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It could be a fiery encounter at Filbert St tomorrow.
The game at Highbury in August
certainly had its moments, not least of which was the
mass confrontation which saw Dennis Wise and Patrick
Vieira both sent off.
To be fair to the players, there was nothing much in it
and they were both sent off for their reputations as much as anything.
Arsene Wenger has been saying he doesn't think there's bad feeling between the teams or players, pointing out that
Wise's buying of Paddy's shirt at an auction indicates there's
respect there (in that direction, at least). But let's face it,
if a table-propping team containing the likes of Wise Savage
and Delaney is going to try to deny table-topping Arsenal the points,
they're likely to use more than their ball skills.
Arsenal have Lauren out still. The suspension which kept him out on Saturday was only 1 match but he now has an ankle injury.
Oleg Luzhny did ok against Middlesbrough. He slipped up
defensively once or twice but we get that from Lauren too,
and the Ukrainian looked useful going forward.
Adams Jeffers and Dixon are said to be not quite ready yet,
and David Seaman is thought to be at least another month away from returning.
Richard Wright was on the bench on Saturday but it would be no surprise to see Stuart Taylor continue between the sticks. The only
thing he really had to do against Boro was wave a hand at a pretty well unstoppable Whelan shot, and deal with a much-too-strong Campbell backpass which he did very well.
Having missed Saturday's match through injury, Parlour now starts his 2 match suspension. Gio is expected to continue
alongside Vieira.
Up front, it's possible that Wengers comments today about how it's best if we don't rely on Henry too much could be preparing us
for him being rested tomorrow. Henry didn't start the home
game, with Bergkamp giving us some classic Dennis instead.
And the Dutchman's contribution on Saturday could earn him a start. But it's also possible that Wenger was just thinkign about
the fact that Henry hasn't scored for a couple of games.
Leicester are expecting Muzzy Izzet back in their starting line-up after a back injury (he came on off the bench on Saturday).
Striker Ade Akinbiyi could miss out with James Scowcroft coming in alongside Brian Deane.
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