Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants his side to keep fighting for second place as Sunderland arrive at the Emirates Stadium for each team’s penultimate game of the Premier League campaign.
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Wenger’s men responded from last week’s disappointing home defeat to Swansea to earn a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday, keeping them two points ahead of Manchester United, and they can secure third place by beating Sunderland.
But, with Manchester City five points ahead and facing a tough game with Southampton on the final day, Wenger will not take things easy before the FA Cup
final and wants his team to keep the pressure on as they look to achieve a first top-two finish since 2005.
“We would like to finish first, but that is mathematically impossible so we need to finish as well as we can,” said Wenger, who will check on the fitness of Laurent Koscielny following the defender’s bout of flu.
“We have the possibility of taking six points, but it will not be enough if Manchester City win their last game against Southampton.
“How much chance do we have? I don’t know. The only chance we have is to win our games.”
Will @Alexis_Sanchez be jumping for joy tomorrow night? #AFCvSFC pic.twitter.com/sP9ZkTAyav
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) May 19, 2015
Sunderland are battling at the other end of the table, with the goalless draw against Leicester leaving Dick Advocaat’s side a point away from securing their top-flight status.
“Sunderland are in search of a point to be safe, so I expect them to be well organised defensively and to be sound at the back, and to try to use all the counter-attacks they can, all the set-pieces they have, to score goals,” said Wenger.
Adam Johnson could have a significant role to play for Sunderland a little more than 48 hours after the England international appeared before magistrates to face three offences of sexual activity with a girl under 16 and one of grooming.
Johnson, whose solicitor indicated at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court the player would deny all the charges, could start.
Advocaat said: “When you are in the squad, there’s always a chance you will start. Adam is a player who can do something different for us, and you saw that when he came on against Leicester.”
