Source: Team_Talk
Wenger wants Gunners to be 'clever'
The Gunners - with doubts over the fitness of Andrey Arshavin and Alex Song - have seen their Barclays Premier League title hopes rekindled following victory against Liverpool on a night when both leaders Chelsea and Manchester United dropped points.[LNB]Wenger, though, knows a two-legged European tie represents a whole new ball game, where there will be no room for another below-par performance.[LNB]Arsenal were finalists in 2006, and last season reached the semis, only to come unstuck against a rampant United side.[LNB]Wenger feels the Gunners, who cruised through the opening group phase, can produce the needed performance at the Estadio do Dragao.[LNB]"The minimum requirement is not to lose the game and be out of the tie," the Gunners boss said.[LNB]"A clean sheet will do, but we are team who will not hide - we want to play.[LNB]"However, we want to make sure defensively we are okay."[LNB]Wenger told Arsenal TV Online: "In the last 16 of the Champions League, you have to play well for 180 minutes and if you do not do that, you are out.[LNB]"It will be two ties, so let's be clever and use our experience of the Champions League to take advantage of the fact we play the second leg at home."[LNB]Arsenal have plenty of recent history to call on against the Portuguese side.[LNB]However, the Gunners are yet to win at the Estadio do Dragao - losing 2-0 last season when already qualified, but a result which cost them top spot in their group. In December 2006, the sides played out a goalless draw as both went through to the knockout stages.[LNB]Wenger accepts the club which Jose Mourinho took all the way in 2004 will be no pushovers.[LNB]The Arsenal manager said: "From the outside, sometimes you are seen as favourites, but that does not matter.[LNB]"Porto have been consistently in the Champions League and you know you will get a tough game, so I will not be surprised."[LNB]Arshavin has revealed he expects to miss the first leg in Porto because of a hamstring injury.[LNB]Arshavin picked up the injury in the midweek win over Liverpool and a scan on Thursday revealed the injury was bad enough for the Russian to miss the trip to Portugal.[LNB]But he expects to be fit for the following match with Sunderland in the Premier League.[LNB]"If all goes well, I get back on the pitch as early as the next Premier League match against Sunderland," Arshavin told Russian newspaper Sport Express.[LNB]"However, the next game against Porto in the Champions League I will miss."[LNB]With Arshavin seemingly out and Song troubled by his knee, Arsenal could welcome back striker Eduardo.[LNB]The Croatian, 27 later this month, has been hampered by a succession of niggling injuries since battling back to fitness from a broken leg.[LNB]Wenger accepts it has been a frustrating campaign for the versatile frontman, who has six goals to date, but drew a blank in his last five matches before injury against Aston Villa three weeks ago.[LNB]"Eduardo has shown signs in training that he is getting sharper again," said the Arsenal boss.[LNB]"It takes a long time to recover when you have been injured as he was, but he is getting stronger and stronger.[LNB]"It is not a worry that he does not score - I told him that, once you start to make assists, it is the same as scoring and that, for me, there is no difference.[LNB]"I said the same to Robin van Persie earlier in the season. Don't forget that, at the start of the season, Robin made several assists, but did not score.[LNB]"The goals will come - the team gives you back what you give to the team, so it is just a question of patience."[LNB][LNB] Porto v Arsenal. Click here to bet.
