Gooner Talk

Arsenal kicked-off match day two of their Champions League campaign with a tie against FC Porto of Portugal.

The Gooners inside Ashburton Grove anticipated a much improved encounter than the poor performance and 3 points dropped against Premier League newcomers Hull City last weekend.

Arsene Wenger’s ‘sweeping changes’ involved replacing Emmanuel Eboue with Samir Nasri, other than that, the team was unchanged from Saturday’s loss to Phil Brown’s Tigers.

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Arsene Wenger said he felt “physically sick” after Sunday’s shock defeat by Hull City but the Arsenal manager will be hoping to get his European campaign back on track with a win against Portuguese Champions FC Porto this evening.

The Gunners’ only previous home defeat to a newly promoted side was against West Ham in February 2006: in their next European game they recorded a famous 1-0 win at Real Madird to set them on the road to the quarter-finals and eventually the final in Paris.

France midfielder Samir Nasri returns to the squad for tonights clash with Porto.

Nasri has been out with a knee injury since late August but is available to face the Portuguese side.

Alex Song (hip) joins Tomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby, Amaury Bischoff and Eduardo in the treatment room.

Arsene Wenger has said he will make changes following the shock defeat by Hull, with Mikael Silvestre among those hoping for starts.

Predicted Starting XI

Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Gallas – Silvestre
Eboue – Fabregas – Denilson – Nasri
Adebayor – Bendtner

Match Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 FC Porto

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

Arsenal faced a tough trip to Kiev, somewhere they have been before on many occassions yet never come out of with a win.

But with 11 goals in the Gunners last three matches the team were on a high as they kicked off their Champions League campaign.

Dinamo Kiev Starting XI

Bogush
Betao – Diakhate – Mykhalyk – Nesmachniy
Vukojevic – Yussuf – Yeremenko – Aliev
Ninkovic – Bangoura

Arsenal Starting XI

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

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Arsenal midfielder Alexander Song has been drafted into the starting line-up ahead of tonights Champions League group stage tie against Dynamo Kyiv.

The versatile Cameroonian replaces Emmanuel Eboue – who sustained a knock in the 4-0 triumph over Blackburn on Saturday – and should ‘bulk’ up what looks like a physically weak midfield.

Gunners’ boss Arsene Wenger starts with an unchanged side other than Song’s inclusion. Teenage sensations Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere make up an inexperienced bench, but a strong performance is expected from the eleven that start.

Confirmed Starting XI:

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

Subs:

Fabianski (GK), Vela, Ramsey, Wilshere, Djourou, Bendtner

Arsenal, and especially Arsene Wenger, continue with their quest to win the UEFA Champions League and prove themselves as being one of the best teams in Europe. They qualified with ease against Twente, winning 6-0 on aggregate, and they will feel confident they can come out of this group and earn a place in the last 16.

Arsenal lost 1-0 at Fulham in only their 2nd game of the season, but have bounced back with 3 consecutive wins in a row. They have managed to keep clean sheets in all of their games this season except the one against Fulham and will be extra buoyed by their impressive 0-4 win at Blackburn on Saturday in a game they dominated and deserved to win by the scoreline it ended.

Samir Nasri and Mikael Silvestre will both miss this game through injury. Other than those 2 players, Arsenal have a full squad travelling to the Ukraine.

Key Fact:

Arsenal have met Dynamo Kiev twice previously in this competition but this was back in the days when Rebrov and Shevchenko were still tearing apart defences across Europe. During this time Arsenal lost 2 times in the Ukraine to Kiev.

Predicted Starting XI

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

Match Prediction: Dynamo Kyiv 1-2 Arsenal

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

Arsenal midfield maestro Samir Nasri has been ommitted from Arsene Wenger’s 18-man squad for the trip to Dynamo Kiev tomorrow night through injury.

The French star has failed to recover from his knee injury in time and has been left at home.

Youngster Jack Wilshere, who made his debut for the club in the Gunners’ 4-0 win over Blackburn on Saturday, has been included in his place, while forward Carlos Vela has also made the squad and could fit in on the left of midfield after impressing in that position during his loan spells with Spanish teams Salamanca and Osasuna.

Emmanuel Eboue has been deemed fit enough to play and is included while Aaron Ramsey – who set up Emmanuel Adebayor for his hat-trick at the weekend – also gets the nod along with Alex Song and Gael Clichy, who had also been struggling with a knock.

Predicted Line-Up

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

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed the Gunners face much stiffer competition to qualify for the Champions League this season following the emergence of moneybags Manchester City.

The Gunners as part of the Premier League’s reported big-four have never struggled to gain entry into Europe’s premier club competition in recent years. However with City backed by Arab billions Wenger now believes they could look to gatecrash the party.

And the Frenchman has also identified that other emerging English teams, including arch-rivals Spurs could be involved in the mix come the end of the season.

“This year other surprise teams could come into it like Manchester City or Tottenham or Portsmouth,” Wenger told the Sun.

“It is certainly very interesting and very tight. Manchester City have an advantage because they do pay a lot of money. This year, for the first time, the January transfer window opens when we will have only played 19 games.”

“I have played seasons here when there were 24 games before then — the second part of the season is longer now. Teams can get that little bit more balance by buying players in the transfer window.”

Staying on the same topic, Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri may not be fit in time to make the Gunners’ trip to the Ukraine for the Champions League clash against Dynamo Kiev.

The Frenchman, 21, will have his injured ankle checked before a decision on whether he travels.

Mikael Silvestre will return but Gael Clichy and Emmanuel Eboue have niggles which could keep them out of the important group stage tie.