Gooner Talk

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

Emmanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick as Arsenal strolled to a comfortable victory over Blackburn at Ewood Park.

It was always going to be a test for Arsenal seeing as how the last performance away from home was a dire 1-0 loss to Fulham. After a stunning double win over Twente and Newcastle at the Emirates.

Nasri would not start due to a knee knock – despite travelling with the squad, but England hero Walcott would start in what would prove to be a football masterclass.

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Arsene Wenger’s first ever game in charge of Arsenal was a 2-0 win against Blackburn at Ewood Park; the same scoreline would be welcomed with opened arms if it was to occur tomorrow.

Blackburn have registered one league win in five seasons against the Gunners side, and lost eight of the 10 fixtures. Morten Gamst Pedersen scored in the only victory; 1-0 on 25 February 2006 at Ewood Park.

Match Facts

If Emmanuel Adebayor scored tomorrow, he is a hat-trick shy of 50 goals for Arsenal.

If selected, Ivorian defender Kolo Toure will be making his 200th Premier League appearance – all for the Gunners.

Also if selected, Theo Walcott will be making his 100th club career appearance (Southampton and Arsenal).

Team News:

Arsenal will assess the fitness of midfielder Samir Nasri (knee) ahead of the trip to Blackburn.

England hat-trick hero Theo Walcott could be rested to the bench on Saturday, but recent signing Mikael Silvestre (thigh) remains a doubt.

Striker Carlos Vela looks set to be given more recovery time following a late return from international duty with Mexico, while Tomas Rosicky (hamstring), Abou Diaby (thigh), Amaury Bischoff (groin) and striker Eduardo (leg) remain in recovery.

Predicted Starting XI

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

Match Prediction: Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Arsenal

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

Arsenal forwards Nicklas Bendtner and Robin van Persie have sustained injuries whilst on International duty for their respective countries.

Danish striker Bendtner has sprained his ankle, and Denmark national team Doctor Soren Kaalund believes it’s too earlier to predict how long the 21-year-old will be out for.

“He has sprained his left ankle, and it affects the outer ligaments. There is nothing broken, but the ankle is closed. Now we have to see how he reacts to the damage the next day time, and therefore the extent of the damage will only become clear to us over the next 24 hours” Kaalund told Sporten.dk

Robin van Persie also sat out Holland’s training session in Noordwijk because of a foot injury.

Holland coach Bert van Marwijk will lead his team into his first competitive game in charge next Wednesday when they face Macedonia in a World Cup qualifier.

Before that match, they face Australia in a friendly on Saturday, although Van Persie is expected to be fit.

Arsenal came into their third league match of the season hoping to replicate the controlled performance that brought a welcome midweek win against FC Twente.

The Gunners had yet to really get going in the premiership this season, and Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle side were hoping to further blemish their start to the campaign.

Arsenal Starting XI

Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Gallas – Clichy
Eboue- Fabregas – Denilson – Nasri
Adebayor – Van Persie

Newcastle Starting XI

Given
Beye – Taylor – Coloccini – Jose Enrique
Gutierrez – Butt – Guthrie – N’Zogbia
Ameobi – Owen

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Craven Cottage has traditionally been a successful hunting ground for Wenger’s Arsenal, but a Fulham side boasting several new signings looked to bounce back from their opening day defeat by Hull.

Arsenal on the other hand, looked to continue from where they left off against West Brom with another 3 points hopefully going their way.

Fulham Starting XI

Schwarzer
Paintsil – Hughes – Hangeland – Kallio
Bullard - Davies - Murphy – Gera
Zamora – Seol

Arsenal Starting XI

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

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