Thierry Henry also misses the game with his back trouble, and we'll also miss Tomas Rosicky. I'd expect a midfield 5 with Robin van Persie in it along with Freddie Ljungberg and Alexander Hleb supporting Emmanuel Adebayor up front. But you never know, Arsene's recently been tempted into a more defensive midfield with Matthieu Flamini as well as Cesc Fabregas and Gilberto in the middle. Let's hope not, we're not at our best when we lack options going forward.

And you never know, Julio Baptista or Theo Walcott might start, although a place on the bench along with Matty seems more likely.

Ashley Cole is expected to return to the Chelsea side having been left out of their Champs League game in midweek. The same goes for Makalele and John Terry (the latter having missed the game against Levski Sofia through suspension).

Carlo Cudicini is doubtful but they have a unusually decent 3rd choice keeper in Hilario.

Anyway. On to the important stuff. Slightly different attitudes to the booing Ashley Cole issue have been expressed by Arsenal's manager and goalkeeper.

Arsene Wenger's trying to play things down, supporting the club's request for travelling fans to show Cole respect and not heckle him in tomorrow's big London derby against Chelsea. He points out that "he has done well" for Arsenal.

To be fair to Cole, that's an understatement. Cole was a superb player for us, and particularly loved for his attitude and the belief that in some sense, having been an Arsenal fan, he was one of us. He was also regarded with fondness because of the fact that (as he admitted) he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box.

But while a certain amount of harmless idiocy is endearing, the stuff that Ashley's been saying since he left leaves not only Arsenal fans with a bad taste in their mouths. You might feel you deserve more, but talking about 55K per week as if it's a pittance will never sit well with the fans who have to scrape together for the absurdly escalating price of a match ticket.

Cole expects flak, so he does at least have some grasp of reality. And, unlike Wenger, Jens Lehmann has has been saying that Ashley deserves it.

""Of course Ashley should expect criticism from supporters... He should get criticism."

"That is football. It makes the game exciting. If he didn't it would have meant that he wasn't an important player, but he was. He was a vital member of our squad and we enjoyed some major successes with him. So obviously he should expect some negative emotions when he plays against Arsenal."

He also echoes many fans' thoughts with his comments on the trend for autobiographies by people who've hardly lived yet.

"I do not understand why young players write books. I do not know why a player at 25 wants to tell me all about their big experiences. When I consider the age I am now, I would have a lot to tell people. But it seems to be an English habit to come out with books that nobody needs."

"I will probably write one when I retire. But I am a bit older than these players. As I said, what is the point of writing a book at 25?"

I guess the answer in this case is that the poor lad's pension plan was badly hit by having to endure miserly Arsenal wages for an extra season.