Earlier today we had the pre-Liverpool press conference which has generated quite a bit of news. However there was a lot more talk on the recent back to back losses and where Arsenal’s season goes from here rather than tomorrow night’s 3rd vs. 4th clash.

Arsene Wenger was quick to cool the situation down, back the team and wasn’t going to let the media stir up any trouble:

“It looks to me quite easy to solve having looked at the way we have conceded the last two goals and that is it. It is important that we support each other and show solidarity and show that people who try to destroy that are not right.

This is a team that really wants to win and you have seen that on Sunday until the last minute of the game. Of course when you find yourself running after the score and you are playing against big teams, you threaten to be caught on the counter-attack and that’s what [happened with] the second goal on Sunday.

When it is 0-0, we don’t over-commit but we have found ourselves in the position in the last two games where we have to take massive gambles. That puts you in a difficult situation.”

It’s a shame we conceded so early in both games against Man United and Chelsea and I’m sure it would’ve ruined our game plan. However we still shouldn’t be caught on the break at 1-0 down so early in the game, there’s no need to take ‘massive gambles’ and risk conceding another when there’s so long of the game to go.

He talked about not naming and shaming and says we can look where we went wrong and change that next time. However Gael Clichy must but put mainly to blame for both goals on Sunday. As much as I love the guy he’s not playing well at all right now and when Wenger says he will look at the problems, the problem was Clichy. I’m not saying that we should’ve played someone else at left back but Gael broke basic defending rules for both Chelsea’s goals and really needs to get his head screwed on.

Arsene refuses to give up the title race although members of the Chelsea squad are saying we’re already out of it. I’d agree that it is unlikely now but Wenger has reminded us that we have an advantage with the fixtures we have got left, and after this week we wont have to play the top four again. He says that in sport luck constantly changes and if we refuse to give up we might find ourselves back in the hunt in a few weeks.

That’s what we have to hope for now really. It’s the Arsenal way to just keep going until the very end – until the final whistle and until it’s mathematically impossible. That is what we need to do now. The way this season has gone United and Chelsea are bound to lose and draw a few more games this season, it’s our job to drop less points than them and win as many as we can along the way. We must go on an unbeaten run now if we are to have any chance, I think if we lost any more games then that will be that.

This attitude has got to start tomorrow night because if it doesn’t we’re going to find ourselves looking at the teams below, rather than above us. Liverpool want to fight us for third now and will be just two points behind us if they win tomorrow. Th threat isn’t just them either, Tottenham aren’t far behind and Man City will be even closer if they win their two games in hand they have over everyone.

Arsene was also questioned about his transfer intentions this January. He’s adamant that he did try to bring players in but made the point that our problems at the moment are defensive rather than going forward. To an extent he’s right but we only managed to score one deflected goal in the two games against United and Chelsea. We didn’t have one single fit striker and he goes on about having to find someone that is better than what we already have… but if you don’t have a striker then surely anyone is better than what you already have! It’s no use keeping on about his lack of action in the transfer window – it’s over now. You can hardly be surprised though, he always does this and it’s very frustrating. I really thought he was going to make some addition this times because it was very clear we needed them.

He didn’t give anything away about Chamakh but you have to think that we are the favourites to land him. The fact that he’ll probably be joining us on a free in the summer probably had something to do with our lack of action this window. I guess a loan would’ve been more appropriate last month and I’ve heard we did try and secure some loan deals in addition to the Campbell signing but it didn’t happen.

All we can do now then is wait for our strikers to get back to full fitness. Robin van Persie wont be back until at least the end of April so we can almost forget about him. Eduardo will miss tonight but we should have him back for next week. Bendtner is slowly returning but he is clearly not fit enough to start a game yet. Carlos Vela and Theo Walcott are not really effective enough to be considered options at the moment; Vela is apparently out injured but Walcott is available. The Englishman just needs games now though, he will get better I’m sure of it but everyone’s patience is wearing a bit thin at the moment. If we weren’t so injury ridden I’d suggest a few reserve games to get his confidence up but we need him in the first team squad.

We just have to take every game as it comes now and hope United and Chelsea drop points. However I think the most immediate task at hand is to keep Liverpool at bay by beating them tomorrow. There’ll be a match preview at some point tomorrow afternoon so I will speak to you then. Thanks for reading.

