I would first like to say good bye to Adebayor. I was at T in the Park last week so managed to miss the majority of hype regarding the loss of our *STAR* striker.

I was excited at the prospect of getting £25m for him last season when he was on cracking form and he has been average and we still got that. Whoop Whoop great deals. £25m can buy you about 1 and a half Arshavin's or about 200 Kolo Toures.

The chat was that Adebayor was angry about the way the fans treated him and wanted to be a fans favourite. This would have been the case if he hadn't demanded a massive contract and put ZERO effort into his football, while constantly touting a move to AC Milan.

His true colours have finally shown through now. He has chosen money over football. He will categorically not start for city unless they opt for a 4-1-5 formation or unless there is a terrorist attack on the CoM stadium while he is picking a fight with Togo team mates or trying to kiss Henry's arse.

Even if Wenger is only allowed to spend half of the money we can still get a pretty steady defensive midfielder for £10-15m. Things are looking good.

If we are looking for a striker I am an admirer of Marouane Chamakh but I think Andre-Pierre Gignac is the player we are after. He has a much better goal per game ratio, is younger and seams to work harder.

To be honest out attacking options are an embarrassment of riches at the moment so boost the defensive side of things and we are sorted and might even win a trophy!!

It has come to that point in the season when there needs to be a decision about who the Arsenal hero and Villain have been this season.


Heroes


Samir Nasri for the 2 goals against Man U.


Carlos Vela for his Carling Cup hatrick, it was what can only be described as poetic.


Andrey Arshavin for the 4 goals against the Scousers.


Alex Song for his improvement over the season.


Manu Eboue for his season turn around, when he got sent off against S**rs something clicked and he has come back to his best.


Kieran Gibbs for stepping up and being solid in defence and making Clichy fight for his place. Oh and making Ronaldo look like an arse!


Stan Kroenke for being the man to counter any other "unwanted" shareholders.



Villains


Adebayor for his lack of commitment to the team throughout the summer, his laziness and wasting of so many chances. Then whinging about getting a hard time from the fans.


Everyone involved in the Arshavin transfer, it was a total pain in the neck, it was endless, filled with lies and TOTALLY WORTH IT!


The booing fans, because freedom of speech isn't welcome in football grounds - unless you are calling Cashley a c**t.


The bastard who keeps injuring Eduardo, we all know that when he has a fair crack at it he is going to score a bucket full.


Usmanov - I am going to be careful what I say here - He is as welcome as a case of seaside snappers.


Xabi Alonso not only did he not become an Arsenal player (rude) but also took Fabregas out for 3 months.



Add your own and there will be a poll when the best have been thought of.

"Arsenal have won that advantage, nobody gave it to them. By playing fantastic football and by winning matches and by winning trophies, they won that respect that the opponent has for them."
-Mourinho


The Current Bun, famous for reporting outright lies and treating readers like ignorant pricks have come out with Wenger being furious with the way he has been treated. Obviously Arsene would rather stick nettles up his backside than speak to one of their reporters so they have found an "insider".


Wenger to be fair probably is pretty pissed off with things. He has been badly treated and I think its poor, you don't need me to tell you what he has done for our club. On the other side of things he has become so obsessed with producing a brilliant youth team and it just hasn't happened.


Every self respecting Arsenal Blogger has expressed the need for a DMC and a powerful CB for at least the last season and it has taken all this time for it to be realised. It is so easy to say I told you so but the boss should have known, it was so clear that the team lacked balance.


With the recent display of Real interest from Arsene it made me think, what if he does go? Are we screwed? Who do we bring in?


ONE MAN...JOSE MOURINHO THE SPECIAL ONE. Everyone would be lying if they said the premiership would not be a more entertaining league with him and I am pretty sure Adebayor and Diaby might not have an automatic place in the team whether they want to play football or walk around with their finger up their bum. Jose promotes disipline.


