Having failed to fully convince in all of their last three away games, Arsenal are back at the Emirates hoping to get all six points from their next two games, the first one against Hull City, tomorrow at 17:30UK time. The last time these two sides met in March, it was a hurricane, with Cesc Fabregas – not involved in the game – accused of spitting after their F.A. Cup encounter.

And the captain will not be involved tomorrow either and according to