Gilberto and Diaby - what's going on? Defensive cover...

Yes, Gilberto played a part in the goal but before that he was awful. He did not put in a performance like he has done in his career and in the end we lost the midfield battle. Diaby played some part in this and here I will look at both of them in a bit more detail.

Gilberto let Jenas run through the middle to score a tap in and if you see the highlights and replay from behind the goal you see Gilberto jogging back with his arm pathetically in the air asking for an offside against Robbie Keane when he went clean through. One of the basic rules in football is to play to the whistle and deal with it afterwards. Had Gilberto tracked Jenas we may not have been one goal down. Senderos did the same thing here but that was Phil's only real mistake in the game.

Every pass Gilberto seemed to make that was going more than 2 yards went astray. I lost count of the times the crowd were groaning when put a pass off target. He played the odd neat one-two with Denilson but to be honest they were not nescessary. When he tried to play a longer pass or more difficult pass, I cannot recall anything coming off until our goal.

He was muscled out easily and never really got close to Berbatov when he dropped into the space in front of the back 4. Gllberto's job last night was to protect the inexperienced defence but in the space between midfield and defence there was a gaping hole that Gilberto was not filling. He was too slow over the pitch and looked like a man with a zimmerframe, im afraid in a team full of kids, Gilberto looked like the ageing grandad..

You could see Wenger on the touchline. He had gambled on playing Gilberto with no real midfield experience on the bench. Countless times he turned his back in frustration and flung his arms in the air in disbelief. What has happened to Gilberto over the last few months? Last season many had him as their player of the season. Had Fabregas, Rosicky or Hleb been on the bench they would have been on. He gave no springboard to Denilson and no protection to the back four, he is not helping the team on either front as Diarra did in the last round.

The midfield needed a dominant force in there like Flamini and we did not get it at all. Diarra showed it at Blackburn and Flamini has all season, our team looks far stronger with a more imposing player in the centre of the park . Don't get me wrong, Djourou, Diaby had shockers too but to say Gilberto had a good game - as I have heard! - is not right. He had two good moments all game. If you are a striker and anonymous for 89 minutes but get a goal its not so bad, your job is to score after all.

IF youre a central midfield player and playing in a hard fought London Derby, in a semi final your passing has got to be good for almost all of the game, especially the easy passes, you have to battle hard and dominate the area around you. Gilberto had to help a young back four but left too much space Berbatov expolited over and over again. The rumours that Diarra will leave worry me as we are losing a massive talent in my eyes and keeping a man that will be sold in the summer surely.

I have stressed the importance of passing accuracy, especially in the midfield of a team like Arsenal. Diaby on the other hand does not seem to want to pass it. Wenger contiunes to use Diaby on the left as he cannot fit him into the centre. The problem is that he cannot play out on the left. Rosicky can do this job as he will go at players with pace, use his left foot and link play well with clever passing and movement. Diaby seems to just turn in circles while the ball does not once touch his left foot. Only when he finally realises he is going absolutely nowhere does he pass the ball and it is always back. A left sided player better with his right foot must be able to use his weaker foot, get to the byline at times and go at the full back.

If Wenger wants Diaby in the side he should have him alongside Denilson. These two had played in the other Carling Cup games, as had Kieran Gibbs. I would like to have seen Gibbs out on the left for some natural width, especially with the height of Bendtner in the middle. Wenger wanted to stick with the young players for the tie so why play Gilberto in the centre of midfield over someone who had played at Ewood Park in Diaby.

Lastly, Wenger revealed fresh injuries to Djourou, Van Persie and Senderos. Thank god Van Persie's was only flu though. He should not have started in place of Eduardo and had he picked up a knock it would have unbelievable. Djourou could be out for a few weeks and that leaves us with Gallas and Senderos as natural centre backs. Justin Hoyte played there last night and did well in my eyes but he is naturally a right back, same with Sagna and right now I wouldn't trust Gilberto in any position. With Senderos's tendancy to get a red card when given an extended run in the team and Gallas proneness to injury I am worried. We could have no real experience if the skipper is out.

So what can Wenger do. He can either bring in a real quality centre-back who will be here for years to come and fight Toure and Gallas for the centre back position. Many will point to Micah Richards as this man but it is an unlikely buy for this window. Any suggestions? Another option is to bring in a player on loan. This works for me. It means that when Toure and Song return, we do not have an influx of centre backs. We do not need someone who is eligible to play in Europe as Toure will be back before the AC Milan first leg. Again, any suggestions?

Arsenal vs Tottenham - the rematch...same again please

This time last year Arsenal went to White Hart Lane in the semi-final of the Carling Cup. Wenger gambled with his youngsters and we went 2-0 down before half time. It seemed an uphill task for us to come back but nothing phases this young side and they fought brilliantly to come back to 2-2 and maybe could and should have won the game.

That result provided a springboard for the second leg and we brought them back to the Emirates with an advantage and a psychological advantage. We dominated the game but due to our wastefulness in front of goal Spurs took it to extra time. Wenger called on the experience on the bench and we were able to finish them off. This year, the youngsters are a year younger, many of them played in the final and will want to go one better and win the competition this year. The first step to this is winning this double header.

Last year the tie should have been finished in 90 minutes but we missed too many chances. This year however we have a man in lethal form. Eduardo has scored 6 goals in his last 4 games and his 4 goals in this season's Carling Cup has shown his pedigree. It is amazing to think he is one behind our top scorer Adebayor in all competitions and this is amazing after he has hardly played in the first team before January. Wenger's 6 month settling in period seems to have worked, again!

Spurs have conceded 11 goals in 5 games and this tells us something. Tomorrow we will be up against a leakiy defence and with someone like Eduardo in our team we can take real advantage of this. 5 of the goals came from set pieces which shows another key weakness. We saw in the Premier League games this season that they are susceptible from corners and free kicks. Our first goal in the 3-1 win came from a free kick which Adebayor headed home. Our winner at home came from some slack marking that gave Bendtner the room to head home the winner. We have Senderos, Djourou and Diaby to add height to our attack in this area and we have to make these count.

They may have conceded an awful lot of goals but they have scored 15 goals in their last 5 games, an average of 3 goals per game. This shows us that the defence has a key role to play tomorrow night. Spurs are a threat going forward as they showed at the Emirates a month ago and in particular Dimitar Berbatov who is going through a real purple patch. He has scored of the 15 goals and played a big part in an awful lot of the others. He will need to watched carefully throughout and we cannot afford to grant him space similar to that he got in the last game against Spurs.

