According to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, a game against Wigan is apparently just what the Gunners need in their recent poor run of form that has taken the club from bad to worse. Arsenal may have managed a 1-1 draw against potential League champions Manchester City in late March, but that does not take away the memories from the horrible 6-0 defeat to Chelsea and more recently a 3-0 disaster away to four place rivals Everton.

Whilst Arsenal’s Premier League campaign has been left in tatters and a fourth place battle looks set to commence for yet another consecutive season, the Gunner still have a chance in this year’s FA Cup competition. Currently in the Semi Finals, Arsenal are one of four clubs, the others being, Sheffield United, Hull City and our opponents this weekend Wigan Athletic. The competition offers the Gunners a chance to get away from the terrors of the Premier League and focus on a cup that we are actually so so close to winning.

Wenger told Arsenal.com: “To play in a different competition will help us to find confidence back and focus on our next game. Once you are in the semi-final you want to go through to the final. We have to acknowledge that we must go back to basics and come in much stronger in the challenges, much stronger in the way we win the ball back, before we start winning games. We have been giving easy goals away. For a long period of the season, we were strong defensively and what we did [at Everton] defensively was poor. At the moment I feel it is important to focus on the quality of our game before we dream of where we finish [in the league]. We have to come back to much better quality than we produced at Everton.”

Wenger’s comment may seem to hold some vision behind it considering that it is a completely different competition and thus a new focus however if some try to state that Wigan are an easier opponent then they may have another surprise coming their way. Anyone who is a follower of English football will know just what Wigan Athletic are capable of. They have been the master of surprise these last few years, most notably as winners of the FA Cup last season and having again beaten Manchester City in the competition this year. Now they face Arsenal at Wembley this upcoming weekend and I can be sure in stating that I am pretty certain, they’ll be laughing their socks off at what is going on with the Gunners at the moment and they will be going into this game very confident. Wigan have nothing to lose, this tie is very much up in the air despite being from different divisions in England and I would not be surprised to think that Arsenal will be more scared of Wigan than Wigan are of Arsenal.

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