Wigan Preview: Selection Problems & Competition Winner 23 November, 2007

I cannot express enough how much I loathe fucking international breaks. Just as it looked like we had our full squad back available again we’ve got a load more injuries to deal with going into the busiest period of the season. Denilson, Diarra and Eduardo could get a start tomorrow as we have six players out of the game, Fabregas is suspended and Gilberto only comes back from his Brazil duties today which should make him miss the game. You never know though, he could offer himself fit to play but it’s up to Wenger. The others are Hleb who looks like he’ll be out for about 3 weeks, Flamini who’ll be out for a week, Diaby is also out for 3 weeks and Van Persie isn’t fit enough yet but we might see him next weekend.

Recently I’ve been talking about our wealth of midfielders but after one international break we’re down to slim pickings. It looks like it’ll be Denilson and Diarra, a ‘Carling Cup’ partnership in midfield. They’re still quality players though and thankfully we have this sort of talent available in depth. I’m sure those two will we right up for this and they’ll make the most of their chance. As I said, there is the possibility of Gilberto playing but I would guess at those other two starting.

Up front I was looking forward to seeing Van Persie back playing again but it’s going to have to be one of Walcott and Eduardo to partner Adebayor. Both did well on international duty and I really have no idea which one will get the nod. You could argue this is the sort of game that Theo would love to star in and we should give him the opportunity, however Eduardo put in a good performance against England on Wednesday and he could continue that form in the league.

In defence Senderos is back but he’ll only get a place on the bench. It’ll be the same back four that have done so well this season. Just thought I’d add what a signing Sagna is looking to be. He’s a great right back and he’s come in and looked a part of this team straight away.

So here’s my guess and a somewhat makeshift team:

I’ve gone for Eduardo, don’t ask me why. Theo is a great option to have on the bench and I wouldn’t be surprised if he came on at some point.

As for the opposition, they’ve lost something like 7 in a row and have replaced Tottenham in the relegation zone. Their manager has been sacked who’ll be replaced by Birmingham’s Steve Bruce. The deal hasn’t been fully agreed yet so they’ll have a caretaker manager in charge of tomorrow’s game. Emile Heskey’s back and he always seems to score important goals against us. Toure will have to keep an eye on him.

Truthfully, I think we’ll win. We’re missing a few players and we’ll have to see how we get on without Fabregas but I think there’s still far too much talent in our team for the struggling Wigan and we should win comfortably. I can’t wait to get back down to The Grove tomorrow; it’s been far too long. I’ll get a match report up Saturday night or Sunday.

Entries for the t-shirt competition closed at midnight last night and I can reveal that the lucky winner was Paddy Kelly from Northern Ireland. Well done Paddy and enjoy the shirt. Thanks to everyone for entering and hopefully we’ll have some more competitions for you in the New Year.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the game.