The good news is that we're at home, and against the minnows of the group. Tonight ought to be an opportunity to show that we can cope without the skipper, and that we can score a few goals without him too.

It's hard to leave Reyes out given the way he's playing, but it's possible that he'll be on the wing giving van Persie an opportunity to get a bit more pitch-time in. That decision might depend on how Robin reacts to yesterday's training ground injury. I'd expect to see Bergkamp pulling the strings tonight, as captain and playmaker, but personally I'd like to make sure there are plenty of goalscorers on the pitch because he's looking less and less like he wants to shoot.

On that note, the good news is that the official site's injury news page is saying that Freddie Ljungberg should be able to play (having, sadly, been rested against Boro after playing 2 full games for Sweden).

At the back, Sol Campbell is fully fit but lacking match practice. Perhaps tonight's the night to get some. Or perhaps it's time to put faith back in Senderos. Anything but Cygan, please. Even if he plays and does alright, it'll only muddy the waters again. He's not the answer, not for the season and beyond.

In goal, it'd be a big game to give Mart Poom his debut, and he's not even been on the bench yet this season. So Almunia will start with the new signing as cover.

Thun vs Arsenal is like a 3rd round FA Cup tie (so we'll probably need a replay). Their total salary budget for the year is half of what we pay Thierry. But they did come runners up in the Swiss league last year, and they did get past Malmo and Dynamo Kiev on the way to the group stage. Perhaps the old (the real) Wimbledon is a good comparison. 8 years ago they averaged 150 spectators. This has risen to 6000. So let's not forget, as the CL champions never will, that teams like that Wimbledon can nick cup games off superior opposition.

There are articles in the Indpendent and the Telegraph with lots of relevent and picturesque information. Apparently they took 50 fans to Malmo and 100 to Kiev, but are reckoning on getting 800 to Highbury tonight. Let's hope they have a good time, but not tooo good....

Central defender Deumi, reckoned to be their top player, is unlikely to play tonight as he's not quite full recovered from a groin injury. But captain Andres Gerber should be back in midfield after missing their game at the weekend with an inflamed tendon.