Fulham Vs Arsenal Preview

It's back to the Premier League tomorrow as Arsenal take on Fulham after the nice distraction of the Carling Cup in midweek. It's pleasing what Arsenal have done with the Carling Cup in recent years. Using it to give the youngsters experience and reducing ticket prices has turned it into a really positive PR exercise for the club. We find out tomorrow who Arsenal will face in the next round, with the draw taking place at midday.

Anyway, as I say it's back to Premier League action with a visit to Craven Cottage, where Arsenal lost 1-0 last year. Thinking back, that was a real toothless display and I remember at the time being concerned that not only did Arsenal lose but rarely threatened to score and that is very unlike Arsene Wenger's Arsenal. Defending has never been their strong point at times but one thing you can count on is that Arsenal will create chances.

One man who should help in this department is Andrey Arshavin who is back from injury and likely to play. He has had a quietish start to the season, apart from the rocket against United, but I think just his presence on the pitch makes a difference. He is versatile and has bags of creativity and is just the player to make this new formation work. I am hoping he comes back and looks as deadly as he did last season.

Theo Walcott is also back in training but it looks like it may be too soon for him to start so he may have to be content with a spot on the bench. Manuel Almunia is still out, that must have been some virus, so Mannone is likely to continue in goal. RvP faces a late fitness test but it sounds like he may be fit.

It will be interesting to see how the team takes shape as (when? if?) the injuries clear up. While Almunia, the current defence, Song and Cesc are certain to start, the other 4 spots are still possibly up for grabs. You would fancy RvP and Arshavin to be favourites, but then Diaby, Eboue, Bendtner, Walcott, Rosicky and Eduardo are all fighting for two spots without even mentioning the players who are still injured and the younger members of the squad.

Wenger had a word to say here about money he has to spend and the strength of the squad. I know he sometimes says these things to make the players believe in themselves but I don't think our squad is desperately short, it just needs tweaking. With regards to money to spend, and all the rubbish flying back and forth about Chamakh, well that isn't going to really make a difference until January so it's not even worth discussing.

As I say I think RvP and Arshavin will line up in attack tomorrow, with either Bendtner or Eduardo. I fancy Bendtner to start tomorrow, who had something to say this week about playing out wide:

"I think it is a short-term decision. I have spoken to the manager, obviously, and he explained why he's playing me there at the moment.

"He knows as well though that my position is to play up front as a striker. That's where I prefer personally, but if I have to do a job for the team and play on the right or the left sometimes then I'm happy to do that as well."

"I like to think that the reason I scored against Standard Liege has something to do with the fact I played more centrally.

"Obviously you are closer to the goal and because of my pace I can make those runs. You can use that more up front than you can on the right."

I have to agree. It just makes sense to have Bendtner up front and Arshavin and RvP either side doing all the creative stuff. Plus Bendtner looks a handful when he gets in the box and gives us a real physical presence.

That only really leaves one spot in the team for tomorrow and that's probably between Eboue and Diaby. It's been hard to predict the team so far this season but I wonder if he might just pick Eboue to try and keep things a little tighter than they would be with Diaby.

Hopefully we can pick up three points and get the season back on track.