Sun 7th Feb - Stamford Bridge
By James Riach Last updated: 19th November 2009
Bent: Cats confidence
Darren Bent is confident Sunderland can dispatch of Arsenal when they travel to the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
The Gunners are in fine form and come into the Premier League clash having scored 11 times in their last three outings, outclassing their opponents on a number of occasions so far this season.
Sunderland have also been a potent attacking force this term, especially at home where they have netted 15 times in six games, and Bent believes the Black Cats can pick up a result at the weekend.
"We have done well at home," he said in the Daily Mirror. "We have only lost at home to Chelsea and if we play like we can do, not too many teams can live with us.
"Liverpool found out a few weeks ago, and West Ham found out what we are all about when we were down to ten men and came back."
Bent did concede, however, that the Blacks Cats will have to be in top form if they are going to get a positive result against Arsene Wenger's side.
The 25-year-old compared the current Gunners crop to the Arsenal side that went unbeaten during the entire 2003/04 league season, and is expecting Saturday's clash to be a tough game.
He added: "They are on top, top form. They keep scoring four a game, which is unheard of.
"That is like the Arsenal of a few years back and the likes of Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Freddy Ljungberg and Dennis Bergkamp. They were giving people beatings of four and five regularly.
"It is going to be a tough game against Arsenal. They were written off for the title at the start of the season but they have shown they mean business."
Bent has been impressive so far this campaign for Sunderland and his goals tally of eight leaves him third in the scoring charts behind Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres.
England manager Fabio Capello rewarded him for his fine domestic form with an international call up against Brazil last weekend, and Bent said he enjoyed his time with the Three Lions.
"It was nice to get back in the squad and play against Brazil," he said. "It is every player's dream to play for their country, but to play against a team of the calibre of Brazil was special.
"Playing against Brazil was a spectacle. You don't realize how good they are until you play against them.
"For me Kaka was fantastic, Luis Fabiano was brilliant. They are top players and you see why they play for the likes Real Madrid."

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| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 10th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Arsenal vs Liverpool |
| Wednesday 17th February | |
| UEFA Champions League | |
| 19:45 | FC Porto vs Arsenal |
| Saturday 20th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Sunderland |
| Saturday 27th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 17:30 | Stoke vs Arsenal |
| Saturday 6th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Burnley |
| Tuesday 9th March | |
| UEFA Champions League | |
| 19:45 | Arsenal vs FC Porto |
| Saturday 13th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Hull vs Arsenal |
| Saturday 20th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 17:30 | Arsenal vs West Ham |
| Saturday 27th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Birmingham vs Arsenal |
| Saturday 3rd April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Wolverhampton |
| Saturday 10th April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Tottenham vs Arsenal |
| Saturday 17th April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Wigan vs Arsenal |
| Saturday 24th April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Man City |
| Saturday 1st May | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Blackburn vs Arsenal |
| Sunday 9th May | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Fulham |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 7th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Chelsea 2 - 0 Arsenal | |
| Sunday 31st January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Arsenal 1 - 3 Man Utd | |
| Wednesday 27th January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 0 - 0 Arsenal | |
| Sunday 24th January | |
| The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON | |
| Stoke 3 - 1 Arsenal | |
| Wednesday 20th January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Arsenal 4 - 2 Bolton | |
| Sunday 17th January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Bolton 0 - 2 Arsenal | |
| Saturday 9th January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Arsenal 2 - 2 Everton | |
| Sunday 3rd January | |
| The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON | |
| West Ham 1 - 2 Arsenal | |
| Wednesday 30th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Portsmouth 1 - 4 Arsenal | |
| Sunday 27th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Arsenal 3 - 0 Aston Villa | |
| Saturday 19th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Arsenal 3 - 0 Hull | |
| Wednesday 16th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Burnley 1 - 1 Arsenal | |
| Sunday 13th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Liverpool 1 - 2 Arsenal | |
| Wednesday 9th December | |
| UEFA Champions League | |
| Olympiacos 1 - 0 Arsenal | |
| Saturday 5th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Arsenal 2 - 0 Stoke | |
| Wednesday 2nd December | |
| Carling Cup | |
| Man City 3 - 0 Arsenal | |
| Sunday 29th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Arsenal 0 - 3 Chelsea | |
| Tuesday 24th November | |
| UEFA Champions League | |
| Arsenal 2 - 0 Standard Liege | |
| Saturday 21st November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Sunderland 1 - 0 Arsenal | |
| Saturday 7th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Wolverhampton 1 - 4 Arsenal | |
| 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 |
No matter what he did or didn't do, Geoff Shreeves says that you cannot question John Terry's mental attitude.
A look at the headlines that are making the back pages of Tuesday's national newspapers.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has hit out at the media, as he claims they keep twisting his words.
Steven Gerrard insists Liverpool want to overtake Arsenal this season and finish in the top three.
Sheffield United have confirmed the signing of Arsenal youngster Kyle Bartley.
Gael Clichy insists that Arsenal are not yet out of the title race.
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has written off Arsenal's title hopes after their 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Comments (5)
Simon O-peters (Arsenal fan) says...
I admire your courage Bent but Sunderland will need 100 beach balls to stop Arsenal from taking the 3 points on Saturday. This is not to underrate your team but we need the THREEEEEEEEEEE points more than you do.
Posted 13:55 19th November 2009
Mark Malavan (Arsenal fan) says...
Here we go again, another example of knowing when to keep quiet about how your going to beat Arsenal!!! Remember what those two losers Robbie Keane/Harry Redknapp said in the lead up to the game at the Emirates recently, about how they've got a better squad and how their going to take our place in the top four, to my knowledge I think we spanked them 3 nil that day!!! Mr Bent you've been warned and probably done Arsene Wenger's pre match speech for him.... Cheers
Posted 13:06 19th November 2009
Mark G (Stoke City fan) says...
Sunderland don't stand a chance at all, especially if Bent is playing. He's at best a Championship player and is highly over rated.
Posted 12:30 19th November 2009
Davethegooner Smith (Arsenal fan) says...
what's this twit twittering about? he should do his talking on the pitch. maybe if he had not spent his time awstruck and watching brazil the other wednesday, he may have turned in a better performance and booked a place in S Africa! plonker has won nothing, nor will he. Gunners will stuff the mackems
Posted 11:47 19th November 2009
Matt Piper (Leicester City fan) says...
any team can beat any team on bad day, but to honest i see another 3-0 or 4-0 win for the gunners. Last year they used to create 15-20 chances a game but only scoring one maybe two of those. However this year it all changed, they look more leathal in the final third, and with players like Rosisky, Fabregas and Arshavin who will stongly influence the outcome of this result. Although the Black Cats have a good home form record this year i just dont see them being winning this game and the gunners will open them up this weekend. this year they seem to have the vision of "if you score two, we will score five!". The team Wenger has created are not far off of being the next invincables! well done gunners for making football exciting to watch.
Posted 11:17 19th November 2009