In the Carling Cup so far it has been Senderos and Song at centre back but with Song at the African Cup of Nations I was interested to see what Wenger would do. He had two options: 1. Bring in Gallas to add experience to the back four or 2. Bring in Djourou now he is back from loan. Personally, I would have played Gallas as it would have been good to have an old head amongst a very young defence. It seems however Wenger has opted for Djourou:
"Johan Djourou and Phillippe Senderos will start" Arsene Wenger (arsenal.com)

Wenger has once again opted for the youngster over experience. Djourou has come back from regular first team football and Wenger will want to play him as well. Him and Senderos have played together at full international level and know each other's games. They will have to work together to keep Tottenham out and Djourou has shown promise before. Now is a massive chance to show it. Senderos is prone to the odd error and with Berbatov a player likely to punish this, Djourou will need to be concentrating 100%, same goes for Big Phil.

Justin Hoyte and Armand Traore will have a difficult job against Malbranque and Lennon. Lennon is one of the best wingers in the league and has tormented many a left back. Traore has shown real promise in this competition and put in some great performances. However, on Sunday he was awful, there is no other word for it. It will not encourage many gooners but I think the pitch did not help. Both full backs will need to try and force the wingers back towards their own goal.

Theo Walcott will probably start on the right - illness prevented him starting at Blackburn - and he needs to get at Lee. He is at his best when he is positive and tries to beat his man. He will need to track back and help Hoyte at times though. Full backs can often get isolated 2 vs 1 and our wide midfield players have a job defending our goal as well. Diaby did not do this on Sunday and left Traore against his man and the full back at times. Diaby needs to be told how important that job is, especially with Lennon up against Traore.

There will be a real battle in the centre of midfield with Jermaine Jenas and Zokora up against Diarra and Denilson. Diarra was awesome in the last round and hopefully he can repeat this level of performance. The Diarra situation is up in the air and if we want to keep him we must play him. I have stressed the importance of keeping him as he can be a real big player for us in the near future. He needs to get in and around Jenas to stifle the attacking threat and if he can dictate the tempo and win this battle it could be key. Denilson can hopefully be given freedom if Diarra plays well and he can be a real creative source.

I have touched on Edaurdo's lethal finishing and eye for goal. We have seen it at Everton, Blackburn and Burnley in which he has grabbed 5 goals. In all of these he has played with Bendtner and their partnership seems to be blossoming well. Edaurdo is important, we all know that, but the Dane has a big job tomorrow. Spurs have had big strikers cause them problems and Bendtner will need to dominate the aerial battle and create space for Eduardo to do his stuff. He has the ability to punish teams if given the chance and he is a massive threat at set pieces. He will need to improve his performance from Sunday but if he gets another goal (or two) I will be happy.

Van Persie is fit Wenger has revealed. About time, it's been so bloody long. He was a doubt around mid February and has been out for around a month. He will be on the bench it seems. The same goes for Rosicky and Fabregas who were rested completely for the Burnley game. Wenger will more than likely call on their experience at some point. Whether this is to change the game in our favour or close it out, that will depend on the job the team does up until they are called upon.

==================Fabianski===================
J.Hoyte======Djourou=======Senderos======Traore
Walcott======Diarra=========Denilson=======Diaby
============Bendtner=======Eduardo============
Subs: Mannone, Gilberto, Rosicky, Fabregas, Van Persie

Burnley 0 Arsenal 2 - job done - now the Carlng Cup

After Oldham knocked out Everton, Coventry beat Blackburn and Huddersfield embarrased Birmingham, the game against Burnley always had the potential to be a banana skin tie. The pitch was awful, the conditions not much better and the atmosphere electric - maybe what one might call a traditional FA Cup tie. Wenger went with a second string similar to those sent out by Everton and Birmingham and to be honest we got away with it. However, this is the 3rd round of the cup, the tie was a tricky one and we got through it with a 2-0 victory, despite Burnley being the better side, they just couldn't break us down.

The difference between the two sides was quality in front of goal. This was exemplified after only 10 minutes. In the 2nd minute Lafferty hit the bar from a free header and within minutes Eduardo was sent clear by a fine pass from Toure, before almost walking the ball in. The guy is just so calm in front of goal, it seems he will score everytime he is put through on goal; when he missed later on he looked gobsmacked; that can only be a good thing. It says something that he is only one away from being the joint top scorer for us this season. This is what Burnley did not have in their side.

Their early chance came from some rather sloppy defending. Senderos was beaten to the ball from his lack of pace, Toure was caught on the wrong side of his man, leaving Sagna on the cover. The full back had lost his man and had Lafferty been slightly more accurate, the game would have been very different. From then on though the defence was fantastic. On many occasions this season we have shown grit and determination and today was no different.

I have been worried about this day for a while; the day Toure goes off to the African Cup of Nations. He showed today how much we will miss him with an awesome display; he led the back four brilliantly and made some crucial interventions. I was interested to see how Senderos would cope in a tricky tie such as this one and I have to say I was impressed. He dealt with everything in the air and his positioning countered his lack of pace; after his early lapse that is. The real question is whether he can show the same ability against Premiership strikers who will pose a far bigger threat than Burnley's attack. Tuesday will give us a clear indication of what to expect as Tottenham will have a full strength side out, a big performance will be needed from Big Phil.

Otherwise, Wenger may go for Djourou, who was on the bench today, alongside Gallas. He has good pace and is decent in the air; he is actually very similar to Toure. He has played in the Premiership for half a season and this may have come about due to Wenger's thoughts of using him in this period. Wenger could plunge him into the side on Tuesday but I reckon he will plump for the experience and leadership of Gallas now Song has gone for a month. Senderoes is always prone to the odd red card, Gallas the odd injury as shown in their Arsenal careers, Djourou will be ready to come in.

Whoever takes his place - Djourou, Senderos, even Sagna - at centre back will have a tough job to fill Kolo's boots. He showed today his importance at the back, but also his ability to bring the ball out from the back and start attacks. He made Edaurdo's goal with a sublime ball over the top and we have seen him do this throughout his role as a centre back in our defence. I hope Ivory Coast don't do too well n the next few weeks, although I know how much it means to the Ivory Coast players to win such games.

We play Birmingham (h), Fulham (a), Fa Cup 4th round (tba), Newcastle (h), Man City (a), Blackburn (h). That takes us up to the 11th of February, the day after the Final in Ghana. Wenger will want Toure back asap after this as we play Milan on the 20th. Hopefully the squad we have can get through these fixtures ok.

