Anyway, enough of the negativity and onto why we are good enough to win this game. European nights at the Emirates are usually very good with the players responding to the supporters. I think that explains why our home record in the Champions League is actually very good. Recent nights against Porto, Villarreal and of course Barcelona were all amazing. A stark contrast to some of the

Let’s be real here for a moment, we are taking part in a game this evening that we really shouldn’t be. The players should be sat at home playing FIFA or watching Manchester City play this game a few days after their opening Premier League fixture of the new season.

Our free fall last season has meant that we face one of the most important ties in Arsene Wenger’s reign as manager of this great club.

To make matters worse, our most clinical and most creative striker is unavailable due to shooting on goal a second after the referee’s whistle. Usually many feel the advantage is with the team who plays at home in the second leg but I would have been more than happy to have played today’s game at the Emirates first if we had Van Persie and Jack Wilshere available for selection.

Instead we face the prospect of trying to take a healthy lead with us away in the second leg without our best striker. Our form at the Emirates has not been good for a while now and I don’t know how that would have been addressed during the pre season.

Anyway, enough of the negativity and onto why we are good enough to win this game. European nights at the Emirates are usually very good with the players responding to the supporters. I think that explains why our home record in the Champions League is actually very good. Recent nights against Porto, Villarreal and of course Barcelona were all amazing. A stark contrast to some of the 3pm kick off’s against teams that we expect to beat.

Gervinho’s red card on the weekend means that he will be unavailable domestically for three matches, so he needs to give everything he has into this game and hopefully make the difference in Van Persie’s absence. I suspect he will do just that. He was our biggest threat against Newcastle but fell just short in the end product stakes. We need a player at home who will lift the crowd from their seats which will in turn recycle itself back onto the pitch.

Tomas Rosicky has joined Jack Wilshere on the treatment table and neither will be available for selection so we could see a defensive double pivot of Alex Song and Emmanuel Frimpong sat in front of our back four, whoever is selected alongside those players in midfield could well have greater freedom to express themselves in attack. The obvious choice would be to have Aaron Ramsey playing in the same position that a former number four did during his time here instead of the midfield rotation that has been the preferred option whenever Ramsey has partnered Wilshere.

Another option would be to have Andrey Arshavin playing behind the forward knowing that two powerhouses will be sat waiting for the ball to fall into the midfield trap.

It would allow Theo Walcott and Gervinho to play in both wide areas around the central striker which would more than likely be Marouane Chamakh although according to Arsene, Nicklas Bendtner has a chance to be involved in the game as he looks far from lacking ‘a little bit sharpness’ in training.

I cannot think of one occasion when Arsene Wenger has started Arshavin in that position, although he has given him that role in periods in certain games. There is obviously a reason why Wenger doesn’t use that option very often so I am not going to lay any money on that taking place this evening, but I would love to see his explosiveness from that position. Arshavin is at his best when he has his head down skipping away from challenges with passing options left and right as well as the chance to offload one of those right footed sledgehammers into the top corner.

It remains to be seen whether or not the Italians will be the same force as they were last season. As you know Sanchez, Inler and Zapata have left while their replacements have yet to prove themselves in that very high bracket of player. I suppose the same can be said of Arsenal losing our captain, missing our best striker through suspension and a host of top players through injury. What our opponents have in their locker is a striker of real quality. Antonio Di Natale is a technical forward who has a rocket shot. One of the most intriguing battles will be Laurent Koscielny against Di Natale.

Koscielny has managed to keep the likes of Messi, Rooney and Tevez pretty quiet so let us see if he can continue his collection of smaller strikers ticked off his list. Koscielny could be our most important player tonight.

I needn’t tell you how important this game is, it is vital for our short term future. We have been down this route before and have done rather well until now, let us hope that we can continue our good run of qualifying into the Champions League.

Those lucky enough to have a ticket for the game tonight, should set aside any personal grievances that they may have with the team, manager or board. This is about Arsenal FC and not fans FC. We have seen how a supportive atmosphere can help the team. Last season’s match against Everton and Barcelona are great exaples. We were losing the game but the support continued and it visibly lifted the team to victory.

All Arsenal supporters should want the exact same thing tonight and that is victory, the only way to help the team achieve a win is to support from the first whistle until the last.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up

(Graphic created before news of Rosicky injury. Frimpong should start)

COME ON YOU GUNNERS.