At Old Trafford this week we take on old rivals Manchester United. Matches between Arsenal and united have always been entertaining with the epic encounter often being dubbed as the “Clash of the titans.” The 2 oldest managers in the league shall go head to head this week at Manchester – Sir Alex Ferguson vs Arsene Wenger. The Prodigy VS The Professor.
INJURY NEWS:
Kieran Gibbs has been ruled out for 3 weeks after the injury he picked up against Belgrade this week. The boss has informed us that Captain Cesc Fabregas ‘may’ or ‘may not’ be included in the team sheet against United. Lastly, Clichy and Djourou ‘should’ return to the squad after their non-inclusion in the match against Belgrade. Here is his injury-update:
We could have Cesc Fabregas [back]. But there is a big uncertainty if he can be in the squad or not. That will be decided very late.
We have lost Kieran Gibbs from Wednesday night but he should be the only one. We think today that he will be out for three weeks.
I am very disappointed [about it]. I hope it will not put in his mind that he is an injured player. It was just an accident and you cannot do anything about it. Time will help him get over that and it is not major damage in his ankle.
We should have [Gael] back [for Monday]. He was in today. He was very weak still but we hope he will progress well.
We could have Johan Djourou available for Monday night. He should be fine.
PROBABLE LINE-UPS:
——————————————————-LUKE————————————————————–
–SAGNA———————–SQ18——————————-KOSHER————————-CLICHY——–
———————————-SONG——————————-DENILSON—————————————
——————————————————NASRI————————————————————–
—THEO————————————————————————————————ARSHAVIN—-
——————————————————-RVP—————————————————————-
SUBS: SZCZESNY, EBOUE, DJOUROU, TR7, CESC, CHAMAKH, NIKKO.
I would want to see RVP play the central striker at OT. The guy was in immaculate form last season in this role, and should adapt to it quickly. Nasri can play in the middle to pull all the strings ! Theo and Arshavin should play wide. Theo ‘s performance against Belgrade was brilliant this week and that earns him the right to start against United. Call me stupid, but I’d prefer SQ18 and Djourou play together. Their combination as a duo is not only better than SQ18 and Kosher but also Djourou can handle the physicality that the United strikers may bring.
2 cases where I’d want Cesc to play :
- Incase Cesc does start for us, I’d take him off for Denilson and play him in the Xabi Alonso role. He can play the long-balls and Nasri can attack from the front……OR
- We shall change to a Barcelona formation of 4-1-2-2-1, with Cesc and Nasri controlling the midfield, and AA23 and TW14 playing wide, with Song as CDM.
Best O’ Luck lads,
Cheer-i-o,