In yesterday’s preview I spoke about our chances of losing and how the winners would go on to be strong title favorites. Well it happened and we’re now the clear outsiders in this title race. We’re 9 points off the top and it’s going to have to take another big turnaround to get back in this. Yesterday I ended the blog by saying:

“Lose, well I just hope I’m not sat here tomorrow talking once again about missed chances, defensive lapses and poor displays.”

I’d like to assess that now, I think missed chances are unfortunately once again a talking point. Arshavin should’ve put us level at 1-1 when Fabregas lifted the ball over the defence to his feet. His shot came straight off the leg of Cech which was extremely unlucky, it would’ve been a great goal and changed the game. We had chances in the second half too, Nasri found himself one-on-one but hesitated and lost the chance and Fabregas almost bent in a low free kick – had either of them gone in it could’ve been a different story.

Defensive lapses? Well as a team I think we defended much better than against United. Yes, we were caught out on the break which was something we were meant to put a stop to but I think yesterday’s defensive errors were more down to individual problems. For the first, Clichy was on the back post, as he should be but then decided to walk across goal into the box to have a natter about something leaving his corner completely open for Drogba to put it in.

For the second, Chelsea broke on us but we still had men with the ball. Clichy had his man but for reasons unknown to me he left him and started to drift infield. Not to mark anyone, just came infield for no reason. The only thing I can think of is if he thought he was back on his own and was doing his best to cover all angles but he had two or three men back with him! When Clichy realised he got over to Drogba as fast as he could but he made it easy for the African to side step him and made it 2-0. I could moan about Almunia’s lack of effort to get the save in but we should’ve stopped the ball long ago.

However that last part I mentioned, ‘poor displays‘ I think we righted that wrong at least. We had something like 70% possession and most of the game was played in Chelsea’s half. We played well and a lot of people said afterwards we were the better team. However we lacked Chelsea’s cutting edge, their extra bit of quality and their rock solid defence. Yeah we played well but playing well isn’t always enough. Sometimes it helps if you actually have a striker on the pitch too…

We kept going and going which was to be expected but never found that first goal. We really should’ve converted those chances we had but to be fair they were pretty much all the chances we had. We pressured and pressured had loads of corners and worked the ball well but not much ever came of it. We were sending in a lot of crosses from wide which baffled me when our best headers of the ball in the middle were Walcott and Fabregas (who I should mention nearly scored a header with about 10 minutes to go). Also Cech was claiming almost every ball in the air, it was easy for him defending against seven dwarfs.

Wenger said before the game that you would be able to see our ‘mental strength’ that he keeps going on about and I guess he was right. However I find myself a bit pissed off with the Arsenal manager today. In the week he said something about ‘in England everyone thinks every problem is resolved by signings’. Well if your problem is not having one single fit striker then I’m sorry but the solution to that is bringing in a striker. It’s simple. At the beginning of the window he said we would be active and we would be looking to bring someone in quickly but we were left waiting all month.

He can go on about money and about how we have enough strikers in our squad but when do we ever have a fully fit squad? It’s frustrating that Wenger has this mentality of ‘we’ll be better next year’ and ‘give the current team a chance’ when they are quite clearly problems that can be solved straight away. We were so, so close to a (pre-mature?) title challenge this year but he just chose to stick with what we’ve got. He took a gamble and he lost.

It’s a shame because we’re getting so close but ending up so far.

So just one point out of a possible nine in this decisive run of four games. We’ve lost two our two main title rivals and I don’t think you can really argue that we’re the third best team in the league. Man United were just better than us last weekend and the same was true at Chelsea yesterday. This young team still needs time but one day we will get there.

Next up it’s Liverpool and for the first time in months we find ourselves looking down on the table. Liverpool have crawled back up the league and a win at our place Wednesday night would bring them within two points of us. We cannot let that happen. Yesterday was a must-not-lose but we lost, Wednesday we really cannot afford to lose. All the talk today on the official site is that we will keep going right until then end with this title challenge, well then we better win some games, starting against Liverpool in a couple of days time.
Build up to that in the next couple of days. Until then.

Last Sunday was massive, and seven days later we’re playing in a game just as important. OK it didn’t go quiet to plan against Man United but we can forget about that if we win today. We could get ourselves three points behind Chelsea today and four behind United with a win, and with our run-in that’s a title challenging position for sure.

However lose and we will be 9 points behind Chelsea and lacking confidence going into Wednesday’s game against Liverpool who could in turn beat us and find themselves two points behind us.

