Preview: West Brom V Arsenal

West Bromwich Albion holds the key for Arsenal's UEFA Champions League qualification campaign. The Gunners have been struggling in recent times. After playing a goalless draw with Chelsea, they lost to Wigan at the Emirates Stadium and drew against Norwich City at the same venue. Arsene Wenger's men must wake from their slumber if they don't want to miss out on Europe's elite club competition for the first time in over a decade. The first leg of this match ended in a three nil win for Arsenal on 5th November, 2011. Roy Hodgson will hope to finish his West Brom career with a win after he was confirmed as England's new boss earlier in the month. The last meeting between these two sides at The Hawthorns ended in a 2-2 draw in March,2011. If Arsenal should lose this match while Newcastle and Tottenham are able to gran three points each in their respective games, then the Arsenal board might be forced to take some decisive steps on the future of Wenger who is yet to win a trophy in the last seven years.

Peter Odemwingie is capable of creating a big problem for the Arsenal defence. On the other hand, Robin Van Persie can erase Thierry Henry's 30 league goal record if he can score against Roy Hodgson's men on Sunday.

Our prediction: West Bromwich 3-2 Arsenal

Hodgson is England's new manager.

Roy Hodgson has been confirmed as the new manager of the senior national football team of England, popularly called Three Lions of England. The former Fulham and Liverpool manager was earlier interviewed by the board of the English FA at Wembley on Monday and it was reported that the 65 year old man had been offered £2m per year contract that will be reviewed in 2016. Hodgson has previously managed the national teams of Switzerland, UAE and Finland. He was in charge of the Swiss team at 1994 FIFA World Cup in United States of America. He was also in charge of the United Arab Emirates squad between 2004 and 2006. Hodgson led Fulham to the final of the Europa League in 2010 before his team were beaten by a Diego Forlan inspired Atletico Madrid. His brief spell at Anfield ended in January 2011 when he failed to lead Liverpool to the top 10 on the league table. Thereafter, he was appointed by West Bromwich Albion and he has already secured their place in next season's Barclays Premier League with two games left. Some  fans of England across the world may be worried about his ability to manage top players like Gerrard,Lampard, Terry, Rooney and others. Roy couldn't handle the big names at Liverpool when he was in charge of the Merseyside club. The UEFA European Championship will be held in June and July 2012.

Roy Hodgson