Arsenal take on Manchester United at Old Trafford today (Sunday) in what will always be a big game on our calendar. It is not going to be an easy game for us and many people are already writing us off saying united are going to beat us. On paper and current form, yes we may lose but we have to keep the faith.

We won in midweek against Udinese and we should carry that form this afternoon.

This coming season, we have starting a ‘Starting Lineup Predictor’ on TheGooner.com where we will try guess what starting lineup Arsene Wenger is going to put out before a game.

Today it is going to be tricky as we have a lot of suspensions and injuries.

In goal, Wojeich Szczesny will continue. Thomas Vermaelen is an injury doubt for today as he will undergo a late fitness test but I see him being passed fit for this big game. He will most likely start alongside Laurent Koscielny who is also an injury concern. Sagna should continue at left-back with Jenkinson at right-back.

In the middle of the park, we are still without Wilshere due to injury and Song and Frimpong are still suspended. We are very short of options now and this is a sign that Wenger needs to strengthen this department before Wednesday. So from what we have we may be forced to play Djourou as our holding midfielder and then have Ramsey and Rosicky alongside him. Not the best of midfields but we should be able to challenge United’s as they are not that strong in that department.

Wenger will stick with our three-pronged attack and that should be Walcott down the right, Arshavin on the left and Van Persie up-front. Gervinho is also suspended so we can not use him.

So in a nutshell, I see us playing with: Szczesny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Jenkinson, Ramsey, Rosicky, Djourou, Walcott, Arshavin, Van Persie.

Who do you think will be in the starting lineup today?

Thomas Vermaelen captains Arsenal tonight against Udinese as new club captain Robin Van Persie is suspended for the game. Nasri is also missing but i guess he is happy with this so he is not cupped tied if he moves to Manchester City. Arsene Wenger is also banned from the touchline for this match so we will have to rely a lot on what he said to the team before the game and what Pat Rice will do on the touchline.

Theo Walcott and Marouane Chamakh come into the Arsenal starting lineup. Chamakh replaces the suspended Robin van Persie in attack while Walcott starts on the right in place of Andrey Arshavin.

Team in full: Szczesny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Gibbs, Song, Ramsey, Walcott, Rosicky, Gervinho, Chamakh

Subs: Fabianski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Djourou, Arshavin, Jenkinson, Frimpong, Bendtner

I will take any win for us as long as Udinese do not score. Even 0-0 will not be a bad result for Arsenal.

Finally, we can get down to some real football now and forget about all the Fabregas and Nasri stories. We have our first game of the season on Saturday against Newcastle and there is some good new coming out of the treatment table in terms of injured players.

Wenger says:
“Van Persie and Gibbs should be available. They have a test today [Friday].”

“Walcott will be back in the squad and so will Vermaelen.”

But we will be without Wilshere and Diaby.

Wenger also said that both Fabregas and Nasri will not be in the squad to play Newcastle and this is because they are not fit enough to play! I wonder how true that is!

This is it for Arsenal! If we have any hope of winning the Premier League this season we have to beat Manchester United this weekend. United will be buzzing after their Champions League win in midweek and I see them fielding a full strength team against us as they have to win this one and then maybe rest their players against Schalke in midweek.

Arsenal simply have to attack Manchester United if we have any chance of winning. If we play to our full potential we can easily beat United. But with the way we have been playing of later, one wonders which Arsenal team will pitch up.

The Scoreboard Team seems to think that this game will end 1-1 but I think Arsenal are going to edge this one 1-0. What are your predictions?

• Its Wigan, we’re Arsenal.
• Forget the two points dropped a few weeks back, we’ve won two on the trot and we’re on home turf
• Anything less than a win will be a disaster, need to keep gap between 4th large, and keep the gap on 1st small
• If we win we will go 2nd for a short time, and maybe top if United draw
• Players have point to prove since last home game, being Leeds 1-1. They need to win back the home fans
• Their best is N’zogbia
• Our whole starting 11 is better than him
• Still no major injuries except T.V, Fabianksi and Diaby, leaving virtually a full squad to pick from.
• Will Wenger make changes, knowing what happened last time, or will he go for the easy win with a full squad.