I’d like to believe we’ve been really focused on the task at hand this week. Wenger cancelled the players’ day off after the United game to get ready for today. There’s hasn’t been much news on the official site either, I don’t think we’ve been faffing around with interviews, crossbar challenges and Super Soaker contests this week – I hope it’s been strictly business.

It needs to be really because lets face it last weekend was not good enough. We need to highlight where we went wrong and get it right for today. I don’t want to see us caught out in defence again, there’s no excuse. There should be complete concentration for the entire 90 minutes because that’s what it’s going to take to win this game.

Unfortunately we’re not boosted by the return of anyone. Diaby had a fitness test yesterday and I guess we wont find out the results of that until an hour before kick off this afternoon. I’m guessing he’ll be on the bench; with Liverpool in the week and Porto coming up we don’t want to force him out for longer. We already know Vela and Eduardo are out but Nicklas Bendtner is apparently not fit to start either. It’s a shame because I really thought he could do a job today. Here’s how I think we’re going to line up:

Almunia
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Clichy
Song
Fabregas – Denilson
Nasri – Arshavin – Rosicky

If it were up to me though Ramsey would be partnering Fabregas. Denilson has played himself out of favour with the Arsenal fans and I’m getting a bit impatient with his performances. Aaron is a determined player and you know you will always get 100% from him whether he plays well or not and I always have time for people who put effort in.

People are talking about starting Walcott too, his pace could limit Ashley Cole’s advances forward and as much as we might not to admit it, he is a threat down their left. Sagna needs to be all over him today. We need Clichy on the other wing to have a good game too, he’s been lacking a bit recently but what a better time than today to get it right though. He has been really trying hard though hence the lack of abuse he’s getting.

Almunia will stay in goal. Arsene was asked whether Fabianski should replace him but cited his performance at Wembley against Chelsea last year as a reason for him not to play. I don’t get it, he’s always been a big fan of the Pole and now when we need a goalkeeping solution he’s saying no? Arsene says goalkeeping is the hardest job in football and also believes Almunia is putting too much pressure on himself. It shows, he looks a nervous, flapping wreck and we’ll need him to perform a lot better today.

As for the home side they have Mikel and Drogba back from the African Cup of Nations, but no Essien who will be out for another month with the injury he picked up at the tournament. However the big talking point it obviously John Terry. Ancelotti has assured he will start and he will captain this side after his terrible week on the front pages of the papers and losing the England armband to Rio Ferdinand of all people. I’ve already heard countless songs about Terry and I’m sure they’ll be in full voice today, some of them are brilliant. I’m not expecting our noise toparticularly upset Terry but if his head isn’t 100% in the game we might be able to capitalise on that.

Today’s winners will certainly believe they can go on and win the title. It’s a huge game for both sides. I’m hoping, praying, crossing everything and believing that we can win today. If we can pull it off I’ll be over the moon. Lose, well I just hope I’m not sat here tomorrow talking once again about missed chances, defensive lapses and poor displays.

Come on you Gunners, give it everything you’ve got.

Enjoy the game.

I’ve been waiting for an injury update since Monday and still nothing has come up on the Arsenal.com home page. However turn to our dedicated injury room and there’s a free video in there with an update ahead of the Chelsea game:

“Campbell is back in the squad. Diaby is not yet back in normal training. If all goes well, if he progresses very well, we’ll still have to wait until Saturday.

Eduardo is already ruled out of the Chelsea game.”

He went on to confirm Diaby as ‘a maybe’ for Sunday before updating us on some longer term injuries:

“[Djourou] Still two months. We have to be patient with him. He is working, progressing well, working well but he is not an immediate resource.

[van Persie] Rehabilitation is going well but I think before April would be a little bit premature.”

He also told us that Carlos Vela was out. I never knew he was injured to be honest I just thought he was out of favour; he hasn’t offered a lot when he’s been involved this season. It’s a shame because I thought he might make an impact. He still needs time.

Wenger also reminded us that we have Walcott in the squad. In another interview he’s told us to be patient with him again and insists if he has an injury free season ‘he will have a good end of season’.

Theo is a popular topic of conversation at the moment. Yesterday I linked to Gunnerblog’s article on him and if you haven’t read that it’ll still be up there. He’s had such bad luck with injuries this season, it’s been frustrating for the club to have such a stop-start season and also disruptive personally for his World Cup chances. I believe Wenger though, he hasn’t played much football this term and he needs to get a run of games together, he’s still a developing talent remember and you can’t expect him to come straight back with a bang. Give him time and I think he will produce.

