I am looking forward to this afternoons game against the Geordies and it should make for a good game of football, I suppose any type of game would be good as long as we come away from the Emirates stadium with all three points. I am sure you’ve read the stat that we are the only Premier League team to have acquired more points away from home than we have at our gaff. If we are to remain in the

Hello one and all, hope you had a good Christmas or if you don’t celebrate such a date, I hope you enjoyed your holidays. Like many have said, it wasn’t quite the same without the Arsenal playing especially after 3 back to back league victories.

Clearly I only sing when I am winning, my lack of writing in these parts, or anywhere else has coincided with some awful performances along with results. While I cannot deny that it is far more enjoyable to write about when things are going well, my absence is nothing to do with our past form and much more to do with my actual life at present. Mrs Lean and I are expecting mini Lean number four to join our squad in the next few days if the timings are accurate. Just in time for the January transfer window and all that. So it’s been all go in our household, moving furniture around for no good reason and preparing rooms etc.

I am looking forward to this afternoons game against the Geordies and it should make for a good game of football, I suppose any type of game would be good as long as we come away from the Emirates stadium with all three points. I am sure you’ve read the stat that we are the only Premier League team to have acquired more points away from home than we have at our gaff. If we are to remain in the top four slots then we simply have to turn around our results in front of our supporters.

For once we have a relative clean bill of health at this time of year. Abou Diaby and Andre Santos come back into full time training this week and only Lukas Fabianski remains sidelined, even that is a question mark considering Arsene’s history of timely injuries to players who are likely to be heading out of the door. It is this type of injury luck that I had wished we had during the years where we were closer to the top, it may have made the difference in a couple of those title pushes but C’est la vie.

Oliver Giroud and Tomas Rosicky are back in the squad after sickness and I suspect that both have a good case to start but I believe that Arsene may stick to his recent team that has won the last two games and that would mean Theo Walcott keeping his dear old center forward position.

I still remain doubtful that Walcott can flourish in that role but I’d more than love him to succeed in that position, at least for the season assuming he will hurl himself off the ship come the summer. Theo’s finishing for me has never been an issue, even as a youngster but playing center forward is much more than just speed and finishing. Playing in a team that often dominates possession, especially at home means that as a striker you often face defenders dropping off and denying space in behind. I will be impressed once he plays well and contributes to the team when the opposition force his game to be about technique rather than pace.

I actually fancy Walcott to get on the score sheet today, while he was simply not in the game at all against Wigan, he found himself in a few nearly positions. Being either dispossessed or having shots blocked at the crucial time. While his team play needs work, we will create chances more often than not at home and Theo has the ability to tuck chances away.

I am desperate to see Tomas Rosicky get a full 90 minutes with Cazorla, Wilshere and Arteta but there just does not seem to be enough room for him. I really believe that the team could get back to it’s fluent best with the Czech in the side but when it comes to leaving someone out, you just cannot do it because the qualities of Podolski and Chamberlain compliment our creative passers. Even if I feel Rosicky would be a more influential player in the game than the wide duo.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up:

It will be interesting to see if Demba Ba starts the game. If he doesn’t then it will only add even more smoke to the air.

Newcastle are without several first team players due to injury so you would think that it is a good time to play them, that said, they were seconds away from leaving Old Trafford with a point.

It is going to be a tough game as most are these days. I hope we see some of that quick, fluid high energy football we saw at Reading.

Three points please. Come on you Gunners.