One player I will not miss this month is Emmanuel Eboue. He was awful today; his passing, shooting and movement were all not up to standard. From the moment he blasted a shot inches wide of row Z, I thought: "here we go again". He gave the ball away on countless occasions and failed to deliver a good cross of note all game. Hopefully Hleb or Walcott can come in and lay down their bid for his place in the team; that may cause him to buck up his ideas on his return.

I have to say, Traore also had a bit of a nightmare at left back. There is no doubt the guy is a fantastic talent but the pitch today called for sensible football, something we did not see from the frenchman. He was trying to be too clever on what was an awful pitch and when the ball needed to go long from our own area he tried to play his way out of trouble on far too many occasions. It is a good learning experience for him but a better performance will be required on Wednesday night. Diaby did not track back enough to help him but had some good moments going forward. He went past players a few times well but his passing was sloppy at times.

It was interesting to see the performances of Lehmann and Gilberto considering their positions at the club. Lehmann has been far more outspoken regarding his lack of playing time, but both have been out the side for an awful long time. Lehmann did what he had to do well, although he was rarely threatened with anything difficult after the early header. I feel he will be off soon if a good enough offer comes in, otherwise he will be here till the summer. Gilberto, as Wenger has said, is a model professional and will always give 100% when called upon. He has looked sluggish when he has come on at times this season but looked assured today. His passing was solid and he made some good interceptions. My only worry is how off the pace he has looked when called upon and the lack of drive and urgency in his game, something Flamini and Diarra have shown. He is definitely the Burnley fans' no.1 player right now!!

I mentioned Diarra but what's going on with him? Surely he would have been in the 16 man squad if Wenger wanted him to stay. He remains free to play in the FA Cup should he move on to an English side. Personally, I think we must keep him at Arsenal. He has done very well when he has started and in the Blackburn in particular he was amazing, dominating the midfield against a top Premier League side. Unless Wenger is considering using him a lot more in recent weeks I feel he might be off. He will play against Spurs but so will Traore, Senderoes, Eduardo etc. Due to his importance in the Carling Cup side, maybe Wenger wants him 100% ready, but for me there is something more to it. Hopefully he has been left out while his future is decided and Wenger can persuade him to stay.

I have mentioned Eduardo already and his calmness in front of goal but to expand it further, I call on people's reaction when he went clean through. I knew he would score the first and was so excited when Bendter played him in during the second half. That is the sureness in the Croation to hit the back of the net. I was as surpirsed as he was when he missed and that bodes well for the rest of the season. I bet many more fans felt the same??? He also showed his passing game has come on leaps and bounds. It took him time to settle into the side but today he was coming short to link play, no more effectively than when he cut the defence wide open for Bendtner to score. That partnership has come on very well which is pleasing. With Van Persie out, Adebayor a doubt, it is good these two are playing well together. In games together they have scored many goals:

Burnley 0 Arsenal 2 - Eduardo x1, Bendtner x1
Arsenal 4 Everton 1 - Eduardo x 2
Blackburn 3 Arsenal 2 - Eduardo x 2
Sheffield United 0 Arsenal 3 - Eduardo x2
Slavia Prague 0 Arsenal 0
Sevilla 3 Arsenal 1 - Eduardo x1
Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 - Bendtner x1

They have started together in 7 games together and scored 10, 2 for Bendtner and 8 for Eduardo. I know Eduardo has scored far more but Bendtner has played a part in a lot of these goals and the partnership is blossoming well for us.

Today Bendtner was not brlliant, pretty poor actually, but he took his goal well and had a few good moments when he linked up with Edaurdo. In the first half he was anonymous; he came short a few times but lost the ball most of the time. He had one great effort; creating a chance from nothing with an acrobatic overhead kick. The second half was similar as he came short a few times only to lose the ball. He played Eduardo through after some neat build up play between the two but summed up his afternoon shortly after. The ball was laid off by Eboue and the ball ran to Bendtner. He swung, missed the ball and ended up with mud on his arse. The pitch did not help but the whole thing was a disaster. As I said though, he got a goal after a brilliant run in behind and if he can get a goal in the middle of a poor performance, that is a good thing surely.

This team will be almost identical to the one that lines up against the enemy on Wednesday with a few changes.
All that is left, is to say goodbye to Toure and Eboue - good luck, I guess... (Id rather they were back soon) but it would mean a lot for them to win. Winning the competition would boost their confidence further which can only help us. Kolo, we will miss you, Eboue, not so much. Good luck Song, your career is turning around and this will give you even more experience.

What’s your best match of 2007?

2007 has been an indifferent year for Arsenal. We have won nothing but got to the Carling Cup Final. This season we are top of the table due to a fantastic end to 2007. We have seen some brilliant matches, both home and away. Here are a selection to vote for:

1. Arsenal 7 Slavia Prague 0 (Champions League 07/08) - This match saw us play some of the best Football I have watched live. Some brilliant attacking football led one commentator to say it was "Football from another planet". Two goals each from Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas, along with an own goal and one from Alex Hleb and Bendtner led to a thumping win in the group stages. We have won 7-0 on two other occasions in recent seasons but this was something special.

2. Arsenal 2 Manchester United 1 (Premier League 06/07) - This was one of the best turnarounds for a long time in a big game like this. Probably the first moment of real history in the new stadium and the first time the ground and the atmosphere felt like home. 1-0 down with 10 minutes go, Van Persie and Henry scored a goal each to raise the roof. "A great man (Henry), produces a great moment for Arsenal" was shouted from the commentary box.

3. Arsenal 3 Spurs 1 AET (Carling Cup 06/07) - After the youngsters drew 2-2 away at Spurs in the first leg with a brilliant comeback, the second string produced another great performance to see off a full strength Tottenham side. Arsenal had the chances to finish the game off in normal time but the away team levelled after Adebayor gave us the lead. With a few senior players thrown in, the tie was won in extra time and we were through to the final after Rosicky sealed the win.

4. Manchester United 0 Arsenal 1 (Premier League 06/07) - Man Utd were the clear favourites as Van Persie and Henry were ruled out. However, with a 5 man midfield, Arsenal kept the ball very well and had the better of the chances. After Gilberto missed a penalty Adebayor slid the ball into net after Fabregas’ fantastic pass. Cesc ran the midfield and was the clear man of the match. A brilliant team performance against the odds.

5. Blackburn 2 Arsenal 3 AET (Carling Cup 07/08) - The second team played Blackburn’s first team off the park in the first half and deservedly went 2-0 up through two great goals from Diaby and Eduardo; it could have been more! Blackburn were back in it just before half time with a dubious goal. They equalised soon in the second period but the youngsters held on and even though they were down to 10 men got to extra time. Many thought Blackburn had the legs and experience to win the tie but Eduardo’s second cool finish of the night put us through.