I’m not saying by the end of the season he’s going to be the new Theirry Henry but I think his England chances are still in the balance if he can stay fit and get in the team from now until the end of the season. I don’t expect him to start on Sunday, it’s too much of a deep end to throw him into but just like last Sunday I expect him to come off the bench. He might not be able to string together a full good performance yet but he’s still capable at this raw stage of his comeback to do something dangerous, he just needs to try be less anonymous and get in the game.

So Diaby will have a late fitness test to see whether he can play. I don’t know when that video was recorded but I’m sure we’ll get another update on him later tonight or tomorrow. I really hope he makes it though, not just because he was in good form recently but Denilson looks clearly struggling at the moment. The Brazilian didn’t look so bad at the start of the season but he’s not playing well at all at the moment and any weak link will be exploited by Chelsea just as United did.

We need the type of player like Diaby at Chelsea. He’s strong, penetrative, reads the game and is a threat going forward. Lets hope he makes it.

And that’s all the news there really is at the moment. Really is worryingly quiet round here, I hope that means we’re in deep preparation to re-mount our title chase on Sunday. Speak to you tomorrow.

I suppose the big story today is Chelsea’s failure to put distance between us and United by drawing 1-1 with Hull last night. It was their game in hand but could only manage a point meaning they’re just six points away from us now… going into Sunday’s ’six pointer’.

It’s a teasing result. A result that still gives us a bit of hope in the title race. A win on Sunday could put us within three points of the leaders which would be a great position to be in going into the season run-in.

This run of four games we’re in the middle of has been a bit of a mini disaster, there was so much hope and belief going into it but we find ourselves two games down with only one point gained. However a win at Stamford Bridge would turn it around and we could still come out of this run with a bit of credit.

It’s difficult to judge because we all saw how hopeless we were against United, there’s going to have to be a big change of character before Sunday. I’m sure that’s what Wenger will be working on now. However last night’s result could just add to our misery this weekend, those two points dropped have lifted us a bit and we could get brought right back down to earth with another loss.

But then again… last night just proved that the top three haven’t stopped dropping points and this title race is far from over despite whatever happens on Sunday. I find myself in a really strange position, I don’t know what to believe anymore! Are we still not good enough? Are we out of it? Are we gonna put a run together? Are we gonna win the league? Who knows?! It’s exciting I guess but it’s doing my head in! Win on Sunday and we’re going to hype up our title chances like crazy again, lose and then we’re still not totally out of it… I need some fucking closure! Oh the stress of being an Arsenal fan.

Nicklas Bendtner has been talking about his injury and is looking forward to get back playing again describing his time out as ‘hell’:

“If you look at the programme now, there are only four months left, then we are at the World Cup. It’s gone so quickly. When people say they have been out with long-term injuries and they say it’s hell, I can completely understand that now.

It’s difficult [spending time out injured], and you come in to training each day doing the same things. But you motivate by telling yourself that one day soon you will be better. When you come back you know you will find yourself again, and you are going to be strong.

I’m a naturally happy guy, whether I’m injured or not. It’s harder when you are out injured because a big part of your life, and something you love is taken away from you.

You never know what’s going to happen, but I’m almost back to 100 per cent now and I’m going to get better and better all the time. I feel fine in training so let’s see.”

Wenger chose not to buy this January despite saying that he would add a striker as soon as possible, the reason behind that was probably down to the return of this man. He needs a few weeks to get into the swing of things but I really hope he can get back to his best in this season run in. I rate Bendtner and he did really well before he got injured last year. He is hard working, strong and he can set up and score goals. He didn’t start on Sunday but I’m hoping he might be alright for this weekend, I think we could really do with a player like him against Chelsea.

In other news some Montenegrin defender called Stefan Savic is claiming he has agreed to join Arsenal in May and will be soon signing a pre-contract. The 19-year-old says we fought off Birmingham City and Tottenham to sign him, which doesn’t really inspire me to be honest. However he could be one for the future, who knows? We need to be in the market for central defenders this summer but I wasn’t really expecting this sort of signing, hopefully he is another gem for the academy rather than a replacement for Campbell/Silvestre/Gallas.

Arseblog has news of the exciting Wellington who has impressed in a behind closed doors friendly against Dagenham and Redbridge this afternoon. He really is meant to be the real deal but then again so was Theo Walcott back in the day.

