Whispers have been circling around Twitter that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will start today, It had flashed in my head this morning that it would be typical of Arsene to give a young talent his first start in the Premier League against Manchester United. Either Chamberlain has been turning our defenders in knots in training or Arsene wasn’t too impressed with Arshavi

Whispers have been circling around Twitter (via Arseblog) that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will start today, It had flashed in my head this morning that it would be typical of Arsene to give a young talent his first start in the Premier League against Manchester United. Either Chamberlain has been turning our defenders in knots in training or Arsene wasn’t too impressed with Arshavin hanging Miquel out to dry at Swansea.

Arsene might have been bluffing in his press conference about Vermaelen being out as it seems as if he has passed his fitness test along with Thierry Henry. I would rather have Mikel Arteta fit over Thierry if I had to the decision. We will miss his possession but hopefully without sickness, Tomas Rosicky will start ahead of Yossi Benayoun.

The manner of our defeat at Swansea may actually help us today. Swansea gave us a lesson in team work and work rate, we had that in bucket loads a few weeks ago but in recent weeks that effort has dropped off which is possibly to do with the amount of games the players have had to play over Christmas. I would imagine that we will see the whole team fight together today at 4pm. It is often that fight that separates the two teams either way.

If there was an area that could be a little worrying then it could be Johan Djourou playing out of position against the likes of Nani. The same could be said about the Manchester United full backs, like us they have defensive injuries so hopefully Theo Walcott can have a big game, he is certainly due a big game, perhaps his goal at Swansea will give him the confidence to score more goals.

Today is a big game for us but I cannot help but feel that what happens after this game until the end of the season will shape our season rather than the game today. After the game this afternoon the likes of Bacary Sagna, Kieran Gibbs and Mikel Arteta will be back and we can build a run of results together, victory today would be a great platform for that but perhaps not as big as it is being built up.

Manchester City and Tottenham are currently drawing 0-0 as I write this but Tottenham look the more fluid side, City look nervous so I am going for an away victory but hoping for a home win, We shall see.

Good luck the Arsenal.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up: