Quite why Chu Young Park is being written off so soon is a mystery to me. Some players take longer to adjust to the Premier League and to our way of playing. Even a player like Arteta who knows the league well has had to adjust to a new set up. Eduardo was a sub for a long while before he got his

One of my favourite competitions is back on the agenda tonight. The Carling cup usually offers the chance for some relaxed viewing, a chance to see some players that have not had much in the way of first team chances.

I am interested to see if Thomas Vermaelen will be in the starting side. He is obviously short of minutes but the fear would be to put him back in competitive action too soon. I suspect that he will be on the bench with the chance of gaining a valuable 15-20 minutes towards the end of the game.

I am excited to see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain start again on the right, we can see if he has progressed anymore since we saw him score in the Champions League. Arsene has pulled him out of the spotlight, just as he did with Jack Wilshere after his previous top quality Emirates cup displays. While I would have like to have seen him on the bench more often this season, I cannot argue with a manager who has better experience in developing players than most managers around the world.

I also hope that Ryo Miyaichi gets a start on the left. It would give our front line a better offensive balance than it would playing either Park or Benayoun. I do not know how far behind or ahead Ryo is on Wenger’s development scale but he is very talented and quick, he looked bright when he came on against Shrewsbury. Andrey Arshavin is in the squad so given the fact that he did not start on the weekend, he could well start on the left.

With so many of our defenders out injured, mainly the full backs it looks as if Arsene may call upon the services of two untested youth talents. Jernade Meade and Nico Yennaris. I know nothing whatsoever about their strengths and weaknesses but I guess we will all know a little more after the 90 minutes.

Quite why Chu Young Park is being written off so soon is a mystery to me. Some players take longer to adjust to the Premier League and to our way of playing. Even a player like Arteta who knows the league well has had to adjust to a new set up. Eduardo was a sub for a long while before he got his chance to show what he can do and I am guessing that the same will happen with Park.

We all hope that he can get up to speed quickly because we cannot rely on our captain for the whole season and that is not just down to injury but because his form will go at some point at least for a few games. He looks like a different player to Chamakh, more of a touch player who has the ability to link up the play. Playing for Monaco at the bottom of Ligue 1 is a completely different level to the pass and move game at Arsenal in the English Premier League.

I hope for an entertaining game of football and hopefully some top Arsenal performances that force the manager to think about his first team selections in future.

COYG.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up