Liverpool versus Chelsea is a big game but nothing compares to a match with Arsenal and Manchester United. These two teams have dominated since The Premiership began and although we’re in fourth place Arsenal are in good form and have a great chance of beating United again this season.

If the weekend goes our way and Chelsea lose to Liverpool and we win on Sunday then we are only 6 points off Chelsea and reduce the gap with Team Manchester to 12. Still a good few points off but there’s still a lot of football to play and we’ve come back from similar positions before. Certainly if Arsenal do lose then as Arsene points out the title race is over for Arsenal, which would be a pity with so much of the season remaining.

Fergie has spoken and said that he expects Wenger to mastermind a revival at Arsenal after their poor form at the start of the season. Not sure to make of that – usually Arsene and Ferguson would be down each others throats but I suppose Red Nose doesn’t want to give Arsenal any more reasons to beat them by starting a war of words.

And Fabregas has piled in on the love-fest and talked about his admiration for Paul Scholes, who has been in good form this season. No compliments for former-Spurs player Michael Carrick though, which was a bit strange…

Ronaldo, Larsson and Scholes will have to be kept quiet on Sunday as well as Wayne Rooney, who has been out of sorts this season. Probably the more reason to keep an eye on him as he’s due a good performance – and he usually does okay against us!

Arsene has got his tactics spot on recently at Blackburn and in Liverpool so if Arsenal can get their smooth passing game going then even Manchester United will struggle against us. We will have to be careful of quick breaks from United with players like Ronaldo, Giggs and Rooney in the side.

The team pretty much picks itself with Gilberto being replaced by Flamini in the centre. The only two positions that aren’t certain is the right back and who will partner Thierry Henry in attack. Eboue is looking to return for Sunday but if Wenger doesn’t think he is ready then Hoyte will start, and it’s a toss up between Van Persie and Adebayor for the second forward position.

Van Persie has been given an 80% chance to be fit for the game while Adebayor is waiting in the wings. I’d probably prefer Adebayor to start since his brilliant performance against United at Old Trafford earlier on in the season.

Come on Arsenal!

Another feature of this game is that Mike Riley will be the referee tomorrow – which could either be a bad thing or a good thing.

He did award a penalty against Charlton at the Emirates a few week ago so let’s not hope we’ve used up all our luck regarding his decision-making! He does owe us big after the pathetic penalty he gave at Old Trafford after Shrek decided to show Sol Campbell his best Swan Lake impression so hopefully he doesn’t gift United another penalty!

Predictions?

Well I’ve predicted 2-1 for the last 3 games and although I was wrong on all 3 occasions I’m getting superstitious now because when I have predicted that scoreline we have won – and convincingly!

The bookmakers have Arsenal as slight favourites but the odds are pretty much even – not even the bookies can pick a winner! But as ever I have full confidence in this current team and I think it will be a tight game with a few goals.

So you won’t be surprised that I’ll go for a prediction of 2-1 yet again! 🙂

Arsenal and Manchester United have dominated the Premiership began and although Liverpool against Chelsea is a big game it has nothing on Arsenal against Manchester United.

I’ll do a more detailed preview tomorrow but for now here’s a trailer for Sunday’s game if you needed to get in the mood!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpNNVBu49Xc[/youtube]

Well Sunday marks the biggest weekend of the season so far, with Liverpool against Chelsea and of course the main event which is Arsenal versus Manchester United.

And the great thing is both teams are in sensational form.

Manchester United are top of the Premiership with a 6 point gap over Chelsea and Arsenal have really started to find their feet domestically with two comprehensive wins at Anfield and a great win against all odds at Ewood Park.

The only real fact about the team news at the moment is that Gilberto will miss the game as he will be serving a suspension for flicking at Robbie ‘Honest’ Savage. Gilberto will be a big miss as he’s possibly been our most important player this season but if we can overhaul Blackburn Rovers with 10 men then the confidence in the squad will be sky high.

I suppose the best scenario for us this weekend would be to obviously beat Manchester United (by a good few goals) and I’m still undecided about the Chelski match. If Liverpool win we won’t be able to get up to third this weekend but if Chelski win, well, I hate Chelsea! I suppose a draw in that game would do me.

As the big game draws closer then the mind games will start and Rio Ferdinand has come out and said that the man to fear most is Adebayor and not Thierry Henry. There’s no doubt that he was sensational at United (and Chelsea as well) so it’s a fair comment but I’m sure he also knows that it’s likely Adebayor will be on the bench with Van Persie and Henry starting so he hopes that it might cause a little tension in our team.

Adebayor is an effective player in a 4-5-1 formation but with Wenger persisting with two men upfront even with 10 men against Blackburn I’d be surprised if we saw anything else than a 4-4-2 system against United. You never know, Van Persie has failed to score in his last couple of games so could make way for Ade upfront. It’s good to have options anyway!

The other squad news is that Eboue hopes to return for Sunday and apparently William Gallas has declared himself fit. Not sure if Eboue should return after his antics against Liverpool and Hoyte has been playing well so don’t be surprised if Wenger gives Hoyte the nod.

Toure has been a rock recently and Djourou has looked strong and confident at the back, while Senderos has made a few mistakes which were luckily unpunished against Blackburn and Liverpool – althought Djourou has played well it would make sense to have Gallas in the team, especially with Gilberto out.

Flamini will replace Gilberto in the centre which could leave us a big light in the middle, so expect to see Van Persie play a slightly deeper role behind Thierry. You can’t fault Flamini’s work rate and he has improved over the last couple of seasons. His attitude is spot on as well so I have no problem with him next to Cesc against Manchester United – and he scored against Liverpool and Chelsea his season so he’s got an eye for scoring in the big games!

