Gooner Talk

Sunderland host Arsenal at the Stadium of Light in today’s 3:00 kick-off looking to follow the example set by Hull City last weekend.

The newly-promoted Tigers ripped up the formbook and made a mockery of the bookmakers who made them distant outsiders to take anything away from the Emirates Stadium as they left north London with a 2-1 victory.

That result has given the rest of the top-flight’s lesser lights belief that they too can compete on any given day with the top four and it’s fair to assume that Black Cats boss Roy Keane will have conveyed that to his players this week.

Injury concerns continue to hamper Keane’s plans though as he will once again be without Kenwyne Jones (knee), Teemu Tainio (shoulder), Nyron Nosworthy (hamstring) and possibly Phil Bardsley (ankle).

Arsene Wenger admitted he felt sickened by Arsenal’s ‘careless’ defeat at the hands of Hull, which also saw them relinquish their position at the top of the Premier League table to Chelsea.

However, the Frenchman was heartened by his side’s 4-0 Champions League thrashing of FC Porto on Tuesday night with Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie both bagging braces.

Domestically, Arsenal have now been beaten twice – which is just one less than the total number of losses they suffered during the entire 38 games of last year’s campaign – so Wenger knows any further slip-ups could be costly.

The Gunners remain unable to call on the services of Abou Diaby (thigh), Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) and Eduardo da Silva (broken ankle).

Predicted Starting XI

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

Match Prediction: Sunderland 1-3 Arsenal

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

Leave your views and predictions of this afternoon’s game in the comments section below.

Arsenal left-back Gael Clichy has NOT broken his leg during this evening’s Premier League win over Bolton Wanderers after the official website confirmed that the Frenchman only suffered “shin bruising”.

The 22-year-old had be taken to hospital following a challenge from Trotters striker Kevin Davies, who was booked for the tackle, and Cesc Fabregas claimed after the full time whistle that his side had come in for unwarranted special attention.

“We know every time we come here it’s going to be a tough game, very physical, they only look for corners, free kicks and throw-ins,” Fabregas told Setanta Sports.

“The tackle on Gael Clichy, I remember last year Abou Diaby was sent off for even less than that.

“But we know we are Arsenal. When we come to the North we know something like that is going to happen, and we have to cope with that.”

Gael was able to join up the rest of the Arsenal squad for the coach journey back to London Colney and will be avaliable for next Saturday’s game at home to Hull City.

Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Eboue have been handed starts by Arsene Wenger as the Gunners’ take on Bolton later this evening.

Dutch forward Robin van Persie has been dropped to the bench, while Theo Walcott is also replaced despite putting in a energetic performance against Dynamo Kiev during midweek.

Other than those changes, the team is exactly the same that drew with Kiev on Wednesday.

Confirmed Starting XI

Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Gallas – Clichy
Eboue – Fabregas – Song – Denilson
Adebayor – Bendtner

Stay tuned to Gooner Talk for all the post-match news, views and of course match report.

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

Gael Clichy and Emmanuel Eboue could miss Wednesday’s Champions League group stage match at Dinamo Kiev after sustaining seperate injuries during this afternoons 4-0 rout against Blackburn.

Both players were victim to kicks from Rovers’ players with the latter winning a penalty after being brought down in the box by Stephen Warnock.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger told Sky Sports:

“They [Clichy & Eboue] will be assessed when we get back. It’s not looking too good for either of them” said the 58-year-old Frenchman.

Wednesday’s game is likely to be a difficult contest in Ukraine, with Kiev looking for an scalp in the early stages of UEFA Champions League competition.

You can read our match report, along with player ratings from todays match, here.