Well our season has come to this. We all know what the deal is – win and we finish in 4th spot and have the chance to play in the Champions League next season. A draw or defeat and then (let’s face it) we’ll finish 5th and Tottenham will finish 4th, bar a surprise result at White Hart Lane.

It’s hard to get excited about this game as our season rests on this final game. Anything less than a win would be disastrous and as every Arsenal fan knows, football is often a funny and cruel game.

Newcastle have nothing to play for but the final home game of the season always has more atmosphere and pressure, and they will have nothing to lose and will be up for giving their fans something to cheer about. And a win against Arsenal would be a big scalp and that massive c*nt Alan Pardew would love to stick it to Arsene.

So the pressure is on.

Unfortunately our record at St James’ Park recently has been poor and today, of all days, is not the time to have an off day. Arsenal have to be 100% focused on what’s required and even if we’re 2 goals up, I will still be nervous.

Because of the importance of the game, you can’t help think about all the crazy (or not so crazy) things that could happen to us today. The referee might give Newcastle a dodgy penalty, we might have a goal disallowed, we might get big decisions against us – anything could happen and that’s what I’m worried about.

Defensively, we have looked good of late but our problem is scoring goals. For the first time in a long time, we are having a season where goals have been hard to come by. Giroud looks like making a comeback for today’s game but far to often he’s missed important chances. Today is not the day to miss a sitter or waste opportunities. I have a feeling we will have to be ultra-clinical today to win all 3 points but I’m not convinced that will happen.

We all remember the final game of last season against West Brom and the wide range of emotions Arsenal fans felt during those 90 minutes. We got there in the end but it was one hell of a roller-coaster ride but hopefully it won’t be as tense this time around…

The task for both teams tonight is simple – 2 games of the season left, and nothing less that 2 wins is enough.

And both teams have their destiny in their own hands.

Wigan Athletic are 5 points clear of safety but a win tonight would bring them to within 2 points of Aston Villa. With the last game of the season at The DW Stadium against the aforementioned team, another victory would save Wigan and relegate the team from Birmingham.

And it’s a similar situation for us tonight. Tottenham sit 2 points clear of us and a win against Wigan would see us leapfrog our North London rivals by a solitary point. Going into the last day of the season, another win away at Newcastle would secure a Top Four finish and that hugely coveted Champions League spot next season.

So both teams are desperate for victory, probably meaning you’re best putting your money on a draw!

It will be a battle of wits between the two managers on the touchline, and a battle of desire and fight from the players on the pitch.

The game is too close to call – those thinking it will be a whitewash to the home side are sadly deluded. Wigan are on a massive high after winning the FA Cup against all the odds on Saturday so don’t think they will be afraid of facing us. I don’t need to remind you Wigan won the same fixture last season.

If Arsenal give it absolutely everything, and start like they did against Manchester United then we can’t ask for any more than that. But while we should underestimate Wigan and their ability to beat the top sides in the Premier League, they do have their weaknesses.

Defensively they can be suspect. Against Tottenham the other week, both of the goals they conceded could have been avoided and they played well enough to deserve all 3 points. The same could be said about their away game against West Ham as well, for the majority of the game they dominated play and possession, only to concede goals against the run of play. If we score early and keep up the tempo, we can overwhelm them and take all 3 points.

But give them half a chance and they’ll take it. McManaman is a big threat from wide positions, as is Kone with his pace. They have players like Maloney who can hurt us from set-pieces and that is something we need to be weary of with our relatively “small” team.

We’ve also had 10 days to prepare for this game so we really don’t have any excuses, while Wigan only played 3 days ago in the biggest game of their history.

Who knows which way this is going to go, but one thing is certain and that’s it won’t be an easy night.

I’ve been looking forward to this game for a while now, and kick off is only a few hours away.

Yesterday saw Tottenham drop points against Wigan, who were extremely unlucky not to take all 3 points. After giving away the most ridiculous goal in the 9th minute to everyone’s favourite Welshman, they dominated the game and deservedly went 2-1 up. Then, a dubious decision gave Tottenham a freekick in the closing minutes for Wigan to give away another sloppy goal. Undeserved but the visitors left the DW Stadium with a point.

Which gives today’s game even more importance. Tottenham have done their part and chocked (or battled well for an underserved point) but however you look at it they’ve dropped points. If we can win today that would really give us a massive boost in finishing in the Top Four.