On the other hand, we could just bring in the new Arsene Wenger, some random manager from the Japanese league or something. Good Times!

From my understanding of the match yesterday which I will have to conceed to be very limited because I was listening to it on ATVO. For the many useful services they offer the match show is not one of them, it has developed from match comentary into 2 blokes having a chat getting free seats at the Arsenal. They speak about very little of interest and just annoy me. Obviously When Romford Pele is involved it is epic and Adrian Clarke seems to talk a decent game even if Wenger shunned him!

The first few minutes were not getting my full attention because of the waffling and I was waiting for something to finish on Ebay. I missed a bargain and so I reached for the nearest consolation. In my quest to the fridge for cold refreshing consolation Wigan scored. In wishing the Arsenal defence was as tight as my wallet control the bad mood continued. I listened for the names of our star players to be read out but all I heard was a continual list of obscure players from our recent past in some stupid competiton type thing they were doing.

This game felt as helpless as the Fulham loss at the beginning of the season until things started to click. now we had taken the lead somehow. Then the fireworks came out and it was 4-1! Alex Song proving that its not just King Kolo who can make electric runs into the box with a stormer that made you wonder where the hell did that come from?!

Don't get me wrong I was livid with our performance for the first 50 minutes and the likes of Fabregas, Bendtner, Arshavin, Walcott and Denilson were totally invisible BUT great teams can play badly and win. This is growth in the squad, again look at the Fulham game.

I feel really sorry for poor Kieran Gibbs. With the loaning of Traore to Pompey we have eliminated any sort of leftback cover from Arsenal FC. Gibbs is left winger, this has never been quite as clear as yesterday. He looked totally lost and should have been sent off. It has left me questioning Wengers policy of playing players out of position when they are so young. He is dangerously close to breaking a young lads sprit. Especially when you have an old dog like Silvestre on the sidelines.


We are all hoping Djourou a quick recovery.

After a while of no action due to Dell customer service nightmares things are rolling again!


I managed to catch some of the game the other day. Admittedly I was sat in front of the TV all night but ITV caused me to miss Ade scoring the best goal he will ever score. That was frustrating but not as bad as the first half. In Wengers pre-match chat he said about the last game in Villarreal and the team being so nervous about the outcome that they played within themselves. I think this was the case last night.


There was a twitter about us signing Senna in the summer and with a shot like that it would be nice but to be honest, we don't need him now.

There are some brighter signs for the club at the moment, the most obvious is the return of Rosicky being the end of our season long injury problem.

Gallas didn't look good when he went off and coming back on could have done further damage. There is a real danger that given all the crap before Christmas he could well be off and has played his last ever game for the club. Six months ago this would have been a serious problem but Djourou looked very steady for the remainder of the match.

Almunia is set to be out for a couple of weeks but in reality will only miss a couple of matches. I think this is almost good for things. Obviously I like Almunia and think hes a really nice guy (rare for footballers) but goalkeeping is a funny business and it is important for a shakeup every so often. Fabianski has been pretty tidy in nets and a couple of important games with clean sheets will increase the competition for the 1 shirt.

Next up..... Villarreal v Arsenal
The Champions League returns and we find ourselves at the scene of our dramatic semi-final triumph three years ago. We will also play against some familiar faces with Robert Pires and Pascal Cygan in the Yellow Submarines (great nickname!) line-up. As ever the all-important away-goal will be vital in this one, and with our return to form we can be confident of a result.
The opposition – Villarreal
Still a relatively small club Villarreal’s rise to the top of the Primera Liga has been as dramatic as any in recent years. They have become regulars in the Champions League and, of course, reached the semi-finals in 2006. They are currently fourth in the Primera Liga, nine points adrift of third-placed Sevilla and just two ahead of Valencia in the race for European places.


Last time out: Arsenal 2 Man City Almeria 3 Villarreal 0
The Gunners coasted to victory at the weekend over a travel sick Man City side. Meanwhile their next opponents crashed to a disappointing defeat away at Almeria with former Gooner Hero Bobby Pires seeing red.


