The injuries have given a chance to the younger members of the squad to make the trip to Holland. The likes of Wilshere, Vela and Fran Merida will most likely take a place on the Arsenal bench

To be honest with you, the title is a bit of a fib, it is very difficult to give a prediction and produce any real thoughts when you do not know the quality of the opposition. I have never seen our opponents in action and know very little about the players that represent the Dutch side who surprisingly won the Eredivisie last year.

For those who also have limited knowledge on our opponents tonight, here are some season highlights of their championship season last year.

One club I like to think I know a little bit about is the Arsenal. Seven straight wins in all competitions has given the side a huge amount of confidence, unfortunately we have built up a little list of injuries in the last few matches.

Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky, Nicklas Bendtner and Eduardo sit out the game along with longer term absentees Denilson and Johan Djourou.

The injuries have given a chance to the younger members of the squad to make the trip to Holland. The likes of Wilshere, Vela and Fran Merida will most likely take a place on the Arsenal bench. Arsene may have been tempted to rest Robin Van Persie who has worked tirelessly since the start of the season but with Bendtner and Eduardo both missing from the squad Arsene may be a little reluctant to use Carlos Vela who has had little Premier League time this season. Early qualification would be great as the likes of Vela, Wilshere etc would be able to get Champions League experience without any pressure attached.

Bacary Sagna is likely to be drafted back into right back and Emmanuel Eboue could well replace the injured Tomas Rosicky on the right of the attack. The dynamic Gael Clichy is back in contention and should replace Kieran Gibbs. Much as been made of Vito Mannone’s mistake over the weekend but I think Wenger will stick by his young keeper and give him the chance to redeem himself. Wenger did praise the way that Mannone did not let the mistake get to him and that is a good sign for a young keeper at the highest level. Manuel Almunia may have to sit out another game.

Although our opponents won their respective league last year, their form this time round has been pretty poor. With Ronald Koeman in charge I am expecting a stifling performance from the home side. His Ajax sides of the past were always very negative against us.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up

It will be interesting to see how the team performs without the passing of Rosicky, instead the direct running of Eboue. I am tipping Abou Diaby to continue his improvements in recent weeks and dominate the midfield. Diaby scored the second goal against Birmingham City and could have scored a second late on. Diaby will be looking to support Van Persie in attack from deep.

Mean Lean’s Match Prediction

Like I said it is difficult to predict a result when you do not know much about the opposition but judging from recent results Arsenal’s confidence and form should see us through.

Wolverhampton v Arsenal (Reserves)

Tonight the reserves take on Wolves at the same time as the senior team. The great news is that Samir Nasri and Lukasz Fabianski will return to action from the start. I have been looking forward to Nasri in particular taking to the field again for the first time. I am guessing that Nasri will adopt a wide position to protect his leg from tough challenges as he attempts to gain match fitness and sharpness.

Wenger has penciled Nasri’s first team comeback for the Carling Cup clash against Liverpool on Wednesday 28th October. Fingers crossed that both players can get through the game without any setbacks and include some much needed game time.

I shall stick my monitor on top of my television tonight and have both games running at the same time. Here is for a double victory with no injuries.

Come on you Gunners!