Ju Young Park will be a certain starter and I would imagine that Marouane Chamakh will also start the game so that throws up some interesting questions. Which position will Ju Park play? Chamakh can only really play as a central striker so Park will either join Chamakh up front or play a wider role. If Park plays a wider role then one of Ryo or Chamberlain will have to drop to the

The Carling cup swoops in from the sky to save us from the evil clutches of the Premier League season. An injection of youth, new personnel and a different atmosphere could be just the tonic for Arsenal supporters up and down the land. The Carling cup has often been a chance for the younger players to play in a far more relaxed environment yet still play first team football, I suspect that the pressure will be a little more intense than previous early Carling cup games, given our results of late.

Opposition

League two side Shrewsbury Town are the visitors tonight and it will be the biggest game of many of the players careers. They have started their season in far better shape than ourselves, picking up 17 points from the first 9 games.

Defence

Carl Jenkinson will come in for his first game since his red card at Old Trafford. He is likely to be partnered by the out of sorts Johan Djourou who is desperately in need of some good fortune. It is amazing to think that before his shoulder injury at Old Trafford he was seen as a vital part of this Arsenal team. Whenever he played we won and he was growing into his role, a calming figure at the heart of our defence and he formed a very good relationship with Laurent Koscielny which let in the fewest goals in open play over the course of last season. For some reason that is now a long way away and it is important that he finds some form quickly. The other two players are not quite as easy to guess. There is an argument that Mertesacker needs as many games as possible to adjust to our game but given that we already have Vermaelen injured and important Premier league games coming up, you would imagine that keeping our first teamers fit would be the priority. Ignasi Miquel is a young player who is close to the first team and he needs games, he would be a good left footed balance to Djourou’s right.

Just to totally contradict myself, I think Andre Santos should play as he looked short of match fitness at the weekend. He looked a step behind the others, unfortunately literally when it came to the Blackburn first goal. He has plenty of work to get anywhere near the fitness of our former left back.

Having said that, Kieran Gibbs has not looked his best since returning from injury and another 90 minutes may bring him closer to his best form.

Midfield

Emmanuel Frimpong will be a certain starter in the midfield engine room. It will be interesting to see who partners him. Yossi Benayoun should start as the more creative player while Francis Coquelin is another option. I am not quite sure if Tomas Rosicky has recovered from his injury. If he has then I would imagine he would start the game. I suppose much depends on the formation that Arsene decides to play.

Attack

Ju Young Park will be a certain starter and I would imagine that Marouane Chamakh will also start the game so that throws up some interesting questions. Which position will Ju Park play? Chamakh can only really play as a central striker so Park will either join Chamakh up front or play a wider role. If Park plays a wider role then one of Ryo or Chamberlain will have to drop to the bench. If Wenger does revert to 4-4-2 then one of the midfielders will have to drop down to the bench so I am intrigued to know what will happen there.

Injuries

Many of the first team injuries will be irrelevant tonight as not many of those players would not have played if fit. Tomas Rosicky is one of the players who may have featured but I have not heard anything of hus injury since he missed the match against his former club in the Champions league.

Injured list:

Bacary Sagna, Abou Diaby, Jack Wilshere, Thomas Vermaelen, Tomas Rosicky, Sebastien Squillaci

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up (4-3-3)

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up (4-4-1-1)

Hopefully we do get the chance to see both Ryo and Chamberlain in wide areas regardless of the system that is played. Both players are quick and can provide good quality crosses. Both Chamakh and Park are good in the air so it would give us an extra dimension in attack.

I just hope we can get to see a fluid game of quick attacking football and that the youngsters play with a freedom that has been missed from the seniors in recent months. There will be plenty of quality on show so lets get behind these youngsters.