I’m surprised Fergie hasn’t had a go at Arsenal or Arsene yet to stoke the fires before the big game but there’s still a few days to go yet!

Anthony Stokes finally ended his transfer saga by signing for Sunderland after it looked certain that Charlton Athletic and the muppet that is Alan Pardew had signed the kid. So obviously I’m delighted Pardew has missed out on the talented youngster! Given the choices between Celtic, Charlton, Falkirk and Sunderland I was surprised at his decision – although Roy Keane is probably his idol.

Other departures rumoured at the moment (trust me, there’s going to be loads of these this month) are that Freddie Ljungberg might be off. It’s hard to say if this is just January’s silly season or whether there is actually any truth to the stories, but it’s clear that Freddie isn’t the same player as he was a couple of seasons ago. And he’s also one of the teams highest earners which means there’s talk about trying to get him off the wage bill. With Rosicky & Hleb it means the only other winger apart from Freddie is Theo so I suppose if it depends if Arsene is ready to make Walcott more of a regular in the side and actually thinks he’s ready to start games.

But our average age of the squad is the early 20’s so would Arsene really offload one of the few experienced players in the squad?

There are the usual Frank Ribery rumours which seem to never go away. Considering most of Arsenal’s major signings are pretty secretive until the player actually signs for us means I don’t really buy this story. It looks like Ribery’s agent is just pimping out the kid to the highest bidder. Again.

And the Daily Mail speculate that Lauren could move to West Ham United. Again, like Freddie he is one of the few experienced player so I highly doubt he will move!

And onto tonight’s Carling Cup tie against Liverpool.

Arsene Wenger has just named a 16-man squad for the game which leaves out all the big names and only includes Fabregas (who has returned from suspension) and Kolo Toure who can be considered first team players.

From the fringe players Baptista, Theo Walcott, Djourou, Abou Diaby, Song and Justin Hoyte are in the squad and will probably start tonight.

Although it is a far weaker squad than Saturdays team in terms of experience the young guns have earned their place in tonights squad so good luck to them all and lets hope it’s an enjoyable night for the boys!

We should be confident because we beat Liverpool on Saturday (albeit with a stronger squad) and also beat Everton in the previous round.

You feel that Baptista needs a good game to kick-start his season and hopefully Walcott can be a big influence tonight alongside Fabregas who will be pulling the strings.

Predictions?

Well I was one goal off at the weekend but tonight will be a completely different proposition as Liverpool look likely to start with a very strong first eleven after getting knocked out of the FA Cup. They will take the Carling Cup seriously now but I still believe that with Kolo and Fabregas in the team we always have a chance. Unfortunately Aliadiere will probably start but with support from Theo and Baptista we should offer a decent threat upfront.

As ever I think we can nick it tonight, and I would have been happier if a couple of senior players like Henry or Hleb were on the bench just in case we needed them but I think if things go our way we could nick it 2-1!

Well Arsenal started 2007 with a comprehensive 4-0 over Charlton Athletic which was great because that idiot Pardew was moaning about it afterwards. Simple pleasures eh?

But of course it marked the return of The King Thierry Henry who simply ran riot by scoring the first, setting up the second and then winning the penalty for the third – coupled with the flair and skill on display that night it was easily a Man of the Match performance from the captain.

Whether the spell on the sidelines was due to injury or simply rest, Arsene has got what he wanted which was a fully-fit and focused Henry who is ready to wreak havoc on the rest of the Premiership and the rest of Europe – which can only lead to good things.

After the poor end to the year with the 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United it turns out that 9 points from a possible 12 wasn’t that bad after all, with Liverpool returning the same total and Chelsea only getting 6 points over the Christmas period – although United did extend their lead at the top by earning 10 points from a possible 12.

But as with most things in football things change – usually very quickly – and 2007 looks like it could be a good second half to the season. We’re still unbeaten at the Emirates, we started the year by win 4-0 and playing some brilliant football, and the injuries seem to be clearing up…

With Henry returning on Tuesday night, it now appears that Julio Baptista, William Gallas and Theo Walcott are all close to a return and could be available for the Carling Cup match against Liverpool on Tuesday. Eboue is ready to play against Liverpool tomorrow in the FA Cup, the almost fogotten man Lauren is also ready to play and Dance-master Adebayor should be back for the Blackburn Rovers game on the 13th (unlucky for them eh?).

Freddie Ljungberg is almost back to full fitness and Abou Diaby has returned to full training after his horrific ankle break last May. His progress has pleased the manager and it will please the Arsenal fans as he hopefully progresses into the physical presence in midfield that we are sometimes lacking. Good luck to the lad.

Tomorrow’s travel up to Liverpool for the FA Cup looks like a tough game especially with Robin Van Persie and Cesc both serving a one-match suspension for the tie.

Arsenal have done well in the FA Cup in the Wenger-era but most of our injured players won’t be back for another week or so. Flamini looks set to replace Fabregas in midfield and there are rumours that Van Persie could be replaced by Baptista in attack, although I would expect Arsene to go with a 4-5-1 formation and give Flamini support in the middle – especially against Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso.

And even though Liverpool will be with a full strength team I still fancy Arsenal to progress into the 4th round. Henry is back (and will hopefully play) and Liverpool are a side that actually play football as opposed to bullying teams. Futhermore, Benitez doesn’t seem to know what his strongest frontline actually is.

Kuyt, Bellamy, Crouch and Fowler have all been inconsistent and that might help Arsenal tomorrow. But with Steven Gerrard Liverpool always have that goal-threat with his surging runs from midfield so Gilberto will have to be on his best form to shut him out.

Predictions?

I’m not the best at these but I’ll stick my neck out and say we’ll nick it 2-1!