Last meeting Villarreal 0 Arsenal 0 25 April 2006
The Gunners reached their first ever Champions League final with a nervy 0-0 draw in El Madrigal. Kolo Toure's first-leg goal was enough though it could have been different had Jens Lehman not saved Juan Roman Riquelme's penalty two minutes from time.


Team News
Andriy Arshavin is cup-tied and so misses out. Wenger will have to decide on the match-fitness of Fabregas and Adebayor, who all came back successfully from injury on Saturday. Van Persie, Walcott and Nasri will face late fitness tests. Eduardo, Rosicky and Diaby are all definitely out.


Probable XI
Almunia,
Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy,
Fabregas, Song, Denilson, Walcott
Adebayor Van Persie


Key men
Arsenal –Fabregas
It was great to see the Spanish magician back in action on Saturday. Even though he isn’t match fit his class still shows, and he could play a key role in the game.
Villarreal – Robert Pires
A wonderful player for us, it will be interesting to see how he fares against his old team-mates.

Latest match odds

Match odds: Villarreal 2/1 Arsenal 7/4 The draw 9/4

Prediction
Villarreal have never lost a home Champions League game but with players coming back to form and fitness I fancy us to come away with a draw - and a vital away goal. 1-1 is my Champions League prediction.

Villarreal 1-1 Arsenal
Adebayor

Arsene and his men need a rocket up them. The attacking standard has been pretty close to pathetic recently. I don't want to hear any excuses from not taking the 3 points. Especially with Everton so close up behind (a team who recently won games with no strikers playing).

If I hear Wenger whinging about a team playing defensively I will jump onto the sack Arsene bandwagon that seems to have picked up momentum rapidly over the last few weeks. The reason I say this is because it is the most cowardly excuse in football and roughly translated it means - "my tactics are not good enough to beat this team who are bottom of the league (who are poor)".

It is odd when men get to a certain age they stop giving a damn about what others think. This may have happened to you with a father or brother or even yourself. I think it has happened to Wenger. He hangs around in press conferences saying things for his own amusement no thought of apologising to the fans or anything like that. He is old enough and successful enough to think he can do anything and we may well have to suffer as his current crop splutter in his final quest for glory.

Now Bendtner maybe poor and Song may not be Viera and Diaby may be invisible despite being huge but all of these players are being subject to a difficult role because of the lack of a backbone in the team at the moment. It is only one persons fault and that manager needs to pull his finger out or he will lose his reputation for being a managing god.

I have given Eboue a lot of stick over the last 2 years since he slipped from his brilliant season and CL final dive. I think he has deserved it because he has been going the way of Ade, given Theo's weak shoulders Eboue will always have a shot at an extended team run. This has been the case since some crap international has sidelined out England star for months.

Personally I think diving should be a straight red for a professional foul and if I was a manager I would fine players their match fee for cheating. Saying that, one of my all time Arsenal heroes Bobby Pires was never particularly stable on his feet! This leads me on to Eboue's attitude. He may be a cheating, arrogant moron but he is a footballer. His personality is not coming into it, it's like people having a go at Becks for being thick. My question to them is how come hes a dribbling idiot but yet he takes home 4 times more than you earn in a year a week.

Eboue is a joker in the changing room and it is important for moral to have people keeping the spirits up. He has also been played out of position since Sagna (the best rightback in the Prem) was brought in. This must have been a hard knock for Eboue and the introduction of Theo has meant Manu has gone from being a boy wonder to a dunce.

I praise his spirit and I haven't forgiven him for his sending off against Spurs for the soul reason that if he had stayed on he would have won us the game. Against Roma he was pretty steady as well and his link up play with Sagna has always been good. The amount of energy he has put in in Feb has been really positive and he may not be the best passer/finisher but he is a full-back being played out of position.