6. Reading 0 Arsenal 4 (Premier League 06/07) - Wenger agreed that it was one of the finest performance from an Arsenal side under him and it was nearly perfect. Some of the Football played was fantastic and 4-0 flattered Reading. Goals from Henry x2, Van Persie and Hleb gave us the victory but it was the football played throughout the 90 minutes that made this game so special.

7. Liverpool 3 Arsenal 6 (Carling Cup 06/07) - 3 days after beating Liverpool 3-1 in the FA Cup, the second team went there and were 4-1 up at half time. The game was end to end and took so many twists and turns. Baptista got 4 goals, something he never looked like doing in an Arsenal shirt and we ran them ragged. At 5-3 it looked like Liverpool might stage a comeback but that was short lived when Baptista killed the tie. Maybe the most crazy game of 2007?

8. Arsenal 6 Blackburn 2 (Premier League 06/07) - Having gone 1-0 down so many times that season before this game, it was brilliant to be 3-1 up at half time. Blackburn made it a game again at 3-2 before Van Persie killed the match with 2 quick goals. There was still time for Cesc to humiliate Savage - always fun - and the scoreline was emphatic.

9. Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2 (Carling Cup Final 06/07) - A wierd one to put in some might say due to the result. However, there is a reason the Arsenal fans were still singing after the final whistle. The young team had done us proud against the reigning Premier League Champions who were at full strength. We took the lead and really should have won the game, and would have, had Didier Drogba not been on the pitch.

10. Blackburn Rovers 0 Arsenal 2 (Premier League 06/07) - After some rather annoying antics from Robbie Savage, Gilberto was given his marching orders and the already difficult task was made harder. Toure gave us the lead with an awesome header which came from a gigantic leap. From then on, the team battled hard and the midfield in particular was brilliant. The victory was topped off by a real lesson in how to counter attack. Henry beat 4 men before combining with Fabregas to score a sublime goal.

These are just some of the games I could have put.

Please, Jens, make up your mind! Other dealings in the window? Update...

What's going on with Jens Lehmann? The man has demanded first team football but has rightfully been kept on the bench due to the magnificent form of Manuel Almunia. In his reign as Arsenal's no.1 the Spainiard has been in fine form. I call it a reign due to the battle that Lehmann seems to have made out of the situation. Some of the things he has said are surely detrimental to the club and I would expect all players in the squad to support one another, Lehmann has done the exact opposite.

We have not heard Gilberto slagging off Flamini for taking his place in the team and all the squad seems to be behind one another. If someone has a problem with a lack of playing time then they take it up with the manager, not with their team mates. Lehmann, for me, has gone about it completely the wrong way and will soon be off. What surprises me though is his reluctance to leave for Borussia Dortmund who were rumoured to have called a press conference for this afternoon, to unveil the 'keeper. However, reports suggest he has turned down their contract offer of £15,000 below his current weekly wage. (I hope he did not swerve off the road when he heard the offer!) If he really wants first team football then why has he turned down the offer? He clearly does not care that much.

Maybe he wants to stay till the end of the season, just to wind up Wenger and Almunia that little bit more? I don't know, I have rarely understood the man! Surely he should not play on Sunday with his future up in the air?
Should Lehmann leave this window, Wenger has the decision to make regarding bringing in another keeper. Every team needs 3 goalies in the squad. Wenger has said he would prefer Lehmann to stay here, I feel this dilemna is a reason why. He would prefer time over the summer to make a decision on Almunia's future as no.1, or Fabianski's progress. He would rather have a prolonged period to decide whether to bring in a new 1st choice keeper or just a 3rd choice in the role similar to the one of Mart Poom last year. Should he have to make the decison now, would you go for a top class keeper to be 1st choice, or trust Almunia and Fabianski for this season at least? Fabianski is definitely the long term option and for now Almunia deserves to remain as no.1. The question lies over his future as our no.1. He could promote Mannone to 3rd choice. He has a few options to consider.

Another interesting story is that of a reported bid from Tottenham for Lassana Diarra. For me, Diarra should stay. He should be first choice to replace Flamini should he get injured or need a rest. Gilberto, in my view, is no longer needed by Wenger. Alongside Vieira, his simple game was very effective; he could intercept the ball and break attacks up easily as the Frenchman added fight to the midfield. When Paddy moved on and Cesc took his place the team lost strength and teams bullied Arsenal. Since Flamini came in to the team, this has changed and we have seen the difference this season. He gets in the faces of teams and gives them no time to settle on the ball. He helps the defence but aids our attacking play with the freedom granted to others like Fabregas.

Gilberto, I feel helps neither aspect of our game and should be first to go before Diarra. It would be a real shame to lose Diarra. We saw against Blackburn in the Carling Cup, the way he controlled the game in midfield. He pressured their players every time they got the ball and his passing was assured. He has done it in other games but in that match he really shone. He has a big future here if Wenger can persuade him to stay. He offers the same thing Flamini does in his fight and drive, if Gilberto has to go to make room for him then so be it.

Talking of Flamini - when is he going to sign that new contract? He can legally talk to other clubs now.

One thing I would like to draw people's attention to is the return of Kerrea Gilbert to Arsenal from his loan at Southend. This is either a move similar to the one made by Matthew Connolly in which he will very soon be sold on. However, one possibilty I thought of was the defensive cover in central defence. I remember Wenger mentioned Sagna's ability to play all across the back four, including central defence. With Kolo Toure and Alex Song both off to the African Cup of Nations, Wenger might be considering using Sagna, or even Justin Hoyte as a centre back this month. That would leave room for a 2nd choice RB in the squad for now and Gilbert could well be back to do this job. Something to keep your eyes on perhaps?

The January transfer window has opened but most teams have remained quiet so far. In past years Wenger has bought the odd player. Jose Reyes came in at this time, Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor and Abou Diaby were all brought in during one window. Will he open up the chequebook this time around an who would you guys want to come into the side? People have mentioned the need for defensive cover but once Toure and Song return, we would have too many players in this position. We could get someone on loan, but who? Do people still think we need a natural winger to boost this squad? Who would you want brought in? Also, what price do you realistically think we would have to spend on these players?