Expected Line Up: Schezney, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Wilshere, Song, Cesc, Nasri, Theo, RVP.

Expected Score: 4-0 Arsenal

If we play our strongest 11 I can’t see a reason why we won’t BATTER Wigan (in the 8-0 region). There may be players rested for Ipswich on tuesday, which is a must win and we have a FA Cup game against Huddersfield the following Sunday, where fair to say our 2nd team MUST be able to beat them. So theres no reason to really rest a lot players, except the odd one.

Heres my predicted score and table (BBC Predictor) :

Come on the Arsenal, theres no reason why we won’t win this game

• Fa Cup 3rd Round replay at Ellen Road tommorow
• Winner will play Huddersfield at home
• Last score was 1-1 and we was fortunate to get a draw!
• Arsenal played very bad against Leeds at the Emirates, with a weakened team. Surely Wenger will put out a stronger 11 than last time…
• No injuries suffered from West Ham, so nearly a whole squad is available to choose from
• Almunia, Vermalean and Diaby definitely out, with Squillaci and Fabianski a doubt.
• Sagna expected to return to squad after serving his 3 match ban
• Leeds wont be scared of us, meaning they might come at us, leaving them open at the back.
• Even a 2nd string arsenal side should beat them, but our 2nd team has been crap recently to say the least, so expect some big players in. However also expect some changes from West Ham. Gunna be hard to guess line up.
• If we play any decent at all we should beat them. We are the Arsenal, they are Leeds.
• Maybe Miquel will start for us to give Djourou a much needed rest
• Maybe Sagna, Denilson and Gibbs to give them some playing time
• Maybe Arshavin to prove himself without being booed by home fome fans
• Maybe Chamakh over RVP to give him some time, but then again RVP looks as sharp as he once was..

Expected Line Up: Schzeny, Sagna, Miquel/Djourou, Koscielny, Gibbs, Song, Denilson, Fabregas, Theo, Arsh, Chamakh

Predicted Score: 3-1 Arsenal … Chamakh, Arshavin, Theo

What will be our approach to the FA cup this year? Whats the chances of us sticking out a 2nd string line up for all of the games, or just the games against lower opposition? Only time will tell, but we should defiantly take the trophy seriously this year, simply just from looking whats happened in the League cup. It would great to win the ‘double’ of cups after a 5 year drought.

In the pre match interview Wenger said that Gibbs and  Eboue will play, and that there will also be a lot of changes. He also confirmed that RVP and Nasri wont play after picking up slight knocks against man city. Thankfully they will recover in days rather than weeks, but even without the injuries i think they would have been rested correctly. Good to give Nasri a little break after playing near about every game so far this season. Also Kosicelny will be rested, raising questions who will partner Squillaci at centre back. Maybe Song? Even though I think Song should be rested for this game. Maybe a youth? Who knows..

It could also be a game of which Ramsey could feature. Very unlikely but  he could make the bench, and maybe be brought on to get his playing time up and bring him back to full fitness. A good game for him to be returned into the action.

The line up will likely be: Schezeny, Eboue, Squillaci, Who Knows?, Gibbs, Denilson, Eastmond, Rosicky, Arshavin, Bendtner, Chamakh

Predicted Score: 2-1 Arsenal. Chamakh and Rosicky.

Hopefully we aren’t as arrogant to think Leeds will be a punch of pushovers, but with the likes of Denilson, Arshavin and Bendtner possibly starting i hope we dont have a repeat of Wigan etc. I can see Leeds trying to make the most of every set piece they get, and with the infamous Koscielny and Squillaci partnership most likely starting, chances are they will get a scrappy goal. Up to our more experienced players to put Leeds in there place. Hopefully Rosicky and Chamakh decide to take a fucking shot.

