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There have been doubts over the fitness of Freddie Ljungberg
(knee)
and Johan Djourou (foot, 'the laces part' according to Arsene Wenger)
since the win over Sheffield United on
Saturday, but yesterday Le Boss said that he expects them
both to be able to play in tonight's match against Porto, despite
the fact that they hadn't been able to train yet.
If Djourou is
unavailable then William Gallas will presumably step in at
centre back alongside Kolo Toure, with Justin Hoyte or
Mathieu Flamini at left back. That'd be an interesting choice,
with Wenger having said that Flamini doesn't like playing at
left back and apparently being happy with it, but with Flamini
surely looking the better bet what with the experience of last
season's terrific run in Europe,
when the defence set new records for the Champions League.
As for Freddie, it wouldn't be surprising if he started on
the bench anyway, with Alexander Hleb and Tomas Rosicky
taking to the wings in a 4-4-2 (I suspect that Wenger will use a
4 man midfield tonight but even if he goes for a 5, it could
be Baptista rather than Freddie that takes the 5th spot).
Thierry Henry is said to be over his foot problem. Although he certainly
didn't look to be over that problem for the first hour of Saturday's
match, he went on to have a major part in all 3 goals, proving once
again to the doubters that even a half-fit Henry can be a match-winner.
Arsene Wenger has alluded to this and said that now he's had a
whole match since the injury he should be sharper.
Philippe Senderos, Gael Clichy, Abou Diaby, and Lauren are
all still unfit. Apart from that the only doubt is Theo Walcott
who missed the Blades match with a shoulder injury picked up playing
for the reserves last week.
Porto got off to a disappointing start on matchday 1 with a
home nil-nil against CSKA Moscow, but they did have some
of their better players missing so we have to warn against
over-confidence. They're going well domestically at the moment,
playing a 4-3-3 with an emphasis on defense but with some
strong attacking players too.
One of those player to watch out for tonight is Postiga, the former
Spurs striker who was a young flop in the Premiership but has
developed well since returning to Portugal. He'll probably line up
alongside Adriano up front. They've also got a
fine winger in Quaresma, who like Postiga had a disappointing spell
abroad (at Barcelona) but has got himself back on track back
in his homeland. There's also Anderson, a dangerous young Brazilian
who's probably going to be on the bench to start with, but likely
to be used if they find themselves needing more firepower.
They've got a few injuries in Joćo Paulo and Bruno Moraes (knees),
Tomislav Sokota and Pedro Emanuel (achilles), and Ibson (foot).
Diogo Valente and Paulo Ribeiro have apparently been left out of the squad.
But Raul Meireles has recovered from a foot injury.
Arsenal have never played Porto before, which I guess is why
many previews are banging on about a Highbury night in 1991 against
another Portuguese side that, frankly, we'd rather not have to think about. So they're from Portugal... does that really
make it relevant? |