One Step Forward and Two Steps Back For Arsenal

Arsenal v Man City

Back to club football after an unsurprisingly dull international break. Monsieur Wenger has never been the biggest fan of the international break nor has he been a fan of the negative side effects it carries with it.

Just as Arsenal fans were rejoicing the return to action of Theo Walcott, Emanuel Adebayor (well some Arsenal fans at least) and talismanic captain Cesc Fabregas, bad news emerged in the aftermath of the international break with injuries sustained to Niklas Bentdner, Eduardo Da Silva, Robin Van Persie(Surprise, Surprise!) and Vassiriki Abou Diaby.

Samir Nasri misses the Man City clash due to illness, while Carlos Vela might not feature due to the fact that he will arrive late from international duty. So it's a case of three in and six out for Arsenal Football Club.

"We have lost Robin van Persie with a groin problem," Arsene Wenger told the club's official website. "We have also lost Eduardo through a groin problem he picked up after 80 minutes in the Croatian game.

"We lose as well Abou Diaby with a thigh problem that he picked up in France training. We might lose Nasri because he came back with flu and could not practice today.

"So three players are out and there is a question mark over Nasri. But Fabregas, Adebayor and Walcott are all back and available in the squad.

"Nicklas texted us last night and said everything was alright with him. But Carlo Vela, I count out because he lands on Friday morning at 10.30. However, if needed he can be in the squad."

In the best case scenario Bentdner will be fit for the City clash. That would mean that he and Adebayor are the only senior squad strikers that will be fit for the game.

I for one, have never been a fan of the big man-big man striking partnership, but Niklas has improved drastically in the past few months so he will probably get the nod if he passes the late fitness test.

In addition, Niklas and Adebayor despite being similar in stature are country miles apart in terms of playing style, so it might just work out.

It will be interesting to see who Arsene picks to play alongside little Cesc(if he were to start that is). There has been an open debate among Arsenal fans over whether Song should be given the nod ahead of Denilson.

Song has done very well in the past few games, add to that he is the more defensive minded midfielder between the pair and of course many believe the Cesc-Denilson pairing was given a chance and failed in the first half of the season. It will be interesting to see how the Boss handles this.

Another interesting issue in this game will be how Arsenal handle the absence of arguably their best player this season, Dutch wizard Robin Van Persie. Van Persie has been responsible for the bulk of Arsenal's goals in 2009, he has been directly involved in more than 60 percent of Arsenal's goals either by assisting the scorer or scoring the goal himself.

It is important however to note that, the last league goal Van Persie scored was the 94th minute equaliser against Everton in January 28th 2009.

Arsenal are undefeated in 16 league matches. Their unbeaten run stretching from 22 November 2008 to our present moment. Ironically they were beaten by Man City in the reverse fixture 3-0 at the Eastlands. However Man City have not won on Arsenal turf for over 33 years

Scorer of the third goal in the reverse fixture and Brazilian superstar Robinho is highly doubtful for the Mancunian outfit and so is Welsh international striker Craig Bellamy. Wayne Bridge will face a late fitness test.

Arsene Wenger has pinpointed Irish midfielder Stephen Ireland as Man City's main threat.

"He's a very good player with good work rate, good vision and a good technical level," Wenger told the club's official website.

"[He has] good efficiency as well in terms of assists. I personally rate him.

"I believe he has had a good season and since I have known him, he is a good player. I am surprised that he didn’t play in the national team."

Indeed Stephen has been Man City's best and most productive player this season. While flamboyant Brazilian star Robinho has grabbed all the limelight for the Eastlands outfit, it has been Ireland that has bailed his team out on so many occasions.

The box to box midfielder brings a lot of qualities to the table, and if Arsenal's midfielders were to contain his threat they should work hard to detect his forward runs.

Prediction:

Man City have one of the worst away records in the Premiership. Arsenal have been revived by the introduction of Russian playmaker Andrey Arshavin and are undefeated since November 2008. The aura that Fabregas return will bring to the North London outfit could prove vital with Arsenal's increasing injury list. I'm predicting an Arsenal win here.

Arsenal  2 - 1  Man City