There’ll be more build up to the Chelsea game on Sunday. Things are a bit quiet news-wise at the moment but we’ll probably get an idea of all our fresh injuries in the next couple of days. Thanks for reading.

One point out of a possible six halfway into this vitally important run of four games, it’s not going well is it! There’s no point in getting all upset and angry about yesterday; we need to pick ourselves up, figure out what went wrong and bounce back in the next game – just what Cesc is saying here. Next up though is possibly the hardest match we could get, Chelsea away. There’s no point going there thinking we’re going to lose though, we have to do everything we can this week to prepare. We’re not out of the title race yet, in fact if we pull off another win at Stamford Bridge we’ll blow it wide open again. However, lose and the title will look a bit of a long shot.

Lets focus on yesterday for the moment though. A 3-1 loss that was very similar to Chelsea defeat in November and the Champions League Semi 2nd leg exit to United last season. We were just outclassed really, we didn’t look prepared and never really got settled. It’s such a shame because games like yesterday are built up so much and our performance (once again) lacked the sort of quality you come to expect – it’s just a bit depressing really.

We didn’t start to badly to be fair, for most of the first half it was a pretty even game. Both sides looked a bit cagey but were still getting forward. Arshavin was looking dangerous and really should’ve opened the scoring on a couple of occasions.

It really looked like anyone’s game until a tactical change by Man United, they started with a side designed to nullify Fabregas but decided to switch to a team to be stronger going forward. They took a risk and Fabregas showed what he could do with the extra space almost setting up a goal but in the end it paid off for the visitors.

A period of pressure and good team play preceded a fine individual goal just after the half hour. Nani out on the right wing was all over Clichy, he just couldn’t handle him all game. With a great piece of skill flicked the ball between him and Nasri to make space to get into the box. He flicked a cross over Almunia right in front of the goal, Manuel tried to get back and flick it over the bar but ended up being a lame tap into the back of the net… it would’ve been converted anyway if he’d missed it.

We pushed for the immediate response but paid for it and was caught out on the break. The ball was given to Nani on the wing who drove up field before squaring to Rooney. It was easy for the league’s top scorer and suddenly it was 2-0 out of nowhere.

Two bad bits of defending inside four minutes and we were two down. We might’ve overcome the same score line against Bolton a few weeks ago but Man United have never ever lost a game after being 2-0 up.

They nearly got a third when Nani’s shot was deflected wide. A goal back before half time would’ve been massive but there was just as much importance at this stage just not to concede again.

We needed to start the second half well. But we didn’t. United made it 3-0 and it was another goal on the break. Park received the ball on the halfway line and began charging at our goal with two in support. It was just Clichy vs. Park, Rooney and someone else. You can’t blame Gael too much on the goal as whatever he did it would’ve ended up with a one-on-one opportunity. In the end he tried to get in the way of a squared pass forcing Park to go alone and hope Almunia would get something on it. He didn’t, and it was 3-0. Game over.

Arsenal being Arsenal we didn’t stop trying. We kind of knew that we’d lost but we still gave it a good go – you never know what might happen. We did have a few chances but nothing really was going for us.

Wenger threw on Bendtner and Walcott replacing Rosicky and the hopeless Denilson. Nicklas did alright after coming on but Theo was anonymous again.

Rooney should’ve got a second when he went clear after Eboue (who came on for Sagna) slipped but shot just wide of the post. As much as I wanted us to score I was thinking damage limitation was just as important.

With ten minutes to go we did finally get one back but it was far, far too late. Fabregas took a free kick quickly on the left for Nasri to swing in the box. The ball fell to Vermaelen on the edge of the box and struck it well in the air. It took a deflection on the way in but who cares, that’s Vermaelen’s sixth goal in the league.

The goal still gave us the faintest of glimmers of a miracle so we pushed on. Walcott had a header cleared off the line from a corner, we were pushing everyone up now just to try get us back to 3-2.

Almunia nearly rounded off another poor game by clearing the ball straight to the opposition’s feet. I think they were a bit surprised by his stupidity themselves and missed the chance.

In the 89th minute Gallas had a free header right in front of goal but the ball came awkwardly to him and put it wide. Could’ve easily scored and set up an interesting 5 minutes added time but it wasn’t to be and the game ended up 3-1.

I think both sides will argue that they should’ve scored at least two or three more than they did but you cannot deny Man United were worthy winners. Both sides had problems defensively but the visitors proved their class with their organization.