A replay would do us really bad, cramming more replays into a fixture packed month, but nevertheless the FA Cup is certainly winnable for us. I can see Liverpool pulling off some FA Cup magic and winning against Man U.

Anyway, till next time.

A win today would put us 2nd, one point over city ,with a game in hand, and 2 behind united ,who would have a game in hand over us. The game tonight could potentially set up the league challenger for the remainder of the season, and a win tonight for us would see us do the double over City, as well as be in top form and looking good to go on and win the league. There are no injuries since Birmingham (suprisingly!) and so the line up should remain the same. However don’t be surprised if maybe RVP, Djourou and maybe Theo are rested. More likely Djourou to be rested as Man City will most likely have lone man Tevez up front on his own, but then again, they have tall midfielders who could take advantage of set pieces.

Expected line up: Fabianski, Clichy, Djourou/Squillaci, Koscielny, Sagna, Song, Wilshere, Fabregas, Theo, Nasri, RVP

Man city are without Silva and Ballotelli meaning Adebayor is most likely to be on the bench. This would also mean that they will probably set up ultra defensively and like last year maybe play for the point. Expect us to have a lot of possession.

——————- Hart——————–
–Zabaleta—Toure—Kompany—Lescott-
–Milner—De Jong–Barry —-Kolarov–
—————– Y. Toure ——————-

———————————————–

———————————————–

——————-Tevez ———————

Expected Score: 3-1 Arsenal Nasri, Chamakh, Fabregas

Other predicted scores and resulting table:

Must win tonight, 6 pointer, come on the Arsenal.

After the disappointing last minute Wigan goal, causing us to loose 2 valuable points, this game against Birmingham really could be the make or break of our season. A loss, and all the other teams around us winning, would put us back down to 4th, level on points with Tottenham. We’d be 5 points behind ManU who would also have a game to play, so potentially 8 points off the top, 5 points behind Man Shitty in 2nd spot, with us having a game in hand, and 1 point behind Chelsea. However despite all this the most worrying thing is that Spurs would be equal on points with us, and considering we have a crucial game against Man City on Wednesday, while they only play Everton, we could find ourselves three points behind them! How bad would that be..

On to the team news and Diaby has been ruled out for a few weeks with a calf injury suffered against Wigan, which got him subbed off early on. A massive blow for the player as he literally just returned from injury to play a cameo against chelsea, and got a start against wigan, yet is now injured again. I’m starting to question if we should really keep Diaby anymore as he is always injured, and even when he does play his performances are very inconsistent. One game he can win the game for us, while the next he can cost us the game.

The only other real news is that Fabregas will be able to play after missing the Wigan game due to suspension. Big boost for the team, and its very unfortunate he missed the Wigan game looking back, we lacked the flair he brings along with him. I would be very surprised if Wenger didn’t play the majority of the team that started against Chelsea, because if you look back at our record against Birmingham away we havent won there in recent years, drawing 2-2 with Eduardo breaking his leg, and then 1-1 after Almunia cocked up for their last minute goal. I dont even what to think what will happen if Koscielny and Squillaci both start with the other players that started vs Wigan. We really must win this game and show we can put the poor Wigan display behind us, because if we don’t we can kiss our title hopes goodbye. If you had looked at Chelsea, Wigan and Birmingham most of us would have taken 7 points out of them 3 games, and we can still do this. Just a shame we couldn’t pick up the other 2. A win tomorrow and then victory over Man Shitty could kickstart our season, putting us up nearer to the top with more breathing space behind.

Birmingham have a very good home record, and in the last two games played at St Andrews they have managed to take 4 points away from us. I doubt they will be scared of us, and they will defiantly try to exploit us being weak at set pieces. They are a very physical and large team, so we MUST be able to defend corners and freekicks. I can see both teams scoring, lets just hope we can get more than 1, and only let in 1 at the max.

