Anfield Shall Bleed In Red.. Go Gunners..

Will Arshavin silence the Kop again?

In a way, it feels like the first day back at school after a really long summer holiday. The boys have got their shiny new uniforms. The school playground has had improvement works carried out on it over the break (though in our case the process has been named “Arsenalisation”). The new boys are, hopefully, settling in well without any incidences of their lunch money getting nicked or of them getting panted in PE.

Obviously, once again, fewer new boys have arrived than many Arsenal fans had hoped, and as I write this on the Thursday before the Liverpool match, a mere 19 days before the transfer window slams itself shut, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting any more transfers from other schools either. Pity, but we shall carry on.

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Sian Ranscombe, an ardent Goonerette, takes time out for 11G & previews the opening fixture for us. Do read her blog I Believe In Arsenal. Follow her on Twitter @SianyMacalarny Read on..

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Arsenal’s first fixture of the season sees us travel to Anfield to take on Roy Hodgson’s men, a side in desperate need of starting the season off on the right foot after ending last season on such a dodgy one. Last season’s clashes with the Reds saw Arsenal come out on top after a 1-2 win up there and a 1-0 win down in London. Liverpool started last season as a Top Four side but begin this season as a team-who-finished-seventh-and-aren’t-in-the-Champions-League-either. What’s that old saying? Beware of the wounded beast?

It applies here. That magnificent old club Liverpool is the bear with the arrow in its head and Arsenal might just be the naïve young hunter wanting to show his dad his kill and coming away without a face. And no one wants a missing face.

Obviously, the doom and gloom merchants are out in force already with their “Well we haven’t signed a keeper so we might as well just give up now” comments and their unadulterated glee at having so wittily nicknamed Fabianski, Flappyanski. The poor lad proves time and time again that he doesn’t seem to have what it takes to be the goalkeeper of a league-winning team and it’s for this very reason I’d hope Almunia starts ahead of him on Sunday. Or Mannone. Or Szczesny. I hate losing faith in a player and, quite clearly, this is a sentiment shared by Wenger but if the pre-season is anything to go by, Lukasz’s summer holidays haven’t exactly done him a world of good.

If he does play, however, we’ll have to deal with it. You keep thinking, surely at some point he’s going to have that brilliant game, a game like Almunia had in the first half against Barcelona at the Emirates, where balls just bounce off him. This happening against Liverpool would be the best tonic of all for Fabianski who, while a good shot-stopper, clearly has nerves as shredded as a really shredded thing. And it’s only August.

It seems unlikely Cesc or Robin will start up at Anfield, having made it to the final of the World Cup in South Africa with their respective nations. Over a month ago. And then of course Cesc played for Spain in the first half of last night’s friendly with Mexico (in Mexico… you know, a long jet-lag-inducing flight away).

BUT the good news is that Arshavin (who likes to score goals at Anfield, in case you’d forgotten), Nasri, Theo, Gibbsy, Eboue, Jack and Vermaelen all got through their mid-week friendlies without dislocating an ear or breaking a finger. I had a bit of a panic-up at the thought of them trying to get through baggage claim without hurting themselves last night (those luggage carousels are, after all, vicious) but so far there are no reports of any damage to our players.  Phew.

We say it every season, but this season I truly believe we’ll be ending up with some silverware. Things are coming to fruition. We managed to keep hold of Cesc from those big fat bullies with the verbal diarrhoea over there in Cataluña. The English national team is finally recognising the talent we have here in the form of Jack, Theo and Kieran (commentator in last night’s match against Hungary: “Kieran Gibbs has been a revelation this evening”… Kieran Gibbs was a revelation about two seasons ago, fools!) RVP starts the season uninjured. The clock is back in the stadium. Eboue has some new dance moves up his sleeve. Tomas Rosicky has cut his hair. And so on, and so forth.

Liverpool, away, on the first match of the season is hardly the nice, easy fixture you’d have chosen to ease your way back into the Premiership, especially with their new manager and their many points to prove. I just hope that our boys don’t forget that they have a point to prove as well. After all, we’re starting the season on top of the league I see no reason as to why we should expect to finish anywhere but right where we’re starting.

C’mon you Gunners.. Dig in..

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Note: If any of you want to share your views/opinions on the club from N5 (read: Arsenal!), leave Us a comment at the bottom. We’ll get back right away & be glad to give you a chance. Keep Gunning..