It’s too early to talk about our title chances now, next Sunday will tell all. Lets hope Wenger spends this week sorting us out and we’ll come back looking to prove a point at Chelsea.

Thanks for reading.

What a massive game we have in store for us tomorrow. I still regard Arsenal vs. Manchester United as the biggest game of the Premier League season, fuck Chelsea – where were they five years ago? You can’t beat a rivalry that has extended since the 60s and 70s which still produces a top class, title-deciding match today. There will be millions of Gooners, United fans and neutrals tuned in tomorrow for a massive match in both our seasons. Many of them making history watching the first live football match in 3D.

Arsenal and United have both played 23 games and we’re just a point behind them, so a win tomorrow would give either side a great advantage in the title running.

Our main talking point going into the any game is our injuries. Vermaelen is thankfully not out for the season but is likely to miss tomorrow’s game and Eduardo is out for a week with a hamstring strain. It causes a bit of a problem because two players who haven’t got much football under their belt might have to start – Bendtner and Campbell. Here’s what Wenger said on our injury situation:

“The good news we have on Vermaelen is that there is no fracture. We have to assess his knee today [Friday], there is still a small chance that he will play on Sunday. We will do the maximum to get him fit but at the moment it looks unlikely. It should be a very short-term injury.

It looked to be a two-month problem, now at the latest he should be ready for the Chelsea game.

Bendtner looks at bit short, but I have not picked the team yet. To start Bendtner is going through my mind, but he has only one training [session] and 20 minutes of action in three months”

We’ve had no update since then and it doesn’t surprise me really, Wenger will want to keep his cards very close to his chest and won’t reveal his team until an hour before kick off tomorrow.

I do hope that Vermaelen makes it but if he can’t play then I don’t think it’ll be the end of the world. Sol Campbell has been very good in the two appearances he’s made since re-joining us and a bit of experience against Man United can’t be a bad thing. However it would be his third game in 7 days and if Wenger doesn’t feel he can last 90 minutes he might not start him.

Another option would be to drop Song back alongside Gallas. He returned from the African Cup of Nations this week and is set to play tomorrow. We would miss him in midfield but I would feel so much more confident with him in defence rather than Silvestre.

Man United have got problems of their own, Rio Ferdinand starts a four-match ban tomorrow. Vidic was on the bench on Wednesday night and is expect to return to the starting line up tomorrow to partner Johnny Evans.

It’s hard for me to guess the team when I don’t know the state of our players, but I’m going to have a good guess. I think Bendtner will be alright, he’s a fairly fit player, as for Vermaelen it’s anybody’s guess really:

Almunia
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen/Campbell – Clichy
Song
Fabregas (c) – Rosicky
Bendtner – Arshavin – Nasri

I’d like to see us line up like that tomorrow. I’ve purposely left out Denilson who has not been in good form – we cannot afford slip-ups tomorrow. That team all depends on Bendtner and Nasri’s fitness though, if either or both are unavailable to start then Rosicky would be moved up top with probably Walcott and Ramsey or Denilson would partner Fabregas in the middle.

Enough speculation on the team, we’ll find out in 24 hours time. Whatever team is put out needs to know the task at hand, the draw on Wednesday was not an ideal result but we’re still in it. A win tomorrow would be a fantastic result and there’s no reason why we can’t do it. Looking around, we are the favourites too; the bookies have us slightly in favour, none of the pundits on Soccer Saturday today tipped United to win and looking around various websites, blogs and newspapers we look like we should be winning this.

They don’t have a great record at Ashburton Grove and we need to make the most of our home advantage. I’m not going tomorrow which I’m really gutted about but everyone there needs to raise the roof. Our atmosphere is gradually getting better and when it matters we’ve shown that we can make an incredible noise. I’ve no doubts we’ll do it again tomorrow.

We need a good performance from Fabregas, he needs to run that midfield. Arshavin needs to rise to the occasion like he’s done for us before. Almunia needs to show us the form of last season and want that clean sheet. If Song shows us why we’ve missed him so much we’ll be solid in midfield and keep Wayne Rooney quiet.

There’s been a lot of hype around Rooney recently and Wenger says he’s at his best age now. He’s playing well and has a good record against us so we need to defend well. Its all well and good saying Gallas can man-mark him but he’ll be looking to exploit our weaknesses and if Campbell plays he will be on his shoulder the whole game.

