London - Arsene Wenger insists leaders Arsenal will learn
from the mistakes of their Premier League title rivals when they face
Cardiff on Saturday.
Wenger's side head to Cardiff looking to
extend their advantage at the top of the table before the rest of the
main title challengers play on Sunday.
A win would move the
Gunners seven points clear of second placed Liverpool, who face Hull 24
hours later, but success at the Cardiff City Stadium is far from a given
for Arsenal because Malky Mackay's men have already frustrated
Manchester City and Manchester United in south Wales this season.
City
were beaten 3-2 in August, while United had to settle for a 2-2 draw
last weekend and Wenger has no intention of underestimating the
Bluebirds in Arsenal's first league fixture at Cardiff since 1961.
"They
beat City at home and they played a very good game against Manchester
United where possession was 50-50, so that is the challenge for us - to
do better than these teams," Wenger said.
"We have the warning of
their performances against the big teams, so we are in a position where
we have a difficult challenge, but also a very exciting challenge
because we can do better.
"Cardiff look to have good solidarity, good togetherness and fantastic support as well.
"Even
on Sunday when they were 2-1 down against Man United, many teams could
have thought 'okay, it is Man United, we will not come back', but you
always had the feeling that they don't give up.
"You could feel
that they would come back. They have that special attitude and belief in
the side, and that makes them dangerous."
On Sunday, Liverpool
will look to keep pace with Arsenal when they visit the KC Stadium and
Reds midfielder Jordan Henderson knows his team are under pressure to
take advantage of a relatively easy run of fixtures.
After facing
Hull, Brendan Rodgers' team play Norwich and West Ham and Henderson
said: "We are second in the league and we have to make sure we continue
in the way we have started the season.
"We have had a couple of difficult away games. I think we're doing okay but we can still improve and keep pushing on."
Third
placed Chelsea, behind Liverpool on goals scored, host Southampton,
with Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta admitting Jose Mourinho's team
need to bounce back from a lacklustre display in their midweek loss at
Basel in the Champions League.
"Sometimes it happens," Azpilicueta added. "One day you play really well, three days later really bad.
"We
don't want to have this kind of movement in our performance because
it's important to keep your balance, to play well every day.
Tottenham v Manchester Utd. Click here to bet.
S04
STU
RMA
VLD
BAY
BRA