The team for Burnley in the FA Cup will consist of first teamers, due to the fact Wenger is resting his youngsters for the semi-final against Tottenham. Only Arsenal would do such a thing with these two cup-ties coming up in the next few days. Toure and Eboue will play their farewell games, for 6-8 weeks at least. Is it bad to wish for an early exit for the Ivory Coast? It is another chance for Diarra to show his worth, that before another chance on Wednesday. Denilson and Diaby are in the same positon and I hope they all come through unscathed. Fabregas the King has previewed the game in more detail but my team would be:

====================Fabianski===================
Sagna=========Senderos======Toure=========Traore
Eboue=========Diarra========Denilson=======Rosicky
=============Bendtner=======Eduardo=============

Hleb is injured again - I swear this guy's bones are the weakest I know. He played 10 minutes on new years day and he is ruled out. What's going on there? Hopefully it is just a precaution. Maybe David Beckham is hoping to play for us on th right and has injured Hleb now that he will take his place back on the right of midfield? Just a thought. One thing Beckham can do, is improve the set piece takers in our team; other than Van Persie.

Arsenal 2 West Ham 0 - Still top into the new year - now the Cups.

You have all read what the goal was like and as I mentioned last time, it seems the flag stationed at one point in the Emirates: "I Arsene we trust" really must be adhered to. He said Eduardo would come good in the second half of the season and in this period already has 3 goals in 2 games and 3 brilliantly taken goals at that. It really does seem he needs only a sniff to get a goal.

Another aspect of the opening goal I want to draw your attention to was the link up of Rosicky and Fabregas. When Hleb and Cesc were both out, many relied on the Czech to be the creative man in midfield. He did struggle without these two in the side but it seems when there is a combination of these players in the team, they seem to find each other with such fluency. Against Tottenham, Rosicky picked out Fabregas' run through a packed midfield. Against West Ham he did the identical thing, giving the Spaniard time and space to pick out Eduardo.

Fabregas has had a bit of a dip in form recently but yesterday went some way to finding his best. His passing was much better and he got forward more. He seemed to be holding back too close to the back four for me and needed to bring Arsenal forward. In the 4-5-1 I felt he was almost forced back with Hleb in the space behind the striker but with two strikers he was freed up a little bit more. What pleased me though was to see Flamini bursting into the box early on and pushing on towards the opposition penalty area, while being disciplined in his covering of the defence.

The 4-4-2 formation leaves us a bit more open in the midfield and when teams line up as West Ham did, they do have the extra man in midfield. There will be times when the opposition have the ball and to be honest we have to deal with this. We should not be under immense pressure at the back if the defence is playing well. Toure and Gallas are good enough to stifle one striker and apart from a few sloppy errors from them, they were pretty effective in their work.

The benefits of a 4-4-2 are clear for me. With two strikers, in particular Eduardo who likes to push onto the last defender and get in behind the back line, we are much more potent. Adebayor came deep as Van Persie normally does. This gave him the opportunity to link play with everyone in the midfield, whether it be Eboue on the left side, Cesc in the middle or Rosicky on the left. He can come deep and we still have a dangerous front man in the box for an early cross or through ball. When we have played with the one striker, that man has been increasingly isolated and lots of possesion has failed to be turned into goals, now goals are coming back and with Eduardo and Ade in form I call on Wenger to keep faith with this in the next couple of weeks.

With Sagna rested I was interested to see how Justin Hoyte played. There has been much speculation over his future at Arsenal but after yesterday's game he has two more games to show what he can do; for me he will start the FA and Carling cup ties in the next week. He did ok at right back against West Ham without standing out. He stuck to his defensive duties well and got forward a few times. He must improve his crossing from yesterday but I think he was a bit rusty as his chances have been limited. He has a lot of work to do to dislodge Sagna who has been fantastic this season but he is a more than capable back up. He loves this club and is a valuable squad player to have. Plus he's English!!!!

Clichy was brilliant again and it was nice to see some marauding runs from Gallas. With Toure off the African Cup of Nations soon, Gallas will have the job of bringing the ball out of defence as Kolo has done for so long. We will miss Toure so much and as his departure bears ever closer I am getting even more worried. I am not sure over Senderos and Wenger has the decision to make as to whether to open up the chequebook this month.

Eboue had become the most frustrating player to watch over the last few matches; his predictable dribbling, poor passing and lack of effort were really starting to annoy fans but he played better against West Ham. With Wenger moving back to 4-4-2 he knows his place is under threat with Hleb having to move back to a wider position and he seems to have a hunger now to remain in the team. Yesterday. he went past players with ease and his crossing was much better. He did go down easily at times but overall was much stronger on the ball, linked well with his team mates and took up some dangerous positions, both out wide and through the middle. I did like his dance with Ade too!

The last player to look at is Adebayor. It is brilliant this guy will not be off to Africa after Togo failed to qualify. I hope people realise how good that is for this team. Bendtner showed against Everton that he is not ready to start yet and with Van Persie out it is so important he is here. His partnership with Eduardo is developing well and when Van Persie gets back, we have a very exciting trio of strikers who can all start the game and score goals. Yesterday Ade linked play and showed some sublime skill even his team mates failed to read at times, but his power, control and drbbling stood out. He is second in the Premier League scoring charts with 12, already more than last season I believe. How he got the ball in from the angle he was at I still do not know, I guess when you are playing well, those things go your way, keep it up Ade and lets see a first Champions League goal in an Arsenal shirt very soon!

I would like to finish off by extending Fabregas the King's request for a song for Eduardo by setting the challenge of finding chants for Eboue, Hleb, Clichy, Flamini and Sagna. These played are all first team players but none of them have chants at all, or ones that are sung/known by fans. We will get suggestions sent to RedAction and hopefully get them sing soon. The atmosphere was not brilliant but I will put that down to many a new year hangover, I heard many fans complaining of such, I may have been nursing a slight one too and was not up for a massive roar constantly in my ears. Against Tottenham next week we will see a proper atmosphere once again.

4-4-2 is better - Everton 1 Arsenal 4

Fabregas the King and I both commented on the issue of formations before the game. My view was that 4-4-2 suits us far better than a 4-5-1, especially domestically. We had struggled against Chelsea, Spurs and Pompey with this set up but had managed to scrape 7 points from these games. However we had played some poor football. There was no doubt the team had to find its slick passing game again and we struggled to make chances in these games. We needed something to change. Yesterday seemed no different in the first half and maybe the formation was not the problem.

Everton played us off the park with some excellent football and we were lucky to be only 1 goal behind at half time. However, the second half did show why 2 strikers helps considerably. The midfield was run ragged but that happens at times in the Premier League. With the pace the home side played at, you cannot blame the midfielders and you cannot put a fifth player in there just to dominate midfield if it will not bear fruit further up the field. With the midfield area dominated by Everton the defence opted to pump it long and showed precisely the effect of a partnership up front.

