The official site has revealed the squad for tonight's game. There's a concentration of first-team experience at centre-back with Sol Campbell, Philippe Senderos, and Pascal Cygan all named. Robin van Persie is in there too (havign missed out at the weekend when, unusually, Arsenal used no subs at all). Apart from that, and the goalkeeping position, it's all youngsters with just a coupel having proper first-team expereience.

Perhaps most interesting will be the chance to see Arturo Lupoli and/or Nicklas Bendtner up front, both of whom are scoring at a rate of more than 1 per game for the Reserves this season. Fringe first-teamers such as Quincy, Emmanuel Eboue, and Alex Song are likely to get a full game for a change, along with a few promising players that many won't know a lot about yet, such as Djourou Muamba and Cregg. That's all of great interest for the long-term future of Arsenal (UEFA's new rules will mean that we're going to become more likely to hang onto some of these youngsters). For the short-term, perhaps the question of greatest interest is whether or not Sol Campbell will return from injury. Arsenal.com's injury news page says that he could. See also the official site's preview.

The home side come into this match with just 2 days rest since their hard-fought 3-2 derby loss to Newcastle United. Justin Hoyte is definitely going to play against his real club (see here for an interesting interview). Mart Poom is allowed to play but we expect Manuel Almunia to get the job. Will Poom ever play for us?

Like Arsenal, Sunderland have said they'll rest some of their "top" players. Not sure who that is. Julio Arca is a contender but he's a doubt anyway after aggravating a toe injury (he was only just considered fit for the Newcastle game). Jon Stead is expected to start up front, and Danny Collins in defence, with Ben Alnwich replacing Kelvin Davis in goal.

The cheap ticket prices have resulted in a sell-out.