The Dutchman is getting his groove back, he is finding his swagger at the right time. With practically his first touch of the ball at Elland road, he rose to score our third goal of the game. I believe that he will be pivotal to our attacking play this afternoon and hopefully his run of scoring goals will continue

Wigan Athletic does not bring back great recent memories. Our recent draw with them at the DW stadium was the only the second time that we dropped any league points since our 1-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford.

With the team going through a strong patch of form you would expect our players to have too much for a Wigan side that have only won one of their last nine matches away from the comfort of their own home in the Premier League.

Our squad players should be in good shape after turning over a spirited Leeds United side at Elland road during midweek but you would expect Arsene to field a somewhat stronger side for the game later on this afternoon.

Gael Clichy, Jack Wilshere, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie are likely to come back into the starting line up and I believe Wenger’s choice of rotation will be between Samir Nasri and Andrey Arshavin.

Samir Nasri played a big part in our victory at Elland Road and it was not just his footballing ability but he covered a large amount of ground in that game so I expect Nasri to either sit out today or against Ipswich on Wednesday.

Andrey Arshavin looks like he is close to turning the corner after working his socks off in Yorkshire but his work wasn’t quite rewarded. It wasn’t long ago when Arshavin was considered one of the first names on the team sheet so picking him for the game would not exactly be a risk, especially if you have a player like Nasri on the sidelines.

Lukasz Fabianski will have to spend more time on the treatment table with a shoulder problem, therefore Woijech Szczesny will continue to show what ability he has between the sticks.

Wenger has once again got to decide whether or not to rest Johan Djourou, his last breather came in the reverse fixture seven games ago. I would not be at all surprised to see Song drop back to center back with Denilson keeping his place in the center of midfield.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up:

One to watch: Robin Van Persie

The Dutchman is getting his groove back, he is finding his swagger at the right time. With practically his first touch of the ball at Elland road, he rose to score our third goal of the game. I believe that he will be pivotal to our attacking play this afternoon and hopefully his run of scoring goals will continue.

Mean Lean’s Match Prediction:

Arsenal 4 (Arshavin, Van Persie [2], Cesc) Wigan 0

As with all of our matches with Martinez’s Wigan, I expect plenty of goals as the opposition are not the parking the bus type of team, it has not been part of the managers make up. They hit us on the break back at their place, so I expect much of the same.

However it will be a totally different ball game at the Emirates and with our strongest available line up unlike the away game.

What frustrated me about that game was not the selection choice from Wenger, I totally understood and appreciated his decision to change the team 48 hours after such an energy sapping battle with Chelsea but I was disappointed with the lack of pressing and shutting down of the opposition from that team after it had served us so well against the West Londoners a couple days earlier.

That seems to be ingrained in the players minds now, Robin Van Persie spoke about it in a recent interview. so it will be interesting to see how the Wigan players deal with that.

I always fancy us, almost against anyone in the world when we are all working for each other and we pass the ball quickly. That is when we are at our best and if Cesc, Van Persie and co are sharp then I expect us to continue our winning run in the league.

THREE POINTS PLEASE ARSENAL!