As Le Grove said about Wenger banging on about players not getting the praise they deserve. I think he is right about Eboue at the moment. He has upset the fans and it will take time for them to forgive his awful performances.


As we bask in 2nd place in the injury table behind those poor Geordies who it is safe to say nothing goes their way. We have 6 players out at the moment:-

Eduardo,
Ade,
Rosicky,
Theo,
Cesc,
Slivestre,

It seems that the end of our injury crippling is in sight. Apparently we should be back to our full complement by April. This is just in time for us to go on an epic 27 match unbeaten march. If that doesn't get us into the CL nothing will!


I decided it would be a good thing to set up some sort of silly twitter thing because apparently its the next big thing. To be honest the next big thing is going to be Ashavin but if you want to listen to my ramblings cut down then here they are


Villa...We GOONER GET YA

Next up..... Roma at home
The Champions league returns and an early chance to put the frustration of Saturday’s draw with Sunderland behind us. It’s going to be tough the competition to win outright, but there are lot tougher draws out there and I think we have a decent chance to progress at least to the quarter finals.


The opposition – Roma
After making a dreadful start to the campaign, Luciano Spalletti's side have gone on a seven-match unbeaten run since Christmas that has lifted them up to sixth in the Serie A table, rekindling hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.


Last time out: Arsenal 0 Sunderland 0 Roma 1 Siena 0
Another afternoon of frustration at The Emirates as Arsenal, even with new midfield maestro Arshavin, couldn’t break down a stubborn Sunderland defence. Roma meanwhile grabbed a narrow victory over Siena thanks to a goal from Brazilian Rodrigo Taddei.


Last meeting Arsenal 1 Roma 1 March 11 2003
A Patrick Vieira header put Arsenal in front after 12 minutes and Francesco Totti’s red card looked to have put the Gunners in control. But Antonio Cassano stunned Highbury when he rounded David Seaman and slotted home in first-half stoppage time.


Team News
Abou Diaby should be back after recovering from a thigh problem but Arsene Wenger is still without
Captain Cesc Fabregas (knee), Theo Walcott (shoulder), Tomas Rosicky (hamstring tendon), Eduardo and Emmanuel Adebayor (both hamstring). Andrey Arshavin meanwhile is ineligible after playing for Zenit earlier in the competition.

Probable XI
Almunia,
Sagna Gallas Toure Clichy
Eboue Denilson Diaby Nasri
Bendtner Van Persie

Key men

Arsenal –William Gallas
With so much firepower missing the priority has to be keeping a clean sheet at the other end. An away goal could be costly so a big performance is needed from the Frenchman,

Roma – Francesco Totti
One pf the best players of his generation, he has the ability to win the game on his own. He will need to be closely watched.
.

Latest match odds
Match odds: Arsenal 21/20 Roma 7/2 The draw 12/5

Prediction
I can’t see many goals in this one. We will be wary of conceding an away goal and Roma, being the typical Italian side they are, would quite happily play out a 0-0 draw. However I think Arsenal might snatch a goal and take a vital lead over to Italy.

Arsenal 1 Roma 0
Van Persie


football betting tips.

There seems to be a lot of negativity flying around the Arsenal sites since our 3rd Prem double point drop. I must say I was expecting much better from the team playing a pretty average Black Cats side missing star players. On the bright side Villa and Everton both drew, even Liverpool drew but the chances of catching them are pretty limited. I often see the Ebel ads for predicting the earliest goal of the month and have thought one month we won't score, it won't happen.

It is becoming more of a talking point whether Arsenal make it into the Champs League and I am not worrying about it until we have 10 games left this season. As fans bitch and moan about us being financially ruined not qualifying for the CL i begin to think about their thinking method. Our board who have justified building the second biggest club ground in the league will have obviously accounted for a dip in form at some point and us not qualifying for the CL will not ruin us and cause us to drown in a pool of debt.