The strongest line up would be: Fabianski, Sagna, Djourou, Squillaci, Clichy, Wilshere, Song, Fabregas, Nasri, Theo, RVP. However im sure there will be some surprises, maybe Arsh over Theo cos of his assist and goal, and maybe Denilson instead of Wilshere to give the young lad a rest. I would also assume it will be Koscielny and either Squillaci or Djourou as the 2 cb’s…

Predicted Score: 3-1 Arsenal: Fabregas Song and Nasri to score.

Other Scores Looking like this, and forming the Table:

Lets hope Fulham , Villa, West Brom and Blackpool can pull of good results! A bit too much to ask for but ill try my luck.

Come on the Arsenal..

At the start of the season most, if not everyone thought that chelsea would walk away with the league this year, and at this moment in time they are 4th, 3points off leaders Man Utd- who have a game in hand. Virtually everyone said that chelsea had by far the strongest and most in depth team in the league, but now when they are in a terrible run of form doubts have been aroused about the team and the manager. I must admit i did think they would win the league, but have always thought we have had a stronger starting 11 than chelsea, and now that i think about it i also think we have better back up than then. I think we have a lot better attackers, but they obviously have a better defence. Heres a comparison between the starting 11 of the two sides…

Fabianski v Cech: No match really here with the chelsea shot stopper winning here. Many say he is coming too old for the job, but he is only 3 years older than fabianski so our goalie cant use age as an excuse.

Sagna v Boswinga: Sagna all day for me here. Although Boswinga may be better attacking, he is shite at defending, where as Sagna is good at both.

Vermaelen/Squillaci v Terry/Alex: As a partnership chelsea win all day long, but individually Vermaelen is better than Alex. Arsenal need more bulk and ariel presence, which chelsea already have.

Clichy v Cole: Unfortunately cole, better at defending and attacking and a lot less mistake prone.

Song v Essien: However good Song has been for us, no one can deny how good and crucial Essien is for Chelsea. Even though Song does the job for us very well, Essien is better both defensively and attacking, and now that Song decides to attack more, he has lost something for the team.

Wilshere v Obi Mikel: Both very good at their jobs. Obi Mikel has hit a bad run of form while Wilshere is thriving, and Wilshere is also a lot younger with a good ability of attacking as well as playing defensively, and therefore Wilshere wins here.

Fabregas v Lampard: Both key players for teams, but no argument here… Fabregas

Nasri v Malouda: No argument here either, Malouda had good form at the start but has done fuck all recently while Nari has been top notch. Nasri all day long.

Arshavin v Anelka: Totally opposite players. Anelka works hard, but is less gifted with talent, whereas Arsh is lazy but is technical superb, when on top of his game. Both have a lot of assists. Anelka is more consistent whereas Arsh can pull of magic in a split second, but does little else all game long. Hmm a hard one..

RVP v Drogba: Two of the best strikers in the league. Both aren’t having the best of form at the moment, but RVP is still recovering from injury, whereas Drogba is struggling to score. If both were at their best i would have to edge to Drogba, as he in less injury prone, strong, super fit and still technically superb. On the other hand his more likely to die ‘cos of Malaria..

Best Starting 11: Cech. Sagna, Terry, Vermealen, Cole, Essien, Wilshere, Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, Drog        (6-5 to Arsenal)

In other news Denilson has ‘tweeted’ a few times, declaring himself to be staying at arsenal, saying these 3 things:

‘i am arsenal 4ever guys…..’

‘Will take arsenal with me to the rest of my life…….’

’4 the last time guys….. l am arsenal 2day…..2moro..and….4ever’

This should end specualtion of him leaving in January, and although i wouldnt be sad to let him go, he needs to stay in order for there to be a back up for Song. We could also bring Ramsey or Lansbury back, anf Frimpong will be returning soon, so maybe letting him go wouldnt be such a bad thing.

Caught Offside have claimed a deal has been made with Lazio for Bendnter, but this is probably complete bullocks. Bendtner needs to remain at Arsenal for when RVP gets injured so he can provide competition with Chamakh.

PreMatch on Chelsea later this week, till then …