Judging by the current players missing, it looks as if Wenger has only one choice to make in his starting line up. He could go for the direct running and pace of Emmanuel Eboue, which would be the closest option to Theo Walcott or he could go with the in form Tomas Rosicky on the right of the attack. I believe that the fact that we are at home and that Rosicky’s form is very good will see our super Czech get the managers vote

Now that international football has temporarily finished interrupting our season, we can finally get back to the real stuff. The Arsenal are back in town, minus another player thanks to the usual international injury. Theo Walcott has to put his red hot form to one side, put his feet up and wait patiently until he can search for his form again.

Theo will join Van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner on the sidelines for the next month or so and that somewhat limits Arsene’s options. Even with those players missing we still have some quality attacking options we just have to hope that we have seen the back of injuries for a while.

Thomas Vermaelen will also be missing from the defence after picking up an achilles injury so it will be an immediate start for the new boy in the squad, S?bastien Squillaci. He will likely partner Laurent Koscielny at the heart of the defence so it will be interesting to see a) who fills in Vermaelen’s left sided position and b) how they perform as a partnership against the likes of Kevin Davies who is likely to ‘let them know he is there’

The game against Bolton last season at the Emirates was a thriller, it was in fact the last time that we went top of the league. We needed to win by two clear goals to get to the summit, but in a blink of an eye we were two goals down within half an hour. Arsenal being Arsenal, we like to do things the hard way and eventually won the game 4-2. This time around, going two goals down will certainly be something that the side will want to avoid. Defensively we have looked pretty impressive overall in open play, limiting the opposition to only a few chances. Abou Diaby and Alex Song have been and will be very important to the side defensively. They have the physical power as well as the technique to give Arsenal are stability in the engine room of the team. If Wenger feels that Cesc hasn’t been travelling around the world too much, after his disappointing trip to South America, then Cesc should come back into the center to pull the strings. Given the fact that Cesc is still behind from the pre season and has travelled long distances, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is still not quite yet at his brilliant best. If he isn’t then the likes of Arshavin or perhaps Rosicky should step up and make the difference.

Owen Coyle’s Bolton are unbeaten so far and will be looking to upset Arsenal’s rhythm, they will be without experienced goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen who picked up a red card in their 2-2 draw with Birmingham City. Young Adam Bogdan will deputise and hopefully he will be kept very busy.

Judging by the current players missing, it looks as if Wenger has only one choice to make in his starting line up. He could go for the direct running and pace of Emmanuel Eboue, which would be the closest option to Theo Walcott or he could go with the in form Tomas Rosicky on the right of the attack. I believe that the fact that we are at home and that Rosicky’s form is very good will see our super Czech get the managers vote.

If selected then I expect Rosicky to pull inside, and allow Sagna the space to exploit on the right. It will be interesting to see if Martin Petrov starts the game on the Bolton left, a player who often shirks the defensive responsibilities. If Arsene was brave enough then perhaps Emmanuel Eboue would be a great choice at right back for those very same reasons. I suspect that it will be a safety first selection from Wenger and that option could be saved for the second half if needed.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up

With the likes of Eboue, Vela, Wilshere as well as potentially Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, it is difficult to argue that Arsenal are in an injury crisis. With the international matches having taken place, I would expect some second half changes, especially for the likes of Cesc Fabregas.

One to watch: Bacary Sagna

Sagna has been in very good form this season, he has scored in pre season and already has a couple of assists to his name. It looks like he has been working on his offensive game and we are already witnessing the benefits of that work. El Hadji Diouf couldn’t catch him at Ewood Park two weeks ago and his cross the Cesc which eventually fell to the goal scorer Arshavin, was perfect. He could find himself in those situations a few times this afternoon.

We haven’t seen it yet, but surely a Chamakh header isn’t too far away from a Sagna cross so far.

Mean Lean’s Match Prediction

Arsenal 2 (Chamakh [2]) Bolton 0

Bolton will not want the game to be an open one, last season at the Emirates they produced a performance straight out of the Sam Allardyce school of tactics. Jaaskelainen launched ball after ball into our penalty box and I expect much of the same. Bolton will want Davies and/or Elmander to win the first ball and then use the likes of Lee and Petrov to pick up the knock downs and play from there. The team dealt with all Blackburn at to throw at them at Ewood park, so I expect the team to do the same again.

I would love to see Cesc back at his tempo setting best, receiving and giving passes in split seconds and feeding balls into gaps opened up. I have a good feeling that Chamakh will score and hopefully we will have too much for Owen Coyle’s side.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS.

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