My next point is a bit odd because I am going to compare us to Spurs, this is something they spend their lives doing with us. We have NEVER lost! If you look at the amount of money they have spent over the last 5 years signing (and resigning) players only to play in the UEFA cups first couple of rounds, they can somehow make the figures work so it won't be a problem for a financially responsible club.

Remember what built Jose's reputation? Winning the UEFA Cup and then the CL with Porto. It could be done by Arsene.

Missing a CL place will mean our whole squad will vanish. Obviously this is an almost direct quote from the mirror or some other fictional news source. I would say that any player who is willing to leave after missing the CL for one season because of their own poor form deserves to go. There are only a couple of players at the moment who deserve their shirt.

Our Back 4 have obviously been sound and Almunia has been rock solid as usual. People ask why we are not scoring goals and I think the base of the problem can be found in midfield. Although Song and Denilson have both been sound they are not exactly the key to unlocking defences. Add to that Clichy has stopped making as many forward runs and Bendtner starting.

Wenger refuses to admit that there is a problem. I think this reflects really badly on him for not taking responsibility. A conversation with Wenger seems like it would go like this :-

"you aren't beating teams Arsene?"
"Oh they are defending too much"
"do they do the same against Man U?"
"Yes"
"do United win?"
"yeah"
"why aren't you then Arsene?"
"dunno"


Some cretin a while ago had a go at me saying "you don't remember the days when we had the likes of Steve Marrow and we were bad" it has eaten away at me ever since and really annoyed me so to him any other fans who lack the ambition to criticise the squad I say to you "you don't remember the 2 doubles, an UNBEATEN SEASON, countless FA Cups and a CL final in the last 10 years. Why aren't we doing that now?"

We have had a fair number of injuries this season but in saying that who has been brought into the first team and actually shown they deserve to be there? Or at least not looked like they were a reserve? I would say Djourourou was the only one.

I just think that Arsenal have lost their soul and have no real fight. Sad times.

Oh and UEFA isn't nailed on the way they have been playing. Bendtner mate, you might want to turn your talk into action because no one likes people who are all chat.

I am not speaking about Eduardo, Although I haven't been quite as animated about a Croatian goal for 9 or so months (since Scott Carson upset me) I was delighted to hear that Dudu set up the winner. I am just glad to hear that he is back.

I was actually speaking about my return to blogging. Since this is purely a hobby I will drift in and out of it depending on my interest levels. This has no link to how much I love the club, that is a constant. How much the club upsets me is a different factor!

Since the Arshavin signing and Spurs match I have struggled to write anything that any other Gooner will write.

Eboue is a tool, Fact. However I think it was his best 20 odd minutes of the season. He genuinely played well, looked interested and scored a legitimate goal. I also think he is the only player since the invincibles to actually have a go at our dirty neighbours, he just did it in the wrong way.

I shall give an insight into my journalistic skillz (they are on a par with a West Indian groundsman), I always try and avoid swearing, I would consider myself to be fairly articulate and think I can get around most frustrating Arsenal situations but fuck me Nick Bendtner, what a prick!

I say this because I have reached the end of my tether with his arseholery. At the end of January I started to write an article praising his return to something regarding form. He has scored a couple of important goals. This is as far as I got.

"Having given him a fairly tough time during November and December I think it is only fair that we recognise his commitment and he has obviously worked hard to improve. He has scored a couple of important goals and has bounced back from a spell of seriously poor form.

I think it is important to look at a players growth at his age and baring in mind he is only 21 he will develop a lot over the years."

for some reason or other this article did not get finished, I am glad it didn't for I am ashamed of it.

The Bendtner I saw against Spurs made me feel something close to hate. Adebayor has been terrible in 2009. When he was scoring goals in 2008 he lost the thing Gooners loved about him - his massive work rate. now he ambles about and if he gets a goal then its OK but he wont look for one.

