Arsenal Will Beat Blackpool Today Despite Mounting Injury List

Arsenal play their first home league match of the season today at home to newly promoted Blackpool. It's a game that we are expected to win and win well, but Blackpool showed us against Wigan last week that it won't be a cake walk.

They went to Wigan and came away with a thoroughly deserved 4-0 win, and from what I have heard it could have been even more. Blackpool played really well in getting promoted through the playoffs last season and they have continued it into the Premier League.

The majority of teams that come to play Arsenal try to park the boss and hope to hit us on the break. Blackpool may just decide to take us on at our own game and hope that we are slow out of the blocks so that they can cause a big shock.

I won't be too surprised if Blackpool score the first goal or if they come back with an equaliser if we go 1-0 up, but I expect Arsenal to click into gear and ultimately be too strong for them. We have so many good players and we are capable of playing such good football that Blackpool should not be able to cope with it.

The Premier League is a great adventure for a team like Blackpool, and if they manage not to get relegated it will be a great achievement. On the other hand, Arsenal have an array of talented players from all over the world and two of them played in the World Cup final only six weeks ago.

The boss said yesterday that Cesc and Djourou will be available after not making the trip to Liverpool last week but that is countered by the loss of Koscielny to suspension and Nasri to injury. I don't think Cesc will start but I'm sure he will come off the bench at some stage.

Djourou, on the other hand, will be needed from the start as our only other option at centre back will be Song and he is also just back from injury. I think Song will stay on the bench too, as back up to both Djourou and Diaby who will probably play the same role that he did last week.

I can't see the team differing from last week's team too much with the goalkeeper and back four remaining the same except for Djourou replacing the suspended Koscielny. In midfield, Diaby and Wilshere will probably start again and I think that Rosicky might get his chance alongside them after he performed so well when he came on against Liverpool.

The front line should be the same with the possible exception of Walcott in place of Eboue as he looks to exploit the wide open spaces on our pitch. I think RVP will be on the bench with Cesc and Song and it gives us plenty of real class to introduce if the boss wants to change the game at any stage.

As I said earlier, I expect Blackpool to make a game of it for quite a while and we will have to keep our pace and tempo going for the entire game if we are going to beat them. Blackpool will not lie down and die and if we underestimate them it could be more embarrassing than the home defeat to Hull two years ago.

I'm predicting a 3-1 win for Arsenal and I think Chamakh will get one of the goals. I wouldn't be surprised to see Vermaelen get among the goals either as he looked eager to score last week.

The boss said yesterday that he might sign more than one player before the transfer window closes but it depends on opportunities. I might have something to eat before going to The Strand to watch the game tomorrow with my fellow Wicklow Gunners, but I don't have to. However, if I don't I will pay the consequences and the same goes for Arsenal.

The failure to strengthen the squad before the window closes could prove very costly if we get any more injuries as we are already at the top of the injury league on physioroom.com.

I can't believe that the manager would take such a big chance with our season and if it's just for a slightly larger transfer fee in a few cases he has to bite the bullet and up his offers to a level that is more acceptable to the clubs we wish to buy from.

The boss also admitted that Squillaci is one of the players we have been looking at but that we are not close to signing him. He said our need for a centre back is greater than our need for a goalkeeper as we are not short of numbers of goalkeepers but we are certainly short of centre backs.

We may have plenty of goalkeepers, but numbers alone are not necessarily quality and we need a quality goalkeeper capable of playing in our first team now.

When asked about the goalkeeping situation and the possible offer for Schwarzer, the boss said we don't really talk about possible deals or not as there is are so many talks going on and so many deals that are not concluded. He understands that Almunia might be unsettled by all the speculation, but he said it's a part of playing for a big club like Arsenal.

It looks like Gallas has joined the Spuds and I'm sure he will get a lovely reception from the Arsenal fans when we play them at home on November 21. The boss said that Gallas's reputation is exaggerated and he is a genuine winner who is completely focused and motivated to win.

He hopes that the fans won't treat him the same way the Spuds fans treated Campbell, but I don't think it will be that bad as we allowed Gallas to leave whereas the Spuds did not want Campbell to go and he was their star player at the time.

With the music for the team being changed from Elvis to Fat Boy Slim we should be treated to "Right Here, Right Now" as they come out onto the pitch today. There is an early start to proceedings too as the Clock is welcomed to its new home and hopefully everybody will be in their seats in plenty of time to join in.

That's more or less it for today except to remind everyone to make any changes to their fantasy teams that are needed before the deadline of 11.30 this morning. I've also made my predictions for today's games and you can read them here.

Here's a look at how Chamakh played against Liverpool last Sunday.

See You Tomorrow.