Some Gooners have been calling for centre back, Kolo Toure to take over from Henry as captain. They might get their wish granted tomorrow as Wenger is considering resting Thierry after playing 90 mins for France and vice captain, Gilberto will miss the game as a family member is sick and he is over in Brazil. Also, Freddie Ljungberg recovered from his calf injury recently after 5 weeks out and was therefore fit for Sweden’s selection for the internationals; he got that injury with Sweden and now this time round his picked up something else. He didn’t play for Sweden as he got food poisoning whilst with the team and now he’ll miss the game tomorrow. I’m sure Wenger isn’t over the moon. That’s two times in a row Sweden have made Freddie unavailable to Arsenal, however he is expected to recover from that and play against Hamburg on Tuesday.

With Ljungberg, Gilberto and Rosicky out, and Baptista now injury-free we might see THE BEAST starting tomorrow. I hope Bap does get the chance, I’m a big fan of the Brazilian and I hope he can deliver at Arsenal. Lehmann is back after sitting out against Liverpool so the back 5 will be as you’d expect. Then I think we’ll play a 5-man midfield of Hleb, Fabregas, Baptista, Flamini and Van Persie. I bit different to usual but I think/hope that’s what Wenger will go for. I understand that Theo Walcott picked up an injury with the U21’s so I don’t think he is in the squad, I’m not sure though. Then I think it’ll be Thierry Henry up front despite Arsene saying he might rest him; I think Wenger has just said that to tell the France coach off basically, I reckon Titi will actually be ok for the game but of Wenger does actually rest him then I think it’ll be Adebayor to replace him.

Even with a slightly weakened side we’ve still got some real talent in there and there’s no reason why this 11 should struggle against Newcastle. The opposition aren’t a bad team though, a great ‘keeper and Martins is a real threat up front. The defence will have to concentrate hard tomorrow and our finishing has to be spot on. I predict a 2-0 win but this match really could be anything, Newcastle are 18th and not doing well and we could stick a few past ‘em but on paper they are a strong team and could cause us some problems. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

There isn’t alot of Arsenal news apart from the injuries etc. Wenger thinks Thierry Henry should win the Ballon D’Or this time round. He’s arguably one of the best strikers in the world but has never won the European Footballer of the Year award. Real Madrid’s Fabio Cannavaro is reported to pick up the award ahead of our captain. Cannavaro had a great World Cup going all the way with Italy but Thierry got to that final too and reached the Champions League final in May and became the record goalscorer for Arsenal. Cannavaro is a cheating Juve bastard who’s had a good year and now looks likely to steal the prize. It’s strange that Titi has never won it and Arsene feels this should be his year:

“Congratulations to Cannavaro if that is the case - but for me there is only one candidate this year and that is Thierry Henry. It is unfortunate and it is not right that he does not have the recognition. Thierry just deserves it. He was the top goalscorer in England, the best player in England, the second-highest goalscorer in Europe behind Luca Toni. He played in the Champions League final and he played in the World Cup final. He lost one on penalties and he lost the other in the last few minutes with 10 men. Overall I do not think the fact that a team wins on penalties can make such a difference. When you look at what this guy has achieved in his career as a player I can tell you there are some players in the Ballon d’Or who have a lot to answer for when you compare them to Thierry Henry.”

Arsene is right and I do hope Henry wins the Ballon D’Or, if it’s not this year I don’t know when it’ll be to be honest. He’s come runner-up for the World Player of the Year a couple of times but remarkably has never won the European prize.

Nicklas Bendtner’s loan at Birmingham has been extended until the end of the season. Bendtner has been doing really well for Championship side and Steve Bruce was keen for Nick’s loan to be extended. There’s an option in the loan for us to bring him back to Arsenal if we need him due to injuries, but hopefully we won’t need that. There’s talk of making the move permanent in the summer, I’d hate it if he did go and I’m sure Wenger won’t want him too but I fear that Nick will enjoy the regular football there and ask to move there.

Sorry for not posting for a few days, didn’t get a chance but there wasn’t much news anyways. I’ll get a match report up asap but it won’t be until after tomorrow as I’ve got to rush from North London to work after the game and won’t get a chance to post. Until then, enjoy the game.