Nick the prick wandered onto the pitch as if he owned it and took up the single striker role and as far as I was concerned Fabianski could have done a better job. If Sky still did their playercam thing the Bendtner cameraman would not have had to move his lens from the centre spot. He is one of those rare players who it would appear everything he touches turns to shit.

Having just read a factually inaccurate article about Bendtner's views on team selection in one of the red tops my feelings of almost hate were pushed over the edge. His disrespect for our new signing and his inflated ego just make me think what a ball bag.

I can remember watching Arsenal V Reading in the 2005/06 Carling cup. I had managed to get amazing seats at Highbury and was exited to see Bendtner and Lupoli, I can remember thinking The Italian was 3 times the player Bendtner was. I would still say that and Lupoli is at Norwich!

The trouble is he can't pass, can't really shoot well enough and relies on things being totally on a plate. Personally I can't see him in a non-relegation battling club.

You should start every game Nic? ahead of van persie, Ade, Arshavin, Eduardo, Walcott, Vela, Sunu? No Nic FUCK OFF

Next up.....Spurs Away

After all the transfer madness we can now concentrate on the footie and where better to start then helping Spurs on their way to relegation. Andrey is finally on board and should give our midfield a much needed creative boost – if he is passed fit. While Spurs seem intent on buying back all their previous failures.


The opposition – Spurs

They never learn do they? Just as Ramos cleared out much of the deadwood loveable ‘Arry decides to buy them all back! Whoever is playing for them though they still find themselves in the relegation zone - again! Nothing would bring a smile to my face more than to see them finally pay the price for consistently signing over-priced and over-rated players while believing they have a divine right to challenge for top honours. They can’t even make the new Messi work for them, Giovanni de Santos is a player I would have liked to see at Arsenal but now he is tainted!


Last time out: Arsenal 0 West Ham 0 Bolton 3 Spurs 2

More frustration last time out as we failed to break down a West Ham side determined to play 11 men behind the ball and pray for a point. Our dirty neighbours meanwhile crashed to defeat at fellow strugglers Bolton, complete with some comedy goal-line defending from David Bentley, another Lillywhite who has had his career ruined by a trip down the wrong side of Holloway Road.


Last league meeting at White Hart Lane - Spurs 1 Arsenal 3 September 15 2007

Gareth Bale gave Spurs a 15th minute lead but the Gunners fought back in the second half. Two goals in 15 minutes from Adebayor and Fabregas put the Gunners in front before Adebayor finished things off with a stunning 25 yard volley in injury time.

Team News.
Wenger must decide on the fitness of new-boy Andrey Arshavin who hasn’t played since the Russian league finished in November. Abou Diaby misses out through suspension after picking up his fifth booking of the season against West Ham. Robin Van Persie is pushing for a recall after being ‘rested’ last weekend.

Probable XI

Almunia
Sagna Toure Gallas Clichy
Arshavin/Eboue Denilson Song Nasri
Adebayor Van Persie

Key Battle
Everyone on the pitch – lets get stuck in!

Key men

Arsenal – Robin Van Persie
Scored a stunner last week against Everton and is capable of doing so again on Sunday, if Wenger decides to pick him (which he should).

Spurs – Robbie Keane
After failing miserably at Liverpool Keane is back at Spurs and bizarrely back as captain. It will be interesting to see whether he can turn his season around.

Football Betting tips with Betfair

Match odds: Spurs 11/5 Arsenal 6/4 Draw 12/5

Local derbies are always going to be full bloodied and passionate and Sunday will be no exception. But Arsenal can’t afford to lose anymore games if they want to secure a Champions League spot. Tottenham are in trouble at the wrong end of the table and even though they will no doubt raise their game, I think the Gunners will have enough to win. A 2-1 away win has decent odds of 10-1

Prediction

Spurs 1(Keane) Arsenal 2 (Van Persie 2)


Written by Tom Mallows, sports writer for Betfair. Check them out for the latest Cheltenham betting odds.

