The excitement is reaching fever pitch now with the season’s Premier Reserve Cup Competition now getting into full swing. The squad for the tie has been announced and is as follows:
Almunia, Poom, Hoyte, Djourou, Senderos, Clichy, Flamini, Song, Denilson, Walcott, Aliadiere, Adebayor, Toure, Fabregas, Rosicky, Hleb, Van Persie.
Trying to guess the starting line-up from that little lot is not the easiest of tasks but it is fair to say that Fabreags, Rosicky, and van Persie will probably be accompanying Mart Poom as benchwarmers. Bearing in mind Sunday’s performance and substitutions, I would expect something like:
Almunia; Hoyte, Senderos, Toure, Clichy; Walcott, Denilson, Song, Flamini, Hleb; Aliadiare
If the match is going well, I suspect that Djourou for Toure may come into play, simply to allow Kolo a rest. If Wenger decides on 4-4-2 then I suspect that Denilson would make way for Adebayour.
So what to expect from them? Opponents West Brom warmed up for the game with a 3 - 0 derby win over Wolves yesterday so they will probably also not be fielding their strongest line-up. Since parting company with Bryan Robson, Albion have been on a bit of a roll, scoring ten goals in their last three games (two away, 2 - 0 win at Crystal Palace and 5 - 1 at Ipswich; one home, 3 - 0 v Wolves) and conceding just one which means they should not be taken lightly. Diomansy Kamara is scoring at will at the moment, four in the last three games. However, this should be a good test for Senderos if faces those two on his return to first team action.
It is another fixture curiousity that Arsenal have a Tuesday night fixture coming on the back of a Sunday Premiership game. Could it be a conspiracy? Are the Computers ganging up on us? It has to be so! Its not fair. Sorry, not sure what happened there; a moment of paranoia and I think I’m Jose Mourinho.
I cannot see AW risking injury to key players such as Toure and Fabregas in a match such as this, especially with the Premiership visit of Everton on Saturday. With both United and Chelsea away at the weekend, one of them may slip up although it is unlikely to be the latter because they travel to Bramall Lane and with all due respect to Sheffield United, if Chelsea do not win, they need shooting. United on the other hand go to in-form Bolton which could be a draw. This also marks the start of what I consider to be a tough series of fixtures, with some tricky away games culminating in the visit to Stamford Bridge in seven weeks.
Other News
Apparently, Arsene has great faith in the current squad, and at the moment you would have to say that it is not misplaced, and has announced that the club will not be entering into the fray when the January Transfer Window opens. It is an interesting decision to take, and to announce. The latter appears to serve two purposes; it is a public affirmation of his faith in his players and to an extent an attempt to dampen media speculation about potential signings. For the latter, a reaction of “Yeah, right” is probably. My suspicion is that the statement should be interpreted as one that indicates no major signings, much depending on whether Jens Lehmann agrees another years contract. If he does, it appears that the time is right to recruit a younger ‘keeper and give them time to bed themselves into the club and English football. On the subject of the cranky German, according to reports he is studying an 18th Century German manuscript on manners and etiquette. Obviously it will take some time to sink in with him although it would not surprise me if Stephen Hunt of Reading wishes that Lehmann was a faster learner given the earbashing he received on Sunday. Hunt hurdled Lehmann which must of upset the Arsenal Guardian as his foot from a prone position ended up somewhere around the Reading midfielders throat, something I found pretty impressive in a warped kind of way.
Todays Tunes
Todays download is from the rather excellent The Magic Numbers, a KEXP Radio session in 2005. The tracklisting is as follows:
- Forever Lost
- Don’t Give Up The Fight
- Love’s A Game
- Love Me Like You
- Gone Are The Days
Grab it here.
