Arshavin is a doubt for the game tonight but could feature which could mean that he could possibly miss out on Saturday. Unless he is completely recovered from his problems then I do not envisage our manager risking him with two games in a few days whilst carrying an injury
I expect Theo to be on the bench in Manchester and I do not expect him to be able to hit the ground running this time round. He has hardly had a kick of football since the England under 21s even then he didn't get as much football as he would have liked
I, like many, am very excited and wondering how the manager is going to incorporate these collection of fine players. Players like Tomas Rosicky and Samir Nasri will want to take their place in the side alongside Cesc Fabregas, Andrey Arshavin and Robin Van Persie
Robin Van Persie scored from close range, a half volley into the roof of the net which will hopefully do his goal scoring confidence some good when it comes to his return in an Arsenal shirt
Arsenal are not prepared to take it on the chin and are asking UEFA outside for a scrap. Either that or they are considering an appeal depending on UEFA's explanation
It feels like Bendtner is a 25 year old who has been around for a very long time, well the second part of that is correct, he has been around since he was 16 years old and has developed well under Arsene and his coaching staff. 15 goals in 27 starts
Does anyone think we will ever see a midfield trio of Cesc, Nasri and Rosicky in a home game against a negative outfit? Oh that would be tasty but I am not sure if we ever will see that from the start
Defensive midfield we have the mighty Alex Song (so happy to be saying that) and then we have Denilson who can play in that role, albeit slightly differently but after that we have a wealth of attacking, creative central midfielders but no recognised sitters
Almunia has improved his game (slightly IMO) since the 2007/08 campaign; however I still think he needs to progress on all of the above elements in order to become a really top drawer goalkeeper for Arsenal, however I can’t see him doing so
Had he connected with his chance efficiently then he would be hailed the hero but as we know football is about margins. An own goal and a miss is enough to condemn a player to the scrap heap by many