Arsenal:
           Lehmann
   Lauren Campbell Toure Clichy
Pires Cesc Gilberto Reyes (Eboue 65)
  Henry van Persie (Bergkamp 71)

Arsenal made 3 changes from the side that beat Sparta Prague on Wednesday, with Jens Lehmann returning from his back problem, the craft of Cesc Fabregas replacing the industry of Mathieu Flamini in central midfield, and of course the young pretender to our "Dutch master" role replacing the present holder of the title up front.

Things got off to a sleepy start. Jose Antonio Reyes had clearly woken up though, when he robbed Alan Stubbs after 7 minutes. He had a clear run on goal but hit his shot wide. Despite his pre-match comments in support of under-fire keeper Kelvin Davis, Mick McCarthy started with young Ben Alnwick in goal (see preview).

The opening goal came 5 minutes later, when Sol Campbell hoofed the ball forward out of defence. Van Persie beat 2 defenders to the ball, chested it down, and smashed the ball in.

Things went a bit flat for a while, although Arsenal were still well on top they weren't creating much in the way of chances. Until a few minutes before half time, that is, when van Persie's first-time flick forward out Lauren on a run up the right wing, and he crossed perfectly for Thierry Henry to slide the ball in at the far post. Henry's 7th goal of the season in his 6th start, we're told, which is perhaps a bit misleading given that he scored twice against Sparta having come off the bench.

Sunderland were a bit rubbish again. Well-organised but offering little else. McCarthy tried a double substitution at the break but it didn't make much difference. If there had been a difference it would more likely have been to do with Arsenal's habit of stepping down a gear once they feel the game is one. But in this case Arsenal hadn't really gone up through any gears yet.

A few minutes after the break, Kolo Toure hoofed forward, and Henry headed the ball into van Persie's path. He got through to a one-on-one with Alnwick charging out to the edge of his box, when Robin tried to chip the keeper only to miskick it and send the ball wide of the post.

Van Persie continued to be the main source of danger for the visitors. On 64 he did really well to make space for himself then fired into the side-netting, moments later he forced a save out of Alnwick with a low drive. And just moments after that he lobbed the ball to Henry just inside the box and Henry juggled the ball up for an overhead kick which came so close to being a cheeky classic - but as it was the ball hit the outside of the right post.

Van Persie came off for Bergkamp soon after that, Dennis coming on for a milestone of his own: 300 Premiership appearances.

15 minutes from time, Sunderland managed a goal against the run of play when a corner was nodded down to Stubbs and he poked it home through the crowded box. But they never looked like coming back into it properly, and a few minutes later Cesc hit a sweet pass through the defence for Henry and the skipper made no mistake for his 189th Arsenal goal.

My one worry after this kind of game is that maybe we're taking too much for granted. It's all very well to cruise past a team like this, and it's great that the team has the confidence to do so. But after the international break we've got games against a confident Wigan side, then Blackburn, Bolton, Newcastle, and the big one against Chelsea. We're not going to win all those games without being absolutely on top form, so letting the sharpness dip just because we can may not be the best thing right now.