I was amazed yet not really surprised to read that Denilson had double the amount of passes of the ball than Cesc for our fantastic fourth goal on Saturday. He passed the ball more times in the short time he was on the pitch than many players who played 90 minutes on that same Saturday.

The Champions league is back, I can already hear the now famous music ringing around my ears. I have a ticket for the game this evening which represents my first game at the Emirates this season, needless to say I am very excited about it.

Sporting Braga come to the London as a little bit of an unknown quantity to many Gooners including myself but they were very impressive last season judging by the information that I have found and read. They are a good counter attacking side which they apparently will be looking to use against the Gunners tonight.

After Wenger’s brave and successful rotation to the squad over the weekend, we are likely to see the usual suspects take their places back on the pitch. An all French back four looks very much to be a possibility. Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy will be restored as full backs come wing backs. As Thomas Vermaelen has not recovered from his international week injury and Johan Djourou played in last nights reserve outing at Manchester City, the smart money would be on the new boys to continue at the heart of the defence. Now I have said that, Wenger will probably move Fabianski into right sided center back alongside Emmanuel Eboue. Whenever I feel certain about a Wenger selection he usually goes and does something completely different.

With Abou Diaby out to a shocking challenge from Paul Robinson I think his replacement on Saturday will be the one to start the game. Plenty of Gooners would rather see Jack Wilshere playing ahead of Denilson tonight but I imagine that the boss will go for the more experienced and more defensively disciplined Brazilian and rightly so in my eyes.

I was amazed yet not really surprised to read that Denilson had double the amount of passes of the ball than Cesc for our fantastic fourth goal on Saturday. He passed the ball more times in the short time he was on the pitch than many players who played 90 minutes on that same Saturday.

People who say that Denilson doesn’t play cutting passes and only plays backwards and sideways passing are completely missing the point and not understanding Denilson’s role in the team. He is there to keep the ball, to move it on quickly and keep forcing the opposition to move out of position. He passes it and then moves into space offering another angle for his team mates. When we are not in possession of the ball he makes so many vital interceptions, blocks and tackles which turns defence into attack.

Many have had the Denilson argument far too often, ultimately it will be the player who will change the minds of those who may not value him, as Mathieu Flamini, Alex Song, Emmanuel Eboue and many more have done previously.

I think it is likely that Samir Nasri will return to the fold after suffering a knee problem following a Steven Gerrard tackle at Anfield on the first day of the season. Tomas Rosicky is likely to be the one that is pulled out, perhaps to avoid the risk of overplaying him and subsequently causing him to break down. Wenger could also feel that Arshavin who played for his country recently could be due a rest. So we shall see what the boss does.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up