Gooner Talk

Porto got back to winning ways in the league by beating Pacos de Ferreira 2-0 Friday night with goals by Raul Meireles after a great assist from Lisandro Lopez (pictured above, right), and Hulk after being set up by man-of-the-match Meireles.

Jesualdo Ferreira decided to rest star man Lucho Gonzalez ahead of the Champions League clash against Arsenal in the middle of next week and replaced him with fellow Argentine Tomas Costa.

The start of the game saw a strong Porto with fast passes create several goal chances, and it was no surprise when Meireles opened the scoring with an emphatic finish after some excellent wing play from Lisandro.

Meireles did his best to return the favour shortly afterwards but the Argentine striker fired wastefully over the bar when put clean through by the midfielder. The first half was the story of Porto domination against a Pacos de Ferreira team lacking creativity.

In the 2nd half Pacos came out with a different attitude and created some dangerous situations, with Helton doing well to save a Ricardo effort.

Jesualdo did not like what he saw and made 2 substitutions, entering Guarin and Candeias for Sapunaru and Farias.

Later on the Porto coach replaced Lisandro with Brazilian striker Hulk, and the forward made the game safe by scoring his second goal of the season after a neat interchange with Meireles.

Arsenal will have their work cut out on Tuesday evening, as Jesualdo Ferreira’s side look to captalise on the Gunners’ defeat at Premier League newcomers Hull City, with what would be a marvellous Champions League scalp.

With thanks to Portugoal.net

Arsenal took on Premier League newcomers Hull City at the Emirates Stadium on a sunny Saturday evening in north London.

14 goals in the Gunners’ last 4 games gave Arsene Wenger’s side something positive to build from and it looked set to continue with an easy-looking game against Phil Brown’s troops.

Hull were certainly no mugs coming into the game though, 8 points out of a possible 15 would normally be the mark of a ‘top four’ team, something that Arsenal had to be aware of.

Arsenal Starting XI:

Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Gallas – Clichy
Eboue – Fabregas – Denilson – Walcott
Adebayor – van Persie

Subs: Fabianski, Vela, Ramsey, Song, Silvestre, Djourou, Bendtner.

Hull Starting XI:

Myhill
McShane – Zayatte – Turner – Dawson
Marney – Boateng – Geovanni – Ashbee
Cousin – King

Subs: Duke, Hughes, Garcia, Mendy, Halmosi, Folan, Ricketts.

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Arsenal’s reward for thrashing Sheffield United at the Emirates Stadium in the Carling Cup is a fourth round trip to Premier League tough-nuts Wigan Athletic.

The last time both teams met in the competition was in 2005 when a memorable injury time goal by Jason Roberts secured their place in the Carling Cup final.

Last season, Arsenal fought a scrappy contest to beat the Latics 2-0 at the Emirates thanks late goals from William Gallas and Tomas Rosicky. At the JJB, Arsene Wenger’s side forged a 0-0 draw mainly due to Wigan’s stern defensive display.

The ties will be played on either the Tuesday or Wednesday the 11th or 12th November

The full draw is as follows:

Arsenal v Wigan Athletic
Brighton & Hove Albion or Derby v Leeds United
Chelsea v Burnley
Manchester United v Queens Park Rangers
Stoke City v Rotherham United
Sunderland v Blackburn Rovers
Swansea City v Watford
Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool

Premier League leaders Arsenal take on surprise package Hull City at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The Gunners are flying high at the top of the Premiership and take on top-flight debutantes Hull on the back of a 6-0 destruction of Championship side Sheffield United by their youngsters in the Carling Cup, but expect manager Arsene Wenger to bring back senior players for the visit of the Tigers.

Tigers boss Phil Brown faces his toughest task yet in the Premiership in trying to come away from the Emirates with something to show, but his Yorkshire side are unbeaten in their travels away from the KC Stadium this season and continue to surprise the many people who tipped them for relegation straight back down to the Championship.

