Arsenal v Tottenham - Wednesday January 9, 7.45pm

[EMIR8_SOLDIER]

I just want to make it 10 years which will be another piece of history made by our club

But nevertheless, how long we havent been beaten by them in the NLD is history already

 

[Christofaux]

Fabianksi
Hoyte Senderos Gallas Clichy
Walcott Diarra Denilson Diaby
Bendtner Eduardo

Almunia
Sagna
Gilberto
hleb
Ade/RvP

 

[banduan]

The Spuds 1st string couldn't beat the Royals 2nd string... at home!

 

[Dragon181]

Before the Sp**s game a few weeks ago, I was worried about them. And they gave us a run for our money - without King and with a strong first team.

So this game looks like another dangerous fixture. Yes, they played a 2-2 draw against Reading so their players will be tired. And yes, we played a mix of starters and squad players, so our team should be fresh. But like many have pointed out, Juande Ramos has the team playing much better. Their defense is still leaky, but then again, King is only now playing (and if we're lucky, he won't play at all Wednesday). So I think it'll depend on who we play and how they play.

-----------------Fabianski----------------------
--Hoyte--Gallas--Senderos--Clichy------
--Walcott--Diarra--Fabregas--Rosicky--
----------Eduardo--Adebayor----------------

To be honest, I have no idea who will be playing in this game (except for Fabianski) because of who we played against Burnley, and precisely who we didn't play against Burnley (Diarra, Walcott, Gallas, Clichy). Personally, I would prefer to play the same players who played against Blackburn, but Song is gone, and Traore, Denilson, Diaby, Bendtner and Eduardo played at the weekend, so who knows what's going to happen.

I just hope that we have a great first leg, because let's be honest now, Sp**s have nothing to play for but these cups, and they're about as close to winning this as they're going to get to winning anything else this season. So I'm sure that they're going to try to put 100% into this game.

 

[Rohit]

Tough game and very tough to predict. They played well against us last time out at the Emirates after playing 3/4th of the game against Man City with 10 men. Its different this time though, we should have a fresher team after the congested festive period as our squad has more depth. They'll be up for it, i am sure they see the Carling Cup as their only chance to get into Europe after a miserable campaign so far. Our players should be up for it too, they are young, on the fringes of the first team with a point to prove and have not tasted silverware. It should be a great contest.

Sp**s have a good attack, they pass and move well and will give our defence a lot of problems. I hope we are able to keep them at bay as we should really be able to score against their poor defence. The team that defends better on the day will win. I reckon Wenger will start with a few first team players.

Fabianski
Hoyte Djourou Senderos Traore
Walcott Diarra Flamini/Cesc Rosicky
Bendtner Eduardo

If we win this game we have a great chance of going through. We have no game in midweek following our game against Birmingham while Tottenham will have their replay scheduled then following a tough fixture at Stamford Bridge.

 

[Dez]

Our defence worries me, we will concede for sure especially the way Tottenham plays. But lets face it Sp**s defence is as loose as Paris Hilton. We could well be in for a high scoring game. And god how i would love to make it ten years.

 

[Anzac]

IMO we'll pretty much stick to the C Cup squad to start the game........preferably in a 4-4-2...............

although I'd not be disappointed to see Rosicky start as our midfield general to see if he can really cover for Cesc or if we need to look at bringing someone in..............

 

[tactica442]

Fabianski
Hoyte Djourou Senderos Traore
Walcott Diarra Flamini/Cesc Rosicky
Bendtner Eduardo

I would go for this lineup.

Traore will defend better in Emirate and Roscky's constat tracking back will help Traore. I was tempted to put Diarra with Denilson or Flamini. But after considering the next league is Birmingham at home, Wenger can try Cesc & Diarra combination to improve the team's chance of winning the first leg.

Problem is, without Clichy and with Kolo off to ACN, which defender's going to hoof the ball for Eduardo to beat the offside and score? I reckon it will be Traore.

Also I notice there's pattern in Eduardo's offside beating. If the timing of long ball is right and the ball is sent into that pocket around opposition's right CB. Chances are Eduardo will beat the offside or even beat the nearst marker and getting to poaching position.

 

[Zico]

Rosicky with Walcott, Denilson and Diarra would be an able midfield against Sp**s. Sp**s are hurt by their lack of quality in midfield, so we do not need Fabregas or Hleb for this one.

I think Rosicky will be useful because he is willing to help the left back when he plays left wing. If we are to start Traore, he will need all the help he can get versus Lennon. Diaby would be a liability in this case.

 

[True Gooner]

Our defence will have to be very tight though. Sp**s can score for fun...its just that they cant defend to save their lives...

Can anyone update me on the injury news for Sp**s? Kings back?

 

[Rohit]

King is back but i read Ramos say somewhere that he'll take it slowly with King as he isn't ready to play 2 games in 4 days. The last time he did that he had inflammation and a recurrence. Since King played on Saturday, i don't think he'll start on Wednesday, but its difficult to tell as Zakora is off to the ANC and Kaboul is injured i think.

