Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is in a confident mood ahead of Wednesday's potential Premiership decider with Manchester United at Highbury, insisting that his side are more than capable of seeing off United.
Wenger watched his side progress to the final of the FA Cup final yesterday and keep alive hopes of a second succesive league and cup double - and immediately he turned his toughts to Wednesday's showdown: "We can beat them - it has happened before," he said, referring to last season's title clinching 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.
"We will need a good defensive performance and also we want to create more chances than we did against Sheffield United. But I believe in my players. We have lost just one more game this season than at the same stage last season. We have only lost away to Blackburn since December, we are fighting for the championship for the third year running and we are in the FA Cup final for the third year running, so we deserve the credit," Wenger added.
Arsenal did not come away from yesterday's semi-final unscathed though. Captain Patrick Vieira is only rated as 50-50 for the Highbury clash, although Thierry Henry is expected to start after coming on for 30 minutes yesterday.
Manchester United also have injury worries ahead of the crunch match. John O'Shea is expected to miss the game after clashing with Alan Shearer during United's 6-2 drubbing of Newcastle on Saturday. Roy Keane could also miss out, after he was substituted in the same game with a dead leg. United boss Alex Ferguson said: "It's the biggest game of the season now, no question. We are set up nicely and we have got to the position I hoped some months ago we would get to. So it's truly down to ourselves now."
Filed by Rob Wright
