.m., "Etihad Stadium" Manchester

     Expected line-ups: Manchester City: Hart, Clichy, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta, Garcia, Toure, Milner, Silva, Tevez, Aguero.

Arsenal: Mannone, Gibbs, Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Jenkinson, Arteta, Diaby, Cazorla, Gervinho, Podolski, Giroud.