We have our own threats though and Man United know that. They’ve experienced what Arshavin can do earlier this season, Bendnter will be looking to come back with a bang and simply – we have Cesc Fabregas.

Come on Arsenal. I know you can do it if we play the way we can. Wherever you’re watching enjoy the game and cheer on the boys. Thanks for reading.

Not really the result we hoped for but from what I saw it wasn’t really the performance we hoped for either. There was a lot of build up going into last night but the players didn’t seem able to produce a great deal.

Villa were out to prove a point and played well from the start. They knew how important win was to us and weren’t going to give us the points.

The main talking point of the first half as far as we were concerned was the injury to Thomas Vermaelen. He picked up a knock after half an hour and was quite clearly struggling and hobbling round the pitch. He had to be replaced and it was a big chance for Sol Campbell. And he rose to the occasion and put in a solid performance. He played Heskey completely out of the game and hardly put a foot wrong.

Vermaelen left the ground on crutches after the game with a suspected broken fibula. It could’ve meant the rest of the season out for him and I have spent most of today worrying about the scan results. It was fantastic news though – there was no break but could still miss Man United. I can take him being out for Sunday, I’m just so relieved he wont miss the rest of the season!

If Campbell’s fit he can cover Vermaelen at the weekend, if not I think the best option is the returning Alex Song. We’ll talk about this later in the week though.

In the first half Villa had two decent chances. An Ashley Young free kick went a foot the wrong side of the post and Stewart Downing couldn’t control the cross after Young skinned Clichy to get in a great position.

However the closest the game came to a goal in the first half was right at the end, and it was us. Fabregas went on a brilliant run, breaking through the home defence. He shot across goal from the right but it came off the post denying the captain a great solo goal. It came straight out to Rosicky and Ramsey but they both got in each other’s way. If just one of them was there at the time it would’ve been an easy tap it – Cesc reminded them to communicate next time. Very frustrating.

So 0-0 it was at the break. Could hardly argue that it was an unfair reflection but we so should’ve taken the lead right at the end.

Downing had another great chance early into the half, a deep cross came to him unmarked at the back post. There was plenty of room to nod it in the top corner but aimed it hopelessly wide. Phew.

We hit the woodwork again on the hour. Arshavin made a great run from the left wing to find himself one-on-one with Friedel. His shot was saved but rebounded straight to Fabregas who unselfishly laid it off to Rosicky six yards out. He just had a few men on the line to beat but smashed it off the cross bar. So, so agonizingly close again.

We had another chance right at the very end when Sol Campbell reacted quickest to a loose ball in the box but couldn’t put it away and it ended up 0-0. A draw was probably a fair reflection, it was a well-fought and evenly contested game and a point each is about right. However those two chances where we hit the woodwork were centimetres from going in and you just feel if luck was a little more on our side we would’ve won yesterday.

So it’s just 1 point so far out of a possible 12 to gain over this run of four games and many would’ve hoped to start with all 3. It’s a shame but I haven’t been too annoyed about this result. The ’six-pointers’ against Man United and Chelsea are the really big ones, win those and last nights result wont even matter anymore.

It’s a big one on Sunday. Injury news and all the usual build ups to come this week. Thanks for reading.

We’ve been talking about these next four games for some time now. Aston Villa, Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool. This is a huge test for our squad and I’m eager for the results. We start tonight with a trip to Aston Villa, a side on a high after just reaching their first Wembley final in a decade.

You could argue that the two midweek games that start and end this run of four games against Villa and Liverpool are the easier of the four but they’re still vitally important. Not only can they carry momentum but also any points dropped against the top two can be recovered here.

We need to start with a win tonight. It’s a big ask though, 3 points at Villa Park is no easy feat. We are boosted by the return of Nicklas Bendtner and Samir Nasri but they will only be on the bench. The duo are back and fit again but have only had one full training session; Sunday’s game against Man United is a more realistic target for them. Still though, it’s good to have options on the bench and I wouldn’t be surprised to see both of them make an appearance.

Diaby is out which means Aaron Ramsey will probably start in midfield. I expect Denilson will play defensive midfield but he has struggled there so I wouldn’t mind giving the young Welshman a chance. I don’t know, we’ll see. Here’s how I think we’ll line up:

Almunia
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Clichy
Denilson
Ramsey – Fabregas (c)
Rosicky – Eduardo – Arshavin

I think that’s a strong side, our only weakness is the missing Alex Song but he could return in our next game. We do have Cesc Fabregas though and he ran riot against Villa a few weeks ago in his 20 minute cameo. The home side have the displeasure of a full 90 minutes of him tonight, hopefully he can be just as effective.

