It was the draw for the knockout round of the Champions League today and as I’m sure you know we got Porto. We can count ourselves a bit lucky as there were some really tough games in there. Stuttgart or Porto were the two teams you would pick if you had a choice so we haven’t done badly. It’s not the first time a Champions League draw has gone our way this season so at least something’s going right…

We’ve played Porto a few times in recent years so we know what to expect. It’s not going to be an easy game by any means but it’s one that I think we will be favourites for. The first leg is away on 17th February and it’s a difficult place to go, we lost 2-0 there last season. We’ll have to do a lot better this time around and try to get an away goal to set us up nicely for the 2nd leg. We beat them 3-0 at our place though and they will be just as scared, if not more about visiting us. Here’s the rest of the draw:

Stuttgart v Barcelona
Olympiakos v Bordeaux
Inter Milan v Chelsea
Bayern Munich v Fiorentina
CSKA Moscow v Sevilla
Lyon v Real Madrid
Porto v Arsenal
AC Milan v Manchester United
Liverpool v Oh wait they’re not in it…

Some tough ties there for Chelsea and Man United, both having to go to Milan. Here’s Arsene Wenger’s thoughts on drawing Porto:

“It is a 50/50 game. Porto are always in there and always difficult to play against. The little advantage is that we have the second game at home but it’s important that we negotiate well our first game and try to score away from home. It’s a difficult draw. Last season we had a very good game at home and away we lost 2-0. But it’s the Champions League, it’s a cup game now, it’s form of the day and I believe it’s feasible. Difficult but feasible.”

Pretty much spot on, as always. The game’s a couple of months away so lets save the build up for nearer the time but it’s a good draw and we should all be looking forward to it.

On to more pressing matters and that Hull City at home tomorrow. We all know what happened last year and hopefully it’s still fresh in the memory of the players. They should be going out there tomorrow for a bit of revenge. We beat them here in the FA Cup but that’s not enough, they need showing who’s boss.

Hull are not the same side as last season, they haven’t got that 1st season fever and Phil Brown’s head has got too big and orange for his own good. He’s been on the verge of a sacking this season already but I’m glad he’s held out for tomorrow’s game so we have the opportunity to ruin his Christmas.

He’s still bitter about our hilarious FA Cup win and I bet he still feels like a bit of an idiot about the whole spitting thing. That game Cesc Fabregas was injured and made the headlines by coming on the pitch afterwards to celebrate the win. He’s out again tomorrow and I’m sure he’ll be sat on the sidelines, hoodie on standby ready to cause ‘mayhem’ again. Seriously though, it’s a bit of a shame we’re without our captain because against Burnley he showed exactly the sort of attitude we need at the moment; this might be considered an easy game but every game needs the same work rate and Cesc knows how to lead by example. Hopefully he’ll be in the dressing room before the game and will let the boys know just how important it is to put the effort in. Another uninspiring performance is not good enough.

The news on his injury is 8-10 days out. So there is a chance he’ll be fit for the next game at Villa but don’t hold your breath. Also Denilson is back but no one else is fit to play so I think we might look something like this:

Almunia
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Silvestre
Song
Denilson – Diaby
Nasri – Arshavin – Eboue

I’ve chosen Eboue because Walcott has played a lot recently and I think he might come off the bench. I know he’s trying to regain match fitness but he hasn’t really impressed either so I wouldn’t mind seeing him drop to the substitutes. I think Almunia will remain in goal despite his clear lack of confidence, I just don’t see Wenger dropping him right now but if Fabianksi does come in then it wouldn’t surprise me one bit. Silvestre at left back will be a bit of a weakness so we have to keep an eye on that too.

The amount of players we have out is ridiculous but that’s still an eleven that should be good enough to beat Hull. We’ve still got Gallas & Vermaelen, we’ve sill got Song and we’ve still got Arshavin who looks our greatest threat at the moment.

Hull have nowhere near as many problems as we do. They’re without Bullard who picked up yet another injury a couple of weeks ago but they might have Daniel Cousin back for tomorrow. Geovanni will play and we all remember him from last year, lets not allow him so much space this time ay?

We might’ve had a disappointing draw in the week but the best way to forget about that is to win confidently tomorrow. Man United are playing Fulham and Chelsea have West Ham and I’m expecting them both to win so lets not fall any further behind by dropping points.

Here’s to a strong win and a small orange explosion on the touchline. Thanks for reading.