Wenger is set to recall senior players like Cesc Fabregas and top-scorer Emmanuel Adebayor for the clash at the Emirates, but is still without long-term absentees Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) and Eduardo (broken leg) along with Abou Diaby (thigh). However, Arsenal could welcome back French International Samir Nasri from a knee injury, with new signing Mikael Silvestre possibly in line to make his Gunners debut.

Hull’s only injuries are to striker Craig Fagan (broken leg), and Anthony Gardner (thigh), with Daniel Cousin set to partner Marlon King in attack again for the Tigers at Arsenal.

Predicted Starting XI

Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Gallas – Clichy
Eboue – Fabregas – Denilson – Walcott
Adebayor – van Persie

Match Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Hull City

Catch all the post-match reaction and player ratings here on Gooner Talk seconds after the final whistle.

Leave your views and predictions of tomorrows game in the comments section below.

Arsenal midfield maestro and Euro2008 Champ Cesc Fabregas believes he will have to raise his game after the performances of Arsenal’s young guns on Tuesday night.

Arsene Wenger used a squad with an average age of just 19 for the Carling Cup clash with Sheffield United at the Emirates, but still saw his talented men put in a masterclass display as they dismantled the Blades 6-0.

Fabregas – himself the yougest-ever player to appear in the Gunners’ first team – admits the performance left him on the edge of his seat, and believes it won’t be long before the pretenders to his crown will be knocking on the door.

“I was really excited on Tuesday – it was sensational. You can see all the players have ambition, they want to show how good they are,” the 21-year-old told The Sun.

“I cannot go to sleep as one day or other they will want to play more and more and the manager will want them to play more.

“I will have to be better and better. Wilshere, Ramsey, Merida — they all play in my position. This is great for me. I love competition.”

And Fabregas, who joined the north Londoners as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in September 2003, believes nobody is better for giving youngsters a chance than Gunners boss Wenger.

“He doesn’t care how old they are and it’s amazing. It’s why we have so many good young players. It’s the club’s policy,” said the Spaniard, who is expected to return for the club’s Premier League clash with Hull City tomorrow.

“Even if you’re 14 or 15 he always looks relaxed to you and instils confidence in you. For what he does with young players, no one compares with Wenger.”

Gooner Talk will provide all the build-up towards Saturday’s 4pm kick-off against Hull City and a match report will be posted up immediately after the full time whistle – stay locked, on the #1 site for all of Arsenal’s first team news and views.

Arsenal’s French defensive duo Gael Clichy and summer signing Mikael Silvestre are fit for Saturday’s Premier League match with Hull City.

Clichy, 22, was on the receiving end of a strong challenge from Bolton’s Kevin Davies and was immediately driven to hospital with what looked like at the time, a broken leg. Luckily for the former Cannes youngster, he only sustained bruising to the shin.

As for Silvestre, the ex-United defender looks set to play a part in the game after recovering from a mixture of thigh and ankle injuries since joining early last month.

“I am really pleased that Gael is available,” said the manager. “He had a training session today for the first time and he should develop well in the next 48 hours.” said Wenger.

“However Mikael Silvestre is available and we did not have any injuries from last week [against Bolton]. The likes of Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott have recovered fully so everyone is available.”

Cameroonian International Alex Song took a knock on his hip during the latter stages of Tuesday’s Carling Cup mauling against Sheffield United and remains a massive doubt.

“Alex has a fitness test tomorrow,” said the manager. “He had a kick on his hip [in midweek] and it is very tender.

Saturday’s opponents Hull City have injury problems of their own. Neither Greek legend Stelios Giannakopoulos nor Anthony Gardner will take part in the gamel.

Gooner Talk will provide all the build-up towards Saturday’s 4pm kick-off and a match report will be posted up immediately after the full time whistle – stay locked, on the #1 site for all of Arsenal’s first team news and views.