Bendtner has come back in good form and looks sharp. If he gets a start then fingers crossed that he can take it and add to his goals tally

Arsene will use the full width of his squad away to Shakhtar Donetsk this evening. We may have ripped them apart at the Emirates but I have a feeling that it will be a totally different game this evening. We have a few players on the sidelines, well in fact further away from the sidelines. Cesc Fabregas, Denilson and Alex Song along with Andrey Arshavin have all stayed at home due to injury, sickness or niggles.

What it does is leave our central midfield much weaker. The good news is that Jack Wilshere will almost certainly return to the starting line up, probably alongside Samir Nasri who will be moved into the center to replace the captain. The third member of the midfield will be an interesting choice. It could well be rookie Craig Eastmond who was below his best in his last outing at Newcastle, but will be looking to prove his quality if the responsibility falls on his shoulders.

Nicklas Bendtner could come in for Chamakh who looked tired in our 1-0 victory against West Ham, it is little wonder as our new forward sensation has run himself into the ground from the moment he pulled on the Arsenal jersey. Bendtner has come back in good form and looks sharp. If he gets a start then fingers crossed that he can take it and add to his goals tally.

Shakhtar Donetsk came across a very good Arsenal team when the travelled to London and they are not the mugs that they have been made out to be after the final whistle which is usually the case when Arsenal convincingly beat a team.

I have a feeling that our opponents will prove their quality tonight in front of their fans. It could be a game that can go either way. I expect Theo Walcott to once again prove his quality on the right and he could score but I believe that much of our creative influence will be down to Samir Nasri.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up

Fabianski

Sagna Koscielny Squillaci Clichy

Eastmond

Wilshere Nasri

Walcott Bendtner Rosicky

One to watch: Samir Nasri

In the absence of Cesc Fabregas, most of the burden will be heaped on Samir Nasri once again. I love the Rosicky – Nasri combination and with Arshavin out, I expect both of them to play. If they can both click and keep the ball more than Shakhtar then we have a good chance, if we are pegged back then we could struggle.

Mean Lean’s Match Prediction

Shakhtar Donetsk 1 Arsenal 1 (Walcott)

I have the nagging feeling that we could lose this game but I don’t like predicting defeats, even though I just have. With Theo in good form we always have the capability to score so a 1-1 draw is my final prediction.