WeeklySA_AdminHoodoo: Villa put the Gunners to the sword home and away last season
By Sports Reporter
Mikel Arteta is looking forward to putting The Gunners unbeaten domestic record in 2024 on the line when they head to Aston Villa – at a venue he believes is one of the toughest to get a victory at.
During their charge to the Champions League last term, the Villans beat Arsenal at home and away to account for 40% of all our league losses in 2023/24, including a 1-0 success at Villa Park last December on their last visit.
However, Arsenal return unbeaten in their last nine away games, winning eight. Impressively, Arsenal haven’t trailed for a single minute in any of those games, and could go 10 successive away matches in the competition without falling behind for the first time. But with last season in mind, Mikel knows there’s a long way to go until that becomes a reality as he goes head-to-head with his fellow Basque boss and inspiration, Unai Emery.
“It’s one of the toughest places to go for sure,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “We know that, we’ve prepared really well to understand what we have to do to go there and win the game.
“They dominate every aspect of the game, when you give them space to run they are phenomenal, when there is no space and they have to find it they can do that. In any restarts or set-pieces, they are at it, and that’s why they did what they did.
“They scored and we didn’t, it’s very simple. In two games we had an enormous amount of chances to do that, and that was the big difference. There were other details for sure which we have analysed, and we will have to do better tomorrow because they are a really good side with a good coach.
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery in his pre-match conference said his team started last week in the Premier league winning “which was fantastic, and very difficult”.
“Tomorrow we will meet again with our supporters in Villa Park last season and we are starting against Arsenal.Tomorrow is three points, a very difficult three points against one of the favourite teams this year to win the league.
“They are progressing a lot, they are improving a lot and they are being very competitive, more and more. It’s a big challenge for us tomorrow. They are favourites against us tomorrow and contenders to win the Premier League and be in the top four.
“We are excited, we are motivated, but we have to show again our capacity. If we are able to repeat with the different players, with the different ways, one year more here how we can compete, how we can face teams like Arsenal tomorrow. The challenge is motivating for us and our supporters to face them.
Sports: Briefs
BAFANA BACK IN ACTION
Tickets to next month’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Bafana Bafana and Uganda have gone on sale at all TicketPro outlets.
SAFA CEO Lydia Monyepao confirmed to safa.net that the AFCON qualifier will be played at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg, and kick off is at 18h00 on Friday, 06 September 2024.
SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan urged supporters to come out in numbers and support Bafana Bafana in the same way they have shown in the last few months.
“Ticket sales are now open, please come out in numbers and make it count in the stands. We want to continue the momentum and the amazing scenes we saw in Bloemfontein when Bafana Bafana faced Zimbabwe in June. We want to see the same at Orlando Stadium,” said Dr Jordaan.
Gates will open at 15h00 on Friday, 06 September 2024 and tickets are priced at R30 (Children, Scholars and Student), R60 for Adults, and R140 for Family (2 adults + 2 children).
BOKKE REGROUP
The Springboks got back to business in Johannesburg after a two-day break following their return from Australia for the next phase of their Rugby Championship campaign against New Zealand.
Bok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick said their focus in the next nine days was solely on producing the best quality rugby they could, to build on their encouraging start to the competition.
The Springboks will line up against their southern hemisphere arch-rivals at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday August 31 and at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on September 7, and Stick expected a completely different challenge to that which they faced against the Wallabies down under when the teams meet for the first time since the Rugby World Cup final in October last year.
“If you had asked us at the beginning of the season if we thought it was possible to get 10 points against Australia at home, we would have probably said you are joking because it’s always tough against them down under,” said Stick.
DU PLEASES MANDELA
Things came to a head on Sunday when du Plessis choked out Adesnaya in the fourth round of a close fight, marking his first title defence and further imprint South African MMA on the map.
The Pretoria native was all class after the victory, offering an apology to Adesanya for any offence, while the former champion was gracious in defeat. The pair appeared to make up post-fight in the octagon for all to see, showing mutual respect and admiration.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, a beat-up du Plessis reminded the media of the power of sport.
“Sport brings people together,” said the 30-year-old.“Our great father, Nelson Mandela, that was his biggest thing. He said, ‘sport unites people in a way that politics can never do’. And that is a fact.
SIR HAMILTON NOT ALL THAT
Lewis Hamilton has been accused of a lack of competitiveness when he doesn’t think he can win a race by his former Mercedes engineer.
The seven-time Formula One champion will end his 11-year association with the Silver Arrows at the close of the season upon joining Ferrari in 2025.
The 39-year-old is certainly enjoying a stormer of a swansong season with Mercedes, having won two of the last three races, with the most recent triumph coming at the expense of Russell who was disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s return to winning form comes after two winless seasons during Red Bull’s domination on the track where he went through a 946-day streak without adding to his record amount of race triumphs.
Philipp Brandle, who worked with Hamilton as an aerodynamics engineer at Mercedes, sensationally claimed that the F1 icon “lets himself go a bit” when he has no chance of winning a race.
He told German outlet Motorsport-Total: “What I think always sets him apart a little, both positively and negatively, is that when he knows he has a chance of winning something, he can drive at 200 per cent.