Huddlestone is suspended too, we might see a team similar to what we saw in our last encouter with Boeteng and O'Hara in midfield. We were rubbish that day but should we play that central pairing again we should comfortably win the midfield battle at home no matter who we put out.

 

[Illusion]

I said this last time we played Sp**s and was somewhat proved right.

We shouldn't be too happy about Sp**s missing a lot of first team players (unless it's Strikers). This is because their first team has shipped goals all season and shown themselves to be bottlers and generally useless at set pieces, making us look great at them. Some of the Sp**s reserves will likely be up for the game and probably perform better than their first team counterparts, this was shown by O'Hara when we played them, he was actually good in midfield compared to someone like Jenas.

Sp**s can field the strongest side they want, only Ledley can help their defence, no one can help Robinson and their midfield will not be as strong as ours. The only danger is that they are very capable of scoring goals and if Berbatov has a good game they will probably score at least one.

 

[Jameel46]

Traore would get absolutely torn apart if he plays, and if Lennon starts.

 

[M+D]

^^^ I think Wenger will play Clichy tbh, and one or two of Rosicky, Hleb and Fabregas.

It's hard to second guess Wenger in this one though, with so many combinations of youth and first team available to him. Ade may come back in, for example, and Djourou may get a start.

The subs bench will definitely be youthful though, judging by the fact Barazite, Merida, Randall and G Hoyte are not involved in the reserve game tonight.

 

[Jameel46]

^^^ I think Wenger will play Clichy tbh, and one or two of Rosicky, Hleb and Fabregas.

It's hard to second guess Wenger in this one though, with so many combinations of youth and first team available to him. Ade may come back in, for example, and Djourou may get a start.

The subs bench will definitely be youthful though, judging by the fact Barazite, Merida, Randall and G Hoyte are not involved in the reserve game tonight.

hasn't Merida gone on loan to Real Sociedad?

 

[USArsenal]

i can see them starting this lineup:

Robbo

Chimbonda
Dawson
King
Lee

Malbranque
Jenas
Boateng
Lennon

Keane
Berbatov (unless they happen to sell him before then - yeah right)


that is a decent lineup for the Spuds.. that's almost full strength... match that against:

Fabianski

Hoyte
Senderos
Gallas
Traore /Clichy (hopefully Clichy, but i doubt it)

Theo
Diarra
Denilson
Diaby

Nik
Eddy


honestly, i think we could be well beaten.. the only factor is that we will be playing at home, which will make the game close...

we barely beat a weaker Spuds team than that with our FIRST CHOICE XI...

hmmmmm

 

[Illusion]

i can see them starting this lineup:

Robbo

Chimbonda
Dawson
King
Lee

Malbranque
Jenas
Boateng
Lennon

Keane
Berbatov (unless they happen to sell him before then - yeah right)


that is a decent lineup for the Spuds.. that's almost full strength... match that against:

Fabianski

Hoyte
Senderos
Gallas
Traore /Clichy (hopefully Clichy, but i doubt it)

Theo
Diarra
Denilson
Diaby

Nik
Eddy


honestly, i think we could be well beaten.. the only factor is that we will be playing at home, which will make the game close...

we barely beat a weaker Spuds team than that with our FIRST CHOICE XI...

hmmmmm

The previous game saw us play poorly, even if we played a better team on paper we were still poorer in reality. I think there is enough strength in our reserve side to overcome Sp**s, especially at home.

I'm still prepared to lose one of these legs though, since Sp**s are well overdue a bit of luck to beat us after all these years, it will happen eventually.

 

[M+D]

^^^ I think Wenger will play Clichy tbh, and one or two of Rosicky, Hleb and Fabregas.

It's hard to second guess Wenger in this one though, with so many combinations of youth and first team available to him. Ade may come back in, for example, and Djourou may get a start.

The subs bench will definitely be youthful though, judging by the fact Barazite, Merida, Randall and G Hoyte are not involved in the reserve game tonight.

hasn't Merida gone on loan to Real Sociedad?

No, one of the people in the running for the presidency of Real Sociedad has promised to get Merida on loan I believe, but Merida knows nothing about any of this I think he said.

EDIT: The guy who promised Merida has got the presidency apparently: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 88,00.html

But any loan deal definitely hasn't been made official yet at any rate.

 

[Alfonso]

Isnt Jenas suspended for them?

With Sp**s now knowing their fate in the FA Cup (Man Utd away if they beat Reading) will the two Semi-Final CC ties hold more importance for them as their only realistic chance of getting to a final and making Europe? Will this hinder or help them? Knowing Sp**s I think it could be the former, which will work in our favour. Regardless, if Sp**s want to progress they need a decent result at Emirates, at least a score draw. They will really need to show character and bottle in order to do this. Personally, I dont think they have it in them, and we should be too dangerous for them. There is more pressure on them than us, like last year, and we all know what happened then.

 

[USArsenal]

and Coleman doesnt necessarily want him.. (he didnt make any specific reference to Merida, but in general)