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O'Neill out to derail Gunners title bid

Martin O'Neill does not hide his admiration for Arsenal, but that will not stop the Ulsterman from celebrating if his Aston Villa side derail the Gunners' Premier League title bid today.

An injury-time equalizer by Birmingham City last weekend reduced Arsenal's advantage over Manchester United to three points and on-form Villa's visit to the Emirates will provide a stern test of their title credentials.

O'Neill may have to do without key Swedish defender Olof Mellberg but he is confident that his side has the offensive weapons necessary to unsettle Arsenal.

"We have got players here capable of frightening other defenses and that is a major plus for us," he said. "We have the capability of upsetting other teams and I don't care where they are placed in the league."

Manchester United will be confident of collecting three points from their visit to relegation-threatened Fulham, and O'Neill is expecting no favors from Villa's hosts, even if they do have half an eye on next week's Champions League trip to AC Milan.

"Arsenal have been shifting their focus from the Premier League to Champions League games often, it is becoming almost second nature to them," he said. "I would love to say that they would take their eye off the ball against us, but it won't happen. They have been first or second in the Premier League all season and I don't see them taking it easy against us. That and the Champions League are two competitions that they prize greatly."

Fulham defender Brede Hangeland, who played in FC Copenhagen's Champions League win over Manchester United last season, sees no reason why he cannot repeat the experience.

"That was one of the biggest games I've played and if we could do it again it would be equally as big," the 26-year-old Norwegian said. "We played above our level and I think you have to do that to beat Man United. We'll have to do that on Saturday if we want to win. They're a fantastic side with world class players all over the field and we should look forward to the occasion. I'll do the job the manager tells me to do, if it's marking Wayne Rooney or whoever, I'll do my best."

Third-placed Chelsea, meanwhile, travel across London to West Ham United knowing that a defeat could effectively end their lingering hopes of forcing their way back into the title race and increase the speculation over manager Avram Grant's future.

The former Israel boss is under siege after his Chelsea team were out-thought and out-fought by Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup final last weekend.

But Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel believes that setback has been forgotten as Chelsea turn their attentions to the trophies still up for grabs.

"We just have to put what has happened behind us and make sure we move forward and everything from here goes well," he said. "We had a talk among ourselves as players and we know we could have done better in the cup final. It was obviously disappointing, so we have to make sure we come back victorious."

Spurs will be seeking to build on their first trophy under new boss Juande Ramos by continuing their climb up the table at the expense of relegation-threatened Birmingham City, their hosts today.

Manchester City, who have lost England defender Micah Richards for six weeks to a knee injury, entertain Wigan Athletic, but the main focus of the battle for fourth place will be tomorrow, when Liverpool are away to Bolton Wanderers and Everton host Portsmouth.
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