The eleventh placed Blackburn Rovers will take on captain Thierry Henry’s Arsenal Football Club this Saturday at Ewood Park in Lancashire for the English Premiership at 12:15 PM EST on Saturday the 13th of January.
The Rovers are dreaming of FA Cup glory along with progress in the Premiership after an under strength Rover side humiliated Everton 4-1 in Sunday's third round tie at Goodison Park. Blackburn has been on fire lately as they have also accumulated a three game winning streak in the English Premiership by beating Liverpool and Middlesbrough at home and going on the road to defeat Wigan Athletic. Rover’s coach Mark Hughes' men have now won six of their last seven games and the Blackburn boss has every right to feel quiet confident about a prolonged run in the FA competition to which he contributed so much during his playing days. WagerWeb.com has Blackburn Rovers at +260.
Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger warned the rest of the Barclays Premiership they will see the best of Thierry Henry between now and the end of the season. The Arsenal captain returned to the Gunners and scored from the penalty spot in the 4-0 midweek win over Charlton. The French striker had missed the last seven Arsenal matches with a hamstring injury. Arsenal is listed at -120 by WagerWeb.com.
"It is good to have Thierry back and he was quite sharp for a guy who has not played for one month. He is in a good frame of mind and has come back hungry and fresh. I am convinced you will see a great Thierry Henry from now until May. We have a lot to go for." stated Wenger.
Brazilian forward Julio Baptista scored four goals as Arsenal smacked Liverpool around 6-3 in their League Cup quarter final at Anfield on Tuesday only three days after knocking them out of the FA Cup on the same ground. Both teams made nine changes from Saturday's lineups but it was the inexperienced Arsenal side that swept into a 5-1 lead early in the second half thanks to a hat trick from Baptista. Steven Gerrard inspired a fight back to 5-3 with a wonderful volley but Liverpool's late charge was ended by a fourth goal for Baptista who had managed only one previous goal since his August arrival from Real Madrid. Baptista had just been denied.
The surprising victory earned Arsenal a semi final meeting with their north London rivals the Tottenham Hotspurs and left manager Arsene Wenger smiling contently.
"I thought we had the chance to qualify but you don't expect that," he told Sky Sports. "There is an accepted character inside the club now in how we want to play the game, a great attitude and great togetherness." This of course is a major turn around from the dissent that was reported a few months ago between captain Thierry Henry and coach Wenger.
Of Baptista's special night after a difficult first five months in London, he added: "I always believed it was in there – it takes time to adapt to English football.”
It was the first time Liverpool had conceded six goals at home for 76 years and their woeful night was made worse by serious looking injuries to Chile winger Mark Gonzalez and his replacement Luis Garcia.
