As I was saying in a recent blog I would love to see Rosicky and Benayoun linking up together with Robin van Persie, three players who could potentially be on the same wavelength and could play some nice football together. Whichever team take the field this afternoon only a victory will be satisfactory, anything less will be a big disappointment and waste of a very good situation.

Boy am I glad to have me Arsenal back. It seems like an awfully long time since we beat Aston Villa at Villa Park. Speaking of which, I am watching the Stoke City vs Aston Villa match at the time of writing this so I am sure you can understand my desire to watch Arsenal once more. Bloody shambolic.

Anyway, the Christmas fixtures have been kind to us so far our late win at Villa was followed by ambitious Liverpool drawing at home to Blackburn Rovers and also Manchester City took part in a goalless draw at the Hawthorns. The early kick off saw Chelsea only manage a 1-1 draw against Fulham. How any side can draw at home to Fulham is beyond me. Moving on.

Those results will only benefit us if we manage to take all three points at home to Wolves, and to do so we will need to play well and work as hard as we have done for pretty much the whole season. Our next three fixtures are very winnable games. Wolves and QPR at home and then away to Fulham. Those games will not be won with the same eleven players that is certain. So talk of predicted line up’s could well be a little pointless but this is a preview after all so I will give it a bash.

Much of the pre match talk will be about Robin van Persie and the calendar year record that is so close yet so far with the amount of days until the year slams shut. I guess that he will be given a chance to close in on that record later today and perhaps sit out the QPR game, giving Chamakh or Park a chance to prove themselves. Ideally van Persie will score a hat trick before half time so he can be rested for new years eve where he can bang in another hat trick but unfortunately for us, football isn’t that simple.

As exciting as the prospect of Robin breaking Alan Shearer’s record is, it cannot get in the way of a far more valuable three points and if a team mate is in a better goal scoring position then Robin should make that pass. One player who I expect not to be in that goal scoring position is Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman has a super engine and he covers a phenomenal amount of ground but he has looked ‘jaded’ as Arsene likes to say. He hasn’t been at his sharpest for a few weeks now. When you have a player with the quality of Tomas Rosicky sat on the sidelines then it would be criminal not to use him over the next three games. Mikel Arteta could also do with a breather but it is hard to imagine Arsene resting two of three, the third being the returning Alex Song who was forced to sit out against Villa with a suspension. One that actually did us some good for a change.

This is the time where the squad massively miss the contributions of Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby. Without their services, rotation is more difficult or at least maintaining the team’s overall quality is more difficult.

Yossi Benayoun deserves a start after his late winner at Villa and if he does start then I would imagine that he would start in a wide left position with either Gervinho or Walcott on the right depending on who Arsene believes needs the rest the most.

It will be interesting to see who starts at right back for us, Francis Coquelin had a tough game against Charles N’Zogbia and if he continues in that position then he could face Matt Jarvis. If anything he is getting some great defensive experience which will come in handy for him in future midfield games.

As I was saying in a recent blog I would love to see Rosicky and Benayoun linking up together with Robin van Persie, three players who could potentially be on the same wavelength and could play some nice football together. Whichever team takes to the field this afternoon only a victory will be satisfactory, anything less will be a big disappointment and waste of a very good situation.

Firstly fingers crossed for the Gunners today and then secondly I wish Norwich City the best of luck when facing Tottenham at Carrow Road later on this evening.

COYG.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up