For once our opposition today have almost an many injury problems as our own. They currently have 6 players definitely out for today whilst we have 7 unavailable for selection. It is quite amazing when you look closely at the quality we currently have out, right down the spine of our team. Fabianski, Vermaelen, Cesc, Song and Van Persie with one of our wide goalscorers Walcott also out of the team, even with this ridiculous amount of talent not

The most important game of the season is almost here, victory this afternoon against Sunderland will put Arsenal within one point of leaders Manchester United. It is an opportunity that the team must grab if we are to win the Premier League title this season, no other result for Arsenal will do. Arsene Wenger has been at pains to say that the Barcelona match is not in his thoughts whatsoever and we can only hope that the players are all echoing the manager.

Too many thoughts drifting towards the Camp Nou in midweek could lead to a slip up and it is one that the team cannot afford to do at this crucial stage of the season. It could be argued that winning the league from our position could be more straight forward than beating Barcelona at their own patch.

We are now at the home straight, with two teams in the driving seat. If either us or Manchester United win their remaining games then that guarantees the title and that is a great position to be in. I suspect both teams will still drop enough points to allow another challenger with an outside chance of winning the league.

Manchester United go to Anfield tomorrow without Ferdinand and Vidic, I bet the Manchester United fans on blogs are writing about the lack of experienced back up center backs they have with Smalling likely to partner Wes Brown. With so many people hoping and expecting Manchester United to drop points tomorrow, I have a terrible feeling that they will produce one of those professional away displays that see them win 1-0 so it makes victory today even more important.

For once our opposition today have almost as many injury problems as our own. They currently have 6 players definitely out for today whilst we have 7 unavailable for selection. It is quite amazing when you look closely at the quality we currently have out, right down the spine of our team. Fabianski, Vermaelen, Cesc, Song and Van Persie with one of our wide goalscorers Walcott also out of the team, even with this ridiculous amount of talent not playing we still have a squad ready to challenge.

Interestingly on both sides 7 out of a total 13 of the injured players are all out with knee problems.

Most of the team today will pretty much pick itself but I guess Arsene has one question to find an answer to. Who to choose between Denilson or Rosicky to complete the trio in the middle of midfield.

I am very interested to see how the combination of Diaby and Wilshere work out, both similar skill sets but very different styles. If Tomas Rosicky continues the attacking midfield role then I expect Diaby to replace Alex Song and sit back slightly more than he would do normally and Jack Wilshere can continue to play in between the two.

Wenger could also choose Denilson as the sitting midfielder allowing both Wilshere and Diaby more licence to get forward and join the attacks. If we were playing away from home then I think the latter selection would be more likely to happen but given the fact that we are playing at home with the emphasis on going forward, I think a starting place for Rosicky would be Wenger’s preferred choice.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up

One to watch: Nicklas Bendtner

Arsenal will be without Robin Van Persie for the first time in a long while and a player in such a rich vein of scoring form will be sorely missed, the best way for a squad player to prepare for that role is to have scored goals in his last game and even if it was only league one side Leyton Orient, Nicklas Bendtner’s hat trick would have done him the world of good.

He is now sharp and his opportunity to be the spearhead of the team has resurfaced, we need Bendtner to grab this opportunity with both hands and prove that his actions are as big as his confident words.

While Van Persie’s ability to fashion chances out of absolutely nothing will be missed, Nicklas Bendtner will get himself into arguably more goal scoring positions over the course of 90 minutes so on the creative side we will need to be at our best.

Mean Lean’s Match Prediction:

Arsenal 3 (Bendtner, Nasri, Diaby) Sunderland 1

I hope the hunger and desire is there from the very first whistle. We have to get back to defending and attacking as a team. Denying Sunderland time on the ball and shifting the ball quickly. If we establish a healthy advantage during the game then the players can see out the game so it is very important to start well and it will be the case from now until the end of the season.

CLOSE THAT GAP GUNNERS.