Established players that have permanently left this summer are Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp and Sol Campbell. They are joined by a few youngsters out on loan: Kerrea Gilbert, Nicklas Bendtner, Fabrice Muamba and Sebastian Larsson. On top of that, we have injuries to Freddie Ljungberg, Gael Clichy, Philippe Senderos, Abou Diaby, Lauren and Reyes. Either Mattieu_Flamini or Justin Hoyte will replace Cole at left back, with Flamini surely the favourite following his great performances there last season although Hoyte had a terrific season on loan at Sunderland where he played on the left (he'd been mainly a right back previously). Clichy's likely to take over when he returns from a long-standing foot injury, but that won't be before October, and it assumes that Cole won't still be around then.

Senderos, also out till October following a dislocated shoulder at the World Cup, is likely to be replaced by Swiss compatriot Johan Djourou. The Ivory Coast duo Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue should complete the defence.

Jens Lehmann felt ill following Germany's 3-0 win over Sweden on Wednesday, and had to go to hospital where he was found to have a blood sugar problem. But he was expected to be able to train this week and be available for tomorrow.

In midfield, Freddie has an ankle problem but should be back soon. That should leave room for Tomas Rosicky and Alexander Hleb on the wings, with Gilberto and Cesc Fabregas in the middle, assuming that Reyes is out. There's a chance that Reyes would not be used again (being "unsettled", like for the Champs League qualifier last week) but there are also reports that he is out with groin problem anyway (it's not on the official site's injury news page though).

[see here for an update on the midfield situation, with Rosicky out and Freddie drafted back in]

Up front there's probably Thierry Henry and one of Robin van Persie or Emmanuel Adebayor, although there have been suggestions that Thierry will be rested. Seems a bit unnecessary to me, especially as he probably won't be needed for the second leg of the Champs League qualifer on Wednesday since Arsenal go into it with a healthy 3-0 lead.

Even with the absentees mentioned above, Arsenal should be too strong for this Villa squad. With the club in the middle of finding a new owner, Aston Villa have failed to make a single signing since Martin O'Neill came in as the replacement for David O'Leary. Some sources say he'll give late fitness tests to Wilfred Bouma (hamstring) and Gary Cahill (ankle), others that they're both definitely out. Steven Davis and Martin Laursen could be back from injuries but Milan Baros is out with a foot injury.