By Lewis Rutledge Last updated: 20th January 2008
Wenger: Praise for trio
Arsene Wenger has paid tribute to Tomas Rosicky, Alexander Hleb and Cesc Fabregas.
The midfield trio once again combined to great effect as The Gunners kept up the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester United with a 3-0 victory over Fulham on Saturday.
Wenger admits Rosicky's style reminds him of former Arsenal wideman Robert Pires, while he feels Hleb provides Arsenal with variety.
"Rosicky is more of a Pires-type and Hleb is more for me a guy who attracts people to the ball, and then slides it through," reflected the Arsenal manager.
"Alex looks like he always slows the game down to speed it up again. He is more of a dribbler and a passer, whereas Tomas is more of the guy who is in the flow of the game, a little bit similar to Pires.
"When you have them all in there, it always looks easy and simple to play football.
"When you get that kinds of vibes out from a team, that means they are all on the same wavelength."
"At the moment, I feel we can score from everywhere - Rosicky, Fabregas they can score, Hleb maybe scores less, but he makes others score."
Manchester United and Chelsea also won over the weekend and Wenger expects the title race to go to the wire.
He said: "What is interesting now is we have 54 points, Manchester United have 54, Chelsea have 50. It looks to be very exciting.
"Last year at that period we were not in the race - this year we are highly in the race. We really want to do it."

Fulham 3-0 Burnley - Hodgson
Fulham 3-0 Burnley - Laws
Man City 2-0 Bolton - Johnson and Vieira
Portsmouth 1-1 Sunderland - Bruce
Wigan 1-1 Stoke - Martinez
Portsmouth 1-1 Sunderland - James
Portsmouth 1-1 Sunderland - Grant
Wigan 1-1 Stoke - Scharner
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 10th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Arsenal vs Liverpool |
| 19:45 | Aston Villa vs Man Utd |
| 19:45 | West Ham vs Birmingham |
| 19:45 | Wolverhampton vs Tottenham |
| 20:00 | Blackburn vs Hull |
| 20:00 | Everton vs Chelsea |
| Tuesday 16th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Stoke vs Man City |
| Wednesday 17th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Wigan vs Bolton |
| Saturday 20th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Everton vs Man Utd |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Sunderland |
| 15:00 | West Ham vs Hull |
| 15:00 | Wolverhampton vs Chelsea |
| 17:30 | Portsmouth vs Stoke |
| Sunday 21st February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 14:00 | Aston Villa vs Burnley |
| 15:00 | Fulham vs Birmingham |
| 15:00 | Man City vs Liverpool |
| 16:15 | Wigan vs Tottenham |
| Monday 22nd February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Blackburn vs Bolton |
| Tuesday 23rd February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Man Utd vs West Ham |
| Saturday 27th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Chelsea vs Man City |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Tuesday 9th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man City 2 - 0 Bolton | |
| Wigan 1 - 1 Stoke | |
| Portsmouth 1 - 1 Sunderland | |
| Fulham 3 - 0 Burnley | |
| Sunday 7th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Birmingham 2 - 1 Wolverhampton | |
| Chelsea 2 - 0 Arsenal | |
| Saturday 6th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Liverpool 1 - 0 Everton | |
| Hull 2 - 1 Man City | |
| Stoke 3 - 0 Blackburn | |
| Bolton 0 - 0 Fulham | |
| Sunderland 1 - 1 Wigan | |
| Man Utd 5 - 0 Portsmouth | |
| Burnley 2 - 1 West Ham | |
| Tottenham 0 - 0 Aston Villa | |
| Wednesday 3rd February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Fulham 1 - 0 Portsmouth | |
| Tuesday 2nd February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Hull 1 - 1 Chelsea | |
| Monday 1st February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Sunderland 0 - 0 Stoke | |
| Sunday 31st January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man City 2 - 0 Portsmouth | |
| Arsenal 1 - 3 Man Utd | |
| Saturday 30th January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Birmingham 1 - 1 Tottenham | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 25 | 58 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 25 | 56 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 25 | 49 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 25 | 44 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 24 | 44 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 25 | 43 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 24 | 41 |
| 8 | Birmingham City | 24 | 37 |
| 9 | Fulham | 26 | 34 |
| 10 | Everton | 24 | 32 |
| 11 | Stoke City | 24 | 30 |
| 12 | Blackburn Rovers | 25 | 28 |
| 13 | Sunderland | 25 | 26 |
| 14 | Wigan Athletic | 24 | 24 |
| 15 | Hull City | 25 | 24 |
| 16 | Burnley | 25 | 23 |
| 17 | Bolton Wanderers | 24 | 22 |
| 18 | West Ham United | 24 | 21 |
| 19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 24 | 21 |
| 20 | Portsmouth | 25 | 16 |
Barca had two men sent off, Robbie Keane scored for Celtic while FC Twente finally lost in Holland.
The Insider thinks Mansfield Town's novel idea could boost crowds higher up the football ladder.
A naive Arsenal slipped further out of the title race while Liverpool enjoyed a positive weekend.
Manchester City overcame Bolton, Portsmouth salvaged a late draw against Sunderland, Fulham saw off Burnley and Stoke held Wigan.
Avram Grant said his dismissal against Sunderland was a product of him 'having enough' of the club's difficulties.
Aruna Dindane salvaged a priceless point for troubled Portsmouth as they drew 1-1 with Sunderland.
Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor grabbed a goal apiece as Man City overcame Bolton at Eastlands.
Fulham claim a comfortable 3-0 victory and extend Burney's woeful away run at Craven Cottage.