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Arsenal go to Moscow to play CSKA this
evening (don't forget the early kick-off time)
without Freddie Ljungberg, Julio Baptista,
and Emmanuel Eboue, as well as the longer-term
injury-hit players Lauren and Abou Diaby.
Gael Clichy is in the squad and it's not impossible
that he'll start, having played a bit at the end of
Saturday's
win over Watford, but Philippe_Sendero isn't quite ready.
Clichy only got 10 minutes on Saturday though, so
Wenger may well stick with William Gallas at left back
with Justin Hoyte on the right. I'd expect Theo Walcott
to go back to the bench with Alexander Hleb joining
Tomas Rosicky, Cesc Fabregas and Gilberto in midfield.
I'd have thought that Robin van Persie is more likely to
start than Emmanuel Adebayor, since he probably fits better
into a 4-5-1. Wenger's surprise for this squad is
Arsenal's young Brazilian star Denilson, who is included because
of the absence of Freddie and the Beast.
It's always tricky going to Moscow, where CSKA's
pitch is said to be in a bit of a state and Arsenal have never won
(against Spartak Moscow
and Lokomotiv Moscow). Having said that, CSKA have lost all 3 of their
matches against English teams (not that any of these historical stats
mean anything). The match is played a couple of hours early
but temperatures could still be sub-zero.
Like Arsenal, CSKA are on an up right now, top of their league and
3 wins in a row. They have 7 Russian internationals (so it's an
interesting game for England fans, not that England
are capable of playing anything like Arsenal), and a
couple of Brazilians in Vagner Love and Daniel Carvalho,
both of whom return from a domestic suspension.
They'll go top if they win (see Champs League page).
I'm on holiday for the next week, but Arseweb will continue to get up to
speed like in the old days, as soon as I'm back (if not before). |