We could have done without a FA Cup replay further clogging up the fixture list but a winnable home home draw in the next round is a small consolation. Back in the league and the Everton game represents a great chance for us to get back into fourth place. You always get a physical game against The Toffees but if we can match them early on we have enough quality to go on and win.

The opposition – Everton

With its cramped wooden seating, small concourses and obstructed views Goodison Park is very much an old school football Ground - The Emirates it aint. But compared with most of the soulless new stadia springing up across the country (obviously excluding The Emirates - The Riverside springs to mind!) the atmosphere is second to none and it will be sadly missed if Everton’s controversial move to a new stadium in Kirkby goes ahead.
As for the team? Well, a difficult side to play at the best of times, Everton have found a new level of resilience in recent weeks following an injury crisis among their strikers. Shorn of Saha (rather predictably) Vaughan and Yakubu David Moyes has called on midfielder Tim Cahill to play on his own up front – and it has proved extremely effective. Eight games unbeaten with just 2 goals conceded means it will be another tough trip for the Gooners.

Last time out: Cardiff 0 Arsenal 0 Liverpool 1 Everton 1

Everton joined Arsenal in the hat for the FA Cup fifth round but like Arsenal will need to win a replay in order to confirm their place.
The Gunners had the better of it against Cardiff in the second half at Ninian Park and perhaps were a little disappointed not to grab the win. But for a side that is often accused of being a soft touch against so called lesser sides away from home, the teams’ resilience and determination against a tough physical Cardiff side bodes well for the rest of the campaign. A home draw against West Brom or Burnley should provide enough motivation for Wenger’s men to get past the Bluebirds in the replay.
Everton meanwhile, still suffering a striker shortage, were also deprived of influential midfielders Mikel Arteta and Maourane Fellaini for the clash with Liverpool at Anfield. But they still claimed a credible 1-1 draw – their second in a week at the home of their bitter rivals. If they can get some of their injured stars back for the replay is should prove another tough night for Rafa’s men.

Last league meeting at Goodison

30/12/2007 Everton 1-4 Arsenal

Despite going into the break a goal down thanks to that man Tim Cahill, the Gunners roared back in the second half. First a quick fire double from Eduardo put the Gunners in front before a Tim Howard mistake allowed Adebayor to nip in. Mikel Arteta saw red for Everton after an elbow on Fabregas before Tomas Rosicky grabbed a fourth in injury time.

Team News.

Gael Clichy returns after a one match ban and looks set to replace youngster Kieran Gibbs at left back. Manuel Almunia looks set for a recall in place of ‘cup keeper’ Fabianski. Wenger also must decide whether to recall William Gallas in place of Johan Djourou. The Frenchman only made it to the bench on Sunday after recovering from a hamstring strain.

Probable XI

Almunia
Sagna Toure Gallas Clichy
Denilson Eboue Diaby Nasri
Adebayor Van Persie

Key Battle
Denilson v Arteta – Nearly all of Everton’s attacking play comes through the Spaniard, if he can be contained the Gunners have a great chance of victory.

Key men

Arsenal – Emmanuel Adebayor
The big striker hasn’t reached the heights of last season and has been frustratingly inconsistent. But on his day he can be a world beater and has more than enough quality to breach a solid looking Everton defence.

Everton – Tim Cahill
The Australian is one of those players you love to have in your team but hate to play against. He is always in the defenders faces, isn’t afraid of a tackle, and has an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time to grab crucial goals – just ask Liverpool.


football betting. tips.


Odds: Everton 85/40 Arsenal 8/5 The draw 12/5

This is a game both teams can’t really afford to lose. Arsenal’s grip on a Champions League place is under threat because of the form of both Everton and Villa. The Toffees will look to take full advantage of any slip ups to close the gap. Because of this I think it will be tight and would be tempted to go for a 1-1 draw at decent football odds. tips. of 6-1.


Prediction
Everton 1 (Cahill) Arsenal 1 (Adebayor)