Newcastle arrive at The Emirates today for the resumption of the FA Cup. The squad will no doubt be rotated again with a number of the starting line-up from White Hart Lane relegated to the bench and vice versa. The resources which were stretched with injury and absentees may find themselves pushed for longer with the news of Kolo Toure’s injury in Ghana. Initial reports are always prone to make the situation seem worse than it actually is but the prognosis from Gerard Gili, the Ivory Coast’s Head Coach is not promising,

I’m concerned about him because he has injured his groin. I don’t know how long he’ll be out

If that is the case, one would hope that the player will be allowed to return to Arsenal for treatment. That is not a condemnation of medical facilities, more an observation that a national Coach is more likely to take unnecessary risks with a player in a tournament without a second thought for any responsibilities that he has to the players club.

Depending on the outcome of Toure’s scans, Arsene may well change his views on signing anyone in the transfer window although if the walking wounded return without complications, there is no reason to dip into the kitty. The dilemma the manager faces is that the window closes before he will be certain of the return of the injured players and for someone who has publicly put great faith in his young players, to me at least, it seems unlikely that he will sign anyone of substance.

Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner’s sideshow appears to be rolling out of town with reports that they have kissed and made up but that seems more based on the fact that neither of them beat ten bells of you know what out of the other at training yesterday. Arsene believes that in the long run the incident will boost unity and in a perverse way he is probably right, with any animosities out in the open and hopefully resolved.

Back to this afternoon; Philippe Senderos and Gael Clichy will return for Hoyte and Traore but I would expect Arsene to play Lehmann in goal rather than Almunia, as he did at Burnley. Midfield is perhaps the biggest quandary. Whilst Alex Hleb is the ‘form’ player at the moment, Arsene has already stated his primary targets this season are the Premier and Champions Leagues which makes it unlikely that the Belorussian will start today. More likely would be Walcott reverting to the right with Diaby remaining on the left. In the centre, Fabregas will probably return given Denilson’s injury and be partnered by Gilberto, giving Flamini a complete rest ahead of Tuesday’s fixture against the same opponents. Whilst I can appreciate the rationale, I would personally put Rosicky on the right and Flamini in the centre to field the strongest side. One of the disadvantages with matches being scheduled on a Tuesday for midweek domestic home fixtures is the lack of recovery time from the previous Saturday. The forward line will no doubt be Eduardo and Adebayor with Bendtner on the bench, which would leave a team of

Lehmann; Sagna, Senderos, Gallas, Clichy; Walcott, Fabregas, Gilberto, Diaby; Eduardo, Adebayor

With the bench being

Fabianski, Hoyte, Hleb, Bendtner, Randall

Cup ties are notoriously difficult to predict but Newcastle seem to be ready to field a strong team so expect a tougher match than the Carling Cup tie earlier this season.  Enjoy the game wherever you are watching it. ‘til Tomorrow.

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