We all know that Van Persie scored a hattrick to seal the Premier League title with Manchester United on Monday and today will see the return of RVP to The Emirates. He will no doubt have a traitors reception this afternoon but in an ideal world we wouldn’t even acknowledge his existence. He’s gone, no longer an Arsenal player and for me, in the past.

While on first inspection City’s pathetic collapse last weekend against Tottenham felt like a kick in the balls in terms of the Top Four, it did mean that Manchester United didn’t need to win at The Emirates to win the league, which is a good thing.

They should still be in a party mood after sealing the title against Villa and that is to our major advantage.

We need to start the game at a frenetic pace, going in hard from the first whistle. Today, more than ever, Manchester United will not be up for a fight, and it is up to us to give it to them. They won’t be going into challenges like their lives depend on it and it is down to our players to show them we mean business. 3 points today is absolutely huge in finishing the season well and theoretically, United have nothing to play for.

But they would love to beat us in our back yard given half a chance so we cannot be complacent in any way.

Our biggest dilemma is our team selection. Without Giroud, we have to find another solution to our attacking line-up which in opinion, isn’t a bad thing.

We have over-relied on Giroud this season and he looks burnt out. He is well overdue a rest and this could help us when he does return for our final games. We have Theo, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi who can make a difference in the final third.

But whoever we have in the starting eleven, we need to make sure they’re up for the fight and don’t make things easy for Manchester United. There’s no time for players who stroll around the pitch or give up, this is make or break time.

Anything less than a win means that Tottenham can overtake us with their game in hand.

AC Milan (The Emirates Stadium, London)
Champions League (Last 16) Second Leg
Tuesday 6th March 2012
Kick Off: 7.45pm

As soon as Arsenal lost 4-0 in Milan, I must have been one of very few who still thought we were still in the tie. We had been completely outplayed by AC Milan, our defending was shambolic and we were never in the game as a contest.

A good, old fashioned battering.

Since then, we’ve comeback from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham 5-2, and “nicked” a result against Liverpool.

And those two games make me even more confident that Arsenal will progress tonight.

In both of those games, we were ultra clinical. We made chances and scored most of them. Against Liverpool and Tottenham, Van Persie was his usual self and scored vital goals at vital times. The man is in the form of his life.

And that’s exactly what we need tonight.

Over 90 minutes Arsenal can create chances against anyone. If Arsenal make some clear cut chances and they fall to Robin Van Persie then who knows?

Arsenal play at their best when they have nothing to lose. You saw it against Tottenham – we were just all out attack.

You can talk about all the deficiencies in the squad, how the team can’t defend, and so on, but the way Arsenal play and Arsene Wenger’s philosophy means that this current Arsenal team, are capable to producing the extraordinary.

People talk about having managers like Mourinho at the helm but no-one other than Arsene Wenger could produce at team that wins 5-3 at Stamford Bridge, or wins 5-2 against Spurs.

When things click, then they really click.

At the same token, this same Arsenal team are capable of losing games 8-2 like they did at Old Trafford. And that’s the point – if we were a team like United, Tottenham or Chelsea then I’d say we’ve got no chance tonight. But this Arsenal team can do the impossible – whether it’s terrible or fantastic.

Tonight, we could lose 5-2, but we could also win 4-0. Anything is possible and I just think Arsenal will be so up for it and with nothing to lose then we have to believe. AC Milan might score twice in the first 10 minutes and kill the tie off but we have a team in a rich vain of form who know that it’s all or nothing tonight.

More important than the result tonight, is the performance of the players. If they play their hearts out, and we narrowly lose on aggregate then I won’t be upset or angry.

As long as Arsene puts out a team that give 110% then that’s all I want.

A bit of brilliance, a deflected goal, a dodgy penalty decision – I couldn’t care less how the goals come. As long as we give it everything that’s all we can ask for tonight.

If Liverpool can come behind from 3 goals down in 45 minutes, then 4 goals is not completely inconceivable. Yes, I’m clutching at straws but you have to believe.

AC Milan are 1/150 to qualify for the next round tonight. Let’s give them something to worry about.

And if you needed any inspiration for tonight, here’s an awesome compilation on RVP, Arsenal’s MVP.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1gslSoxzrY[/youtube]

Credit: GeoArsenal