I found it very interesting that Walcott was moved to the left hand side against Wolves when Andrey Arshavin was replaced for Nicklas Bendtner. Theo Walcott is hardly ever moved away from the right and the obvious move would have been to move Bendtner to the left hand side and keep Theo Walcott on the right. I wonder if Arsene Wenger has a little trick up his sleeve. A move to the left would give Dani Alves something to think

The pre pre match previews are over, the chit chat and speculation is almost over and done with. This evening Barcelona come back to London for the rematch of last year’s clash. It is very hard to write this without sounding like a hyped up Sky Sports super Sunday show but containing my excitement is proving to be rather difficult.

Unusually for me, I do not feel overly nervous about the upcoming game, more of an excited anticipation of what should prove to be a wonderfully entertaining game of football played by two teams in the right way.

We have been written off by all and sundry and I understand why Barcelona are clear favourites to go through over the two legs. FC Barcelona are currently the best team in European football right now, they have demolished most teams that stand in their way but they are not invincible. They have lost this season and could have done so again on the weekend, if Arsenal can impose our own game on them then we have the players to punish them.

We have creative players who can make the likes of Alves look behind them and worry about Nasri or Walcott’s running in behind and make Xavi have to chase after Cesc.

What Arsene will want to avoid is the opening 30 minutes at the Emirates last season when our players stood off and admired Barcelona playing one touch football all over the pitch whilst carving out chance after chance.

I had expected Samir Nasri to have taken his place on the substitutes bench as he has not played any part of any game since pulling his hamstring but the rumour is that he is in line to start the match which may be seen as a gamble considering Arshavin’s turn around of form.

Bacary Sagna is suspended for the game which is a massive shame for us given that he is arguably our best defender. Emmanuel Eboue will have to take on huge responsibility tonight and will have to be razor sharp. He is likely to be up against David Villa who will make diagonal runs and move into central areas. We need general Eboue to be switched on and totally concentrated for 90+ minutes which is difficult to expect of anyone who hasn’t had regular football over the last few weeks, especially against Barcelona.

The loss of Bacary Sagna at right back is massive from a defensive point of view but I wonder if his superior technique and control will help us escape the closing down of David Villa from that side.

If Nasri starts then everyone knows what players will be selected tomorrow night, there can be no other surprises as the team are playing very well. We have gone on a fantastic run and have been good going forward and working hard defensively.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up

It is not the first time that I have said this in a previous blog but it is not necessarily what Barcelona do in possession that scares me more it is how we cope with having the ball because Barcelona will look to hem us inside our half of the pitch, closing down the man on the ball and then blocking off the passing outlets. Barcelona have been perfecting this since Guardiola took over in 2008-09.

We have recently started to adopt this tactic consistently instead of sporadically, the returns have been very good since our defeat at Old Trafford. There is no doubt that we have to shut them down and limit their time and space because even under pressure they are fantastic at keeping hold of the ball but without pressure then the game will just become a training session to them as it appeared in the first half an hour last season at the home of football.

Arsene spoke about looking at ways to play through their pressing and I am interested to see how we go about it. Will we try and build up our game from the back as per normal? or will we look for another method, i.e. playing a little longer to find the feet of Van Persie? However we approach the game, the players will have to be very sharp, very quick and very clean with their passes.

The Chelsea game at the Emirates seems to be the example that is being held up as the template to look to for tonight’s game but I look a little further down the road to the Manchester City game minus the finishing. We pinned them right back and our football was sharper and more dynamic than it was against Chelsea but if we do manage to put Barcelona on the back foot then we cannot afford to be as profligate as we were on that day and recently against Wolves.

Both teams play a high defensive line on a weekly basis and it will be interesting to see if both teams attempt to do the same tactic in this game. Barcelona have plenty of advantages over Arsenal but the one thing that they are clearly second best on is pace. Firstly our back line including Eboue, Djourou, Koscielny and Clichy are either quick or very fast. Pedro, Villa and Messi are all quick but our defenders can match them if the anticipation is correct. At the other end of the pitch it is a different story.

Theo Walcott frightened the living daylights out of the Barcelona team before and he can do the same again if he is given the service and space to do so. Carles Puyol will be missing from their back four so Arsenal and Theo will have to try and capitalise on that.

I found it very interesting that Walcott was moved to the left hand side against Wolves when Andrey Arshavin was replaced for Nicklas Bendtner. Theo Walcott is hardly ever moved away from the right and the obvious move would have been to move Bendtner to the left hand side and keep Theo Walcott on the right. I wonder if Arsene Wenger has a little trick up his sleeve.Was that some late preparation for Barca?

A move to the left would give Dani Alves something to think about when he considers pushing forward on the overlap as he likes to do so often in La Liga.

Arsene switched Andrey Arshavin to the right against Barcelona at home last season, a move that I don’t think he has ever started with in the past and that was to match Nasri against Alves to negate his attacking bursts. Nasri is a more balanced player on the right than Arshavin it would also allow Theo and Nasri to switch flanks.

Guardiola would no doubt have worked on a way to prevent Maxwell being caught out again by Walcott but would he have planned for Walcott vs Alves?

I hope Theo doesn’t stick to the wide areas, I hope he switches with Van Persie on counter attacks and gets the chance to run through against Valdes, as he did against West Ham and Newcastle. His diagonal running from wide to center, along with the vision and passing of Cesc and Van Persie can really hurt Barcelona if we execute it correctly.

One to watch: Theo Walcott

The fastest player on the pitch, possibly playing against a team who squeeze high up the pitch. Theo Walcott has to be our danger man. It might be against Maxwell or it may be against Alves but Barcelona cannot ignore the threat that Theo provides and we have to use that as often as we can.

Mean Lean’s Match Prediction

Arsenal 3 (Walcott, Van Persie, Cesc) Barcelona 1

Arsenal are taking on a team widely known as the best in world right now and they could beat us convincingly as they promised to do in the first leg last season. At the same time I know we have the capability to cause Barcelona problems. They are not a defensive team who can withstand waves of attacks around their goal so I am banking on our boys to show how far we have grown.

The only way we can beat Barcelona, is if we produce an amazing attacking performance, if Van Persie, Cesc, Nasri and Walcott do produce that performance then we will score goals. I do not expect us to keep a clean sheet with the attacking talent they have on display but with the home support in full voice and the intensity of our game, hopefully we can send the proverbial shock wave around Europe.

Handbrake off, hard work and quick combination football please Arsenal. Let us show them what we are made of.

COME ON THE GUNNERS