Bendtner was up top wih Eduardo and the ball was aimed towards the Dane. He did not win the ball but he drew out a centre-back. The ball ran loose and Eduardo had time and space to do what he does best. Yet another calm finish from him. Had Bendtner been alone up front, the ball would have run on to the keeper. Had Eduardo been a lone striker there would have been no pressure on the man who jumped with Bendtner. Either way, it is unlikely a goal would have come from this long punt from Clichy.

Again, the second goal came from the same type of pass towards Bendtner and the same applies as to whether we would have scored and taken the lead. Rather than being surrounded by two defenders, Edaurdo had only one man to beat and he did it brilliantly, once more with great calm and composure. He did handle the ball but from the angle the ref had it was impossible to see and Jagielka - his marker - had no idea and was bamboozled by our no.9.

I hope yesterday showed Wenger that having two strikers gives us both an outlet and a constant threat. Whether we have to go long or have the time to build up play, the chances of scoring rise considerably. Yesterday, the midfield was finding it hard to get a foothold but in the end we were able to miss them out to win this game. We ground out a result but it may have been very different had we not just gone long.

The players showed great character to come back from 1 goal down, especially at Goodison Park, which, for me, is one of the hardest places to go. Everton were clearly up for it and for the first half we had no opportunities to get on the ball. We were sloppy in possesion but after half time the players changed tactics to suit the pattern of the game. With Everton looking to play football most envisage those in red playing, Arsenal were forced to play direct, something they only look to do on rare occasions. In the end, the first three goals were long passes to the tall man up top.

When we went down to ten men, we did not panic and kept to this tactic. I have to be honest and say the game was made a whole lot easier with the mistake that gifted Ade the easiest goal he’ll score. At 2-1 I was expecting a barrage of pressure but at 3-1 it was always going to be a bit much for Everton and the fourth goal was a bit of an insult to injury, however sweet Rosicky’s strike was. Now for him to chip in with a few more goals.

What did disappoint me was the ill discipline of Bendtner. If I had been knocking on the door for a few weeks and been granted a first team chance, I would not throw it away. Bendtner lacked maturity in his first booking having been too easliy wound up. His second tackle was a disgrace and he was lucky he was shown a second yellow before the red. He did have a part to play in both Edaurdo’s goal which is what I was calling for and in this he showed the talent he has but also showed he has a lot to learn regarding maturity and behaviour.

Many have questioned Eduardo as an Arsenal player - me included I admit - but Wenger always asked us to wait for the second half of the season. Ironically, maybe deliberately ( I wouldnt put anything passed Wenger ), Eduardo started in the first game, of the second half of the season and scored twice. Wenger played him where he plays best, not on the wing but right on the last defender. He showed great assurance in front of goal as he has done on a few occasions. There is no doubt the guy will get us goals if presented with chances. Yet, he must be played up front in a pair to do this.

Toure led the defence well and once more I was impressed with how they stood firm under great pressure. The Boro game aside, they have done well, away from home especially and we will miss Toure desperately when he leaves. Clichy seems to grow in every game and Sagna really has made us more solid at the back. Gallas too, has continued to lead the back four even when we go 1 goal down.

Once more we are top of the League, top at new year and that after a really tough run of fixtures in December. Now, if we can get a good run going and put pressure on those behind us to keep up, the run in could be fantastic. It starts with a home game against West Ham, a team buoyed by a 2-1 win over Man Utd (Get in!!). I think Rosicky will come back in for Diaby, Adebayor for Bendtner and maybe Eboue for Hleb. Hleb has played quite a lot of games now and Wenger may rest him. Adebayor will partner Eduardo who will want to get more goals to cement a place.

====================Almunia=====================
Sagna==========Toure=========Gallas=========Clichy
Eboue/Hleb======Flamini=======Fabregas=======Rosicky
==============Adebayor=======Eduardo=============

Come on Arsenal!

Scrap 4-4-1-1, bring back 4-4-2 (AFC vs Pompey)

Once again Wenger went with 4-4-1-1 in the Premier League last night. He went with Hleb just behind Adebayor, as he did against Chelsea and Spurs. I know we won those two previous games but, to put it simply, we were not very good in those games. We did not create much and Adebayor was isolated on his own. We got goals to win it with our only real chances but last night we did not get away with it. We were very poor and failed to create anything of note until the final 5 minutes. If we want to win the League, that is not good enough.

We did have the ball in the net against Chelsea a few times towards the end and did look a bit more potent towards the end last night. Why was that? Wenger put on a second striker and suddenly the opposition defence had an awful lot more to think about. With the speed of the Football we play, two strikers make us so much more of an attacking force. Defenders are always marking and cannot step out to pressure the midfield runners. When Adebayor is on his own there is always at least one defender spare who can stifle any threat from him. It requires a moment of brilliance (1st goal vs Spurs) or a set piece (vs Chelsea and Spurs) to unlock defences. When we had two up front, we always looked like we could score, last night we did not.

Our biggest wins and highest scoring games came with 4-4-2: Slavia Prague (h) 7-0, Derby (h) 5-0, Blackburn (a) 3-2 (CC), Portsmouth (h) 3-1, Spurs (a) 3-1, Sunderland (h)3-2.

We scored far more goals with the two forward men.

Our best results with 4-4-1-1 are: Reading (a) 3-1, Spurs (h) 2-1, Villa (a) 2-1, Chelsea (h) 1-0.

We also lost against Boro with it and drew to Newcastle, Liverpool (no shame), Man Utd (no shame) and Newcastle.

The pattern it seems is we score far more goals with 1 up front and games are far closer.
Many might say that with Van Persie out, we have noone to come in and do a better job than a fifth midfielder. However, it is not about whether he is a better player, it is about the system. Look at Eduardo for example; whenever Wenger has played him up front recently he has scored (Sevilla away, Sheffield United away and Blackburn away x2). Yet on countless occasions, Wenger has insisted on trying out Eduardo on the left but it does not work. He is a goalscorer, that is it and by no means is this a bad thing. Just look at the way he took his only real chances of note against Blackburn and Sheffield United.

Also, Nicklas Bendtner has changed countless games recently. I have heard a lot of fans claim he is better than Adebayor, for this reason, but Ade has done well all season. In my opinion it is partly to do with the system. A lone striker has to bring players into the game and if you do not get runners from midfield, you will not make opportunities. Yesterday, when we finally went with two strikers (way too late), it changed as each striker had more space and could work together as well as creating space for the midfield. Bendtner and Adebayor can play together, if Wenger is still unsure over this then give Eduardo a shot. It is now the second half of the season and he has shown what he can do down the middle, but for christ's sake, do NOT PLAY HIM ON THE LEFT.