Villa also rested players in the cup last weekend and will have a fresh Friedel, Cuellar, Dunne, Milner, Heskey and Agbonlahor to chose from. Their captain Stiliyan Petrov is just coming back from injury and was an unused sub at the weekend so he might return, so too might Curtis Davies who played for the first time on Saturday.

Stephen Warnock, Nigel Reo-Coker and John Carew are all out, which I guess is a bit of a bonus. I never like playing against Carew he always seems to break through our defense.

We aren’t on TV which is a bit of a surprise; instead Sky are showing the Mickey Mouse Cup semi between a bunch of northern cunts. Meh. It’s a massive game for us tonight so I suspect there will be thousands looking for internet streams. There’s a screening at The Grove, which would be good to go to if I didn’t live 100 miles away… but enjoy those of you that are. If I find something decent I’ll link you on my twitter.

COME ON THE ARSENAL.

Last night Alex Song’s Cameroon were knocked out by Egypt 3-1 after extra time. Bad luck for him but great news for us! Wenger expects him to return either tomorrow or Thursday but he will be a doubt for United on Sunday. We will have to assess his fitness when he gets back but I’m praying he’s alright. It’d be a massive boost to have Alex return to face the Premier League holders, especially with Abou Diaby the latest casualty to the add to the injury list.

The Ivory Coast also fell at the quarter final stage which means Eboue will be available to us again. However it also means that Chelsea should have Drogba back ready to play us.

Our long injury list is gradually shortening though as Nasri and Nicklas Bendtner return to action this week. There was no confirmation as to whether either of them might play at Villa Park but Wenger did say they are back in full training. I expect we might see one or both of them off the bench on Wednesday but if both are raring to go by Sunday we can take that as a big boost.

However with us being Arsenal, any player returning from injury must be replaced and Wenger confirmed that Diaby is out. The injury table is much less busy now though, there are just five of them in there – van Persie, Gibbs, Djourou, Merida and Diaby.

In transfer news, Jack Wilshere will leave on loan in the next 48 hours. Arsene said there’s interest from a number of Premier League sides and named Burnley as one possible option. However the decision is down to Jack as to where he wants to go, so expect news on his new club for the remainder of the season very shortly.

It looks like Man United have signed Fulham defender Chris Smalling. This morning Wenger said the race to sign him wasn’t over but United have announced a bid has been accepted and he’ll join at the start of next season subject to a medical. However they did pre-maturely announce the capture of Aaron Ramsey not too long ago just before we wrapped up a deal for him so it might not totally be off! It would be a shame if we missed out on Smalling but it’s not the end of the world, I’d rather have Ramsey out of the two anyway.

So if United have actually secured a move for him then we will be on the hunt for a central defender this summer. I have no idea who that might be yet but Wenger hasn’t ruled out a new deal for Philippe Senderos. He’s just gone on loan to Everton until the end of the season and his contract with us is up this summer so he’ll be free to go wherever he likes. However if he does well at Goodison Park we may well ask him to stay. Unlikely though.

There was some other bits and pieces spoken about today. In the midst of all our goalkeeper insecurity Wenger has said Wojciech Szczesny will be our future no.1. He’s currently on loan at Brentford and Wenger’s been bigging him up as a future Arsenal great. I look forward to the day when I learn how to spell his name without copy and pasting. Also Arsene has called for patience with Walcott reminded us he’s still only 20 and has just returned from injury. He says give him five or six weeks and we’ll see a different Theo Walcott. I hope so, he looked totally not up to scratch on Sunday.

Puma v1.10 Gloves

Before I go I should mention SoccerPro.com who have sent me these fantastic Puma V1.10 gloves. They’re pretty cool, was definitely in need of some new gloves, in last year’s Arseblog 5-a-sides tournament I totally destroyed my index finger thanks to useless gloves. Looking forward to trying out these new ones.

I’ve mentioned Soccer Pro before and they’re definitely worth checking out. They’ve got a great relationship with customers and personally check back on your order with you which I think it’s quite cool. Also they do loads insane offers randomly if you stay in touch on their twitter/facebook. Check out their other goalkeeper gloves and goalkeeper gear from those links.

Right I best be off, should be back tomorrow to preview the first of a very important run of games tomorrow. Thanks for reading.