The return of the orange moustachioed villain to the Arsenal pantomime

It was with a sigh last night, that I remembered today's kick off is a late one. I hate late kick offs. Those extra two and a half hours are the generally the worst two and a half hours of my life. I'm not even sure why it's a 5.30 kick off today. The only other match in London today is all the way at Fulham, so it's not like it's been delayed to avoid having two busy events at the same part of town. Perhaps, after all Wenger's complaining about fixture congestion, the FA took pity on him, and moved the match back two and a half hours to give Arsenal some vital power nap time.
The two and a half hour tedium is intensified today due to it being against the lying moustachioed (although he's not anymore, but looks like he still should be) perma-tanned tw*t and his bunch of little Tigers. You remember the lying moustachioed (although he's not anymore, but looks like he still should be) perma-tanned tw*t? The one who's story had more holes in it than a block of swiss cheese. And I don't mean those swiss cheeses which are mainly cheese, with only a few holes, I mean those swiss cheeses where it is mainly air with only a bit of cheese. One of those cheeses you could inflate with a bicycle pump. In my eyes, after his, and his assistant's, ridiculous antics, Hull were turned from a plucky newly promoted side punching above their weight (the way I feel about Burnley now) to a bunch of dicks who I wanted to get relegated and die.

So it truly is a shame that Cesc can't play today and run the game. But look on the bright side, if we do win, Cesc has the opportunity to come on the pitch afterwards to celebrate again, and that would really piss Brown off. Also, I want to keep a close eye on Brown. I want to see if he trots away down the tunnel, immediately after the final whistle, waving his hands in the air shouting "Even if I run away, it still counts as Wenger not shaking hands with me!" Just so this time, if he does say Wenger didn't shake his hand, he technically won't be lying.

On to the team news, and as mentioned above, Cesc is unavailable. Don't worry though, Denilson is back, and that could mean us fielding the midfield three of Denilson, Diaby and Song. Otherwise known as the most boring midfield three of all time, ever. Now don't get me wrong, I am a massive fan of Song, and I appreciate Denilson, but when you see those three names together on the team sheet it doesn't exactly invite you to think "wow......creative!". Hopefully Wenger will address this by playing Ramsey or Nasri in the middle. However, the prospect of playing his two love childs with Song in the middle may be overpowering, and for good measure he'll probably chuck Eboue into the midfield somewhere. Having said that, I wouldn't be upset at all if Eboue stood in at right back today instead of Sagna.

Tonight it may not be a bad idea if Wenger rotated slightly, although not completely. Giving Fabianski a chance over the rapidly deteriorating Spaniard would be nice and not entirely undeserved. Allowing Ramsey to play in the middle (perhaps even alongside Nasri, as this is a home game) would be nice, and maybe Vela and Eduardo together up front. Last time those two played together up front was against Burnley in the FA cup, and they ran wild. Merida must be cursing Fabian Delph that he is suspended, for this may have been a match where he featured briefly, what with all the injuries to the first team. For those of you who don't know what happened with Fabian Delph, allow me to explain. In a recent reserve match against Aston Villa, in an off-the-ball incident, cameras clearly showed Fabian Delph grabbing Merida round the face and taking a swing at him. Eventually after a five minute discussion with the nearest linesman, the referee proceeded to ludicrously send the young Spaniard off whilst only booking the angry little Villa midfielder. Anyway I digress, this is 3rd of Merida's three match suspension, so he won't be on the bench, chances are however that Wilshere will.

So this is the team that I want to play today:

Fabianski

Eboue Gallas Vermaelen Silvestre(only due to no other options)

Song

Ramsey Nasri

Arshavin Eduardo Vela

However, I am fully aware that this is not the team that will play. I am merely indulging in fantasies. Regarding a score prediction....God knows. Who knows what Arsenal team will turn up? If Brown continues his recent trend of having Geovanni on the bench in away matches, it should be immeasurably easier. If not, we should still win, although I can see our defence leaking a goal. I'll get behind the Arse and say a 3-0 victory today.

Right, I think that'll be all for today.
See you after the match Gooners.