People might draw attention to the Villa match as one where the system worked and I see their point, we played some brilliant passing Football at times. Yet our goals came from simple crosses and a midfield runner gambling. We didnt make many amazing chances but simply passed Villa out of the first half. Flamini was playing the Cesc role but in one way went further forward than Cesc does. We have seen recently that he has dropped deep and for me he needs to get forward like Flamini did. Hleb plays a role in this.

Against Villa, Hleb played as a second striker coming deep. Recently he has played as a fifth midfielder getting forward in support. This difference is huge. As an extra midfield player, I believe he stifles Cesc when he tries to get forward. Whenever he plays much further up, closer to Adebayor, he is a major threat. The wide players looked good yesterday and when Rosicky cuts inside, there is no need for another player in the centre of the park. It is too congested. If one of the strikers come short to collect the ball then that is fine but we do not need an extra player in this area against teams who defend deep.

I call for Wenger to be bold against Everton - play Bendtner or Eduardo alongside Adebayor and re-think his midfield. He could drop Eboue who, despite a decent performance last night, has looked weak, predictable and still has no league goals to speak of. Hleb could re-take his place out on the right and from here he can dictate play without leaving his forward role in a 4-4-1-1.

Maybe the formation will work in Europe where the pace is far slower and against a Milan team whose midfield is the main threat.

As I touched on, there is not much to note about last night. The defence was solid enough and when they needed him Almunia did well. Rosicky was brilliant for me, the shining light. He got the ball and made things happen with some brilliant driving runs and skill. Eboue was decent on the flank but went missing in the second half. Fabregas was too deep to create much and really should have done better when put clean through by Ade. It is not like him to mess up his first touch but he did on this occasion. Flamini also impressed with some tough tackling and pressing. Ade got isolated and had to come deep and left the box void of Arsenal players. Hleb needs to get further forward in that role, if he can, goals will come again.

Gallas should have scored from 6 yards and Rosicky probably should have hit the target with the last shot of the game. That is it. If you only watched Match of the Day, you might think it was an exciting game but when you realise we were in the second half after only 2 minutes of highlights, it tells the whole story,

One last thing to question is: What is going on with Van Persie? Wenger claims he played him against Steaua as it was not a risk. Then he plays against Chelsea for 20 minutes and looks sharp but is suddenly ruled out for 3 games in a row (out of Everton game now!). The reason given was a thigh injury that was not being risked against Spurs. Is this another load of cobblers from the medical staff as I am worried if a precaution means players miss 3 games at a time. I guess it explains Rosicky's constant absence!

Arsenal 2 Spurs 1 - Not a classic by any means but a derby win nonetheless

After what was a pretty dire first half in which Spurs had the better chances, the lads managed to go up a gear or two to just about finish Tottenham off. The first goal was a moment of beauty and from here there were a few inevitabilties. Arsenal have never lost a game when Emmanuel Adebayor scored and the players and the fans celebrated like we were on the way to three more points. However events swung the other way and having equalised, Berbatov won a penalty.

Robbie Keane is one of the best penalty takers in the League. He simply does not have a set method to his penalties and it is very hard to predict where he will put the penalty. Normally one would back him to score, this time it just seemed fate that he would miss. I just had this feeling he would be denied, and denied he was by Almunia. Praise must go to the Spaniard who has been brilliant recently and this topped it off. If this gut feeling was right, the next was nearly at the level of very wierd.

Rosicky tumbled in the box under what looked like an unfair challenge but Adebayor did well to win the corner with no support whatsoever. It was then that Arsene Wenger earned his money. He wanted to bring on Bendtner for the ineffective Eboue (more of this later) and he was desperate to get him on before the corner was taken. Spurs are susceptible from set pieces and from the moment he jogged into the box my mind was saying: "Go on Nicklas, head that ball home!". Guess what, he did and what a header it was. It was madness, how did I know it was going to happen? I don't know but it doesn't really matter. Once more the Emirates exploded and it was one of those hug the guy in the row in front moments.

From then on we held on a bit, as we had done really all match but once Berbatov got frustrated and almost gave up - the game was won. As I have said Tottenham were arguably the better side in the first half and had the better chances. The problem was the space granted to Berbatov. I lost count of the times he was allowed to bring the ball down unchallenged and was able to dictate play. Neither the centre backs nor Flamini got close to him. Clichy could not leave Lennon free and one of the three mentioned really should have taken it upon themselves to sort him out. Another inevitability was that Berbatov would have a say in this game and he very nearly won the game for Spurs. His goal was a great finish and had Keane scored the penalty won by Berbatov I would not have seen us coming back.

Almunia was solid with what he had to do and excelled with his penalty save. Sagna and Clichy were fantastic for me. Clichy was up against one of the best wide men in the League in my opinion and he rarely gave him a sniff. Lennon had one or two good moments which should have led to a goal for Keane but for most of it Clichy stuck to his task, as well as getting forward as much as possible. Sagna was brilliant going forward and seemed to be doing two jobs for a lot of the game. Why was this?

Emmanuel Eboue is the answer. He really is the most frustrating player in our team right now. His "injury" disappeared very quickly when it looked very serious and today he really did look off the pace with a lack of commitment. He rarely went past his man and his crossing was poor. He cut inside quite a lot and dallied on the ball too long. He had one moment of note and this was a shot Robinson did well with. He failed to track back with any urgency and left Sagna two on one on numerous occasions. One moment really summed Eboue up. He was going at Lee in the Spurs box, he stopped, then tried to accelerate on the outside, was easily shrugged off and he fell to ground way too easily. Sounds very familiar where Eboue is concerned. He was then substituted and the game changed.

We went from a 4-4-1-1 which for me does not give us nearly has much potency as a 4-4-2. Adebayor was isolated in the first half and there was not enough midfield runners to give that cutting edge. In the second the runners started to come but the goal was our only real chance. As soon as Hleb moved to the right and Bendtner partnered Ade, the Spurs defence had far more to deal with. Up till then, Adebayor was marked by two defenders and had to come wide to get the ball. Once we had a two pronged attack, he was left alone 1 v 1 and he caused far more problems. Hleb also looked good out on the right and was able to link with Cesc and Rosicky a lot more. The same happened when Van Persie came on against Chelsea and earlier in the season we scored more goals with two up front. I cant wait for Van Persie to start up front and we can bench Eboue and put Hleb back to the right where he does look more comfortable.

I have a feeling Wenger told Cesc to push on in the second half. In the opening 45 he was far too deep and we could not link midfield to attack but in the second period he gambled a bit more, vindicated with the perfect pass for the first goal. What a pass it was as well! What a sublime backheel to Ade, many would not have had the vision to see Ade and the skill to pull it off. That is why we missed Cesc so much.

