Van Persie: Praise for Eduardo
Robin van Persie has admitted the impending return of Eduardo will be a major boost to Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger revealed earlier on Thursday that he expected the Brazil-born Croatia international to return from injury by the middle of November.
Eduardo has not played for Arsenal since suffering a broken leg against Birmingham back in February following a challenge by Martin Taylor.
He had been in fine form in his debut season at Emirates Stadium and Van Persie is looking forward to playing alongside him once again.
"He is really important," the Dutchman told Sky Sports News.
"We were all really unhappy with what happened but I think he dealt with it really well and showed a lot of maturity.
"If you look at his finishing record, we need him."
Arsenal have produced a number of sparkling displays already this season and were somewhere near they best as they swept to a 5-2 victory over Fenerbahce in Turkey on Tuesday.
However, they have also slipped to surprise defeats against Fulham and Hull in the Premier League and Van Persie accepts that it is vital to become consistent.
He said: "I think things are going really well. If you look at the game against Fenerbahce on Tuesday, a really young side played in a really aggressive atmosphere and if you look at what they did it was quite amazing.
"If you look at the past few weeks, the only thing we still need to do is be consistent in the Premier League because we have lost some points.
"But our game is so beautiful that hopefully we can win a trophy with this game this year."
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Tuesday 23rd March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | West Ham vs Wolverhampton |
| Wednesday 24th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Aston Villa vs Sunderland |
| 19:45 | Man City vs Everton |
| 19:45 | Portsmouth vs Chelsea |
| 20:00 | Blackburn vs Birmingham |
| Saturday 27th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Birmingham vs Arsenal |
| 15:00 | Chelsea vs Aston Villa |
| 15:00 | Hull vs Fulham |
| 15:00 | Tottenham vs Portsmouth |
| 15:00 | West Ham vs Stoke |
| 15:00 | Wolverhampton vs Everton |
| 17:30 | Bolton vs Man Utd |
| Sunday 28th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:00 | Burnley vs Blackburn |
| 16:00 | Liverpool vs Sunderland |
| Monday 29th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Man City vs Wigan |
| Friday 2nd April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Fulham vs Wigan |
| Saturday 3rd April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Man Utd vs Chelsea |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Wolverhampton |
| 15:00 | Bolton vs Aston Villa |
| 15:00 | Portsmouth vs Blackburn |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 21st March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 2 - 1 Liverpool | |
| Fulham 1 - 2 Man City | |
| Blackburn 1 - 1 Chelsea | |
| Saturday 20th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 2 - 2 Wolverhampton | |
| Stoke 1 - 2 Tottenham | |
| Everton 2 - 0 Bolton | |
| Sunderland 3 - 1 Birmingham | |
| Arsenal 2 - 0 West Ham | |
| Portsmouth 3 - 2 Hull | |
| Wigan 1 - 0 Burnley | |
| Tuesday 16th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Wigan 1 - 2 Aston Villa | |
| Monday 15th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Liverpool 4 - 1 Portsmouth | |
| Sunday 14th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 3 - 0 Fulham | |
| Sunderland 1 - 1 Man City | |
| Saturday 13th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Tottenham 3 - 1 Blackburn | |
| Bolton 4 - 0 Wigan | |
| Chelsea 4 - 1 West Ham | |
| Burnley 1 - 2 Wolverhampton | |
| Stoke 0 - 0 Aston Villa | |
| Birmingham 2 - 2 Everton | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 31 | 69 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 31 | 67 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 30 | 65 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 30 | 55 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 29 | 53 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 31 | 51 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 29 | 50 |
| 8 | Everton | 30 | 45 |
| 9 | Birmingham City | 30 | 44 |
| 10 | Fulham | 30 | 38 |
| 11 | Stoke City | 30 | 36 |
| 12 | Blackburn Rovers | 30 | 35 |
| 13 | Sunderland | 30 | 34 |
| 14 | Bolton Wanderers | 31 | 32 |
| 15 | Wigan Athletic | 31 | 31 |
| 16 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 30 | 28 |
| 17 | West Ham United | 30 | 27 |
| 18 | Burnley | 31 | 24 |
| 19 | Hull City | 30 | 24 |
| 20 | Portsmouth | 30 | 13 |
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