Rosicky came into it more in the second half but I thought he was one of our better players. He was always trying to make things happen but also made sure he helped Clichy as much as possible. He drives the team forward and adds a perfect balance to Cesc and Hleb who like to be patient and wait for things to happen. He can carry the ball as well as joining in with the passing game. He always gives his all and if he can keep fit he will be a massive player this season.

I have mentioned Ade a little but feel he deserves further praise. Early on in his Arsenal career he may have missed the chance from which he opened the scoring. Now he seems confident he will score every time. He works so hard and when he can he holds the ball up so well and waits for support. He does look more comfortale with a strike partner but will always try if up on his own. Bendtner was the one to partner him in this game but will it be the Dane or RVP? Van Persie is such a threat when he plays and in that withdrawn role makes Arsenal tick but Bendtner has impressed so much of late. If he can add more goals in open play he really will give Wenger a selection headache.

The last thing to say about this game is: Please sell Gilberto. He came on to add security to the midfield but kept giving the ball away and could not get close to the Spurs midfield. Diarra was brilliant in midweek and surely it is only a matter of time before Diarra replaces him in the squad of 16? Maybe Wenger is putting Gilberto in the shop window? It is backfiring as teams are seeing his weaknesses, take the money and run.
Creidt must go to Spurs - however much I hate to say it - but we got the three points and that is all that matters in these derby matches.

Almunia - 8
Sagna - 8 — Gallas - 7 — Toure - 6 — Clichy - 7
Eboue - 5 (Bendtner - 7) — Cesc - 7 — Flamini - 6 — Rosicky - 7
Hleb - 6 (Gilberto - 5)
Adebayor - 7

Arsenal vs Tottenham - Expect some abuse!!

It seems most appropriate that the abuse debate should come up this week, sandwiched in between games against two of our most bitter rivals in Tottenham and Chelsea. Last Sunday, I must admit, I was one of the many booing Ashley Cole, one of those maybe going a bit further than this. I guarantee you that certain people really do hate Ashley Cole. I do not mean when they enter the football stadiums, I mean that if they saw Cole on the street they would find it hard not to confront him. It is part of the rivalry. When it becomes violence I do not like it, but when it is abuse from the terraces towards an opponent, where is the harm?

I ask you, in what other way can fans express their views towards players? Footballers live in a whole other world to most of us, the only time we get a real link to them is on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Tottenham are our local rival and the tension over the years has grown and grown. If one of their players fouls one of ours, do the officials and players expect us to sit there in quiet and condemn the tackle in our minds? Of course they do not. Part of creating an intimidating atmosphere at home is the roars from the crowd when the game gets fiesty, it is part of the game.

If someone like Sol Campbell moves from Spurs to Arsenal, what does he expect on his return? There is no way he would ever get a good reception at White Hart Lane again and fair enough. He became a fan's favourite at Arsenal and a hated one at White Hart Lane. Many Gooners forgave his past after the humiliation he caused towards those in white. How could Tottenham fans let it lie? Come on Sol. The only way they could get at him was abuse from the stands. It is the same with Cole. Did he expect we would welcome him back? Of course we would not. His move to Chelsea was a disgrace, he knew it, we knew it, we were not going to let him off easily. The taunts addressed to him were simply an expression of our frustration.

It felt right to discuss the abuse with the Tottenham match approaching and the Carling Cup draw; and what a draw it was. Dare I say it, it looks to be the easiest draw of the lot. With their leaky defence I can see us getting goals against them. I would just have preferred the first leg to be away. It could well be a repeat of last season's final if we can overcome Spurs and Everton succumb to Chelsea - we have unifinished business from last season.

Enough of all this: to the match on Saturday. Spurs have won two on the trot now, including a, dare I say it, well fought and admirable performance away at City. It was City's first defeat at home and they played 80 minutes with 10 men. They will be full of confidence coming into Saturday but this might favour us. Many times they have believed they had the beating of us, only for us to knock them back to Earth. This happened earlier this season when we won 3-1. If we can get a similar result I would be delighted.

I have a feeling Wenger will finally go with what I believe is our best team at full strength:

==============Almunia=============
Sagna=====Toure=====Gallas=====Clichy
Hleb=====Flamini====Fabregas===Rosicky
=======Adebayor=====Van Persie======

With Eboue and Walcott out, the 4-4-1-1 formation with Hleb behind Adebayor seems an unlikely option. Now Van Persie is back I hope him and Adebayor can re-kindle the form they showed early in the season. When we went with two up front on Sunday, we looked far more of a threat in front of goal. Van Persie really is dangerous and showed this when he got into so many good positions in a 20 minute cameo. Hleb has been in brilliant form and he can continue this in his free role from the right. Hleb, Rosicky and Fabregas really work well together as they roam across the midfield linking the play together. Rosicky looked so much more comfortable with the two other back for the Chelsea game.

The game will be won tomorrow if every player wins his battle. As I did for the Chelsea game I will look at the big battles in what is a very big game.:

Almunia vs Robinson - Both keepers will be very busy and were both in great form in their last match. Almunia made some very good saves against Chelsea and Robinson did the same against City. Two of his saves were some of the best I have seen in a long time. If one keeper can perform better than his opposite number, the game could be decided here.

Toure vs Berbatov - Toure is Arsenal's rock but Berbatov seems to be back to form just in time. It will be a big test for Toure but if he can keep Berbatov marked tightly and keep him quiet Arsenal may be in business. Toure will look to bring the ball out of defence and start attacks. He may be given this space and hopefully he can exploit it.

Fabregas vs Jenas - These two are the creative players in the centre of the park. Fabregas had a slow return from injury and looked slightly off it last Sunday but by now he will be ready and primed. He has been in great goal scoring form and hopefully he can start this again. Jenas gets up and down the park and has a good shot, he will need to be closed down by Flamini who will give Cesc the freedom he needs.

Clichy vs Lennon - This could be the best battle of them all. Lennon will look to get at Clichy throughout and it will be a tough and interesting test for the Frenchman. Clcihy will look to get forward and I doubt Lennon will want to track him. This may give Clichy a lot of freedom down the flank but Flamini may need to act as cover.

Kaboul vs Adebayor - Adebayor came out on top earlier on this season and he will be confident of doing the same come Saturday, Adebayor will look to hold the ball up well and bring his team mates into play. If Kaboul can limit the supply to the big man he could stop a major part of the Arsenal attack. He will have to dominate at set pieces but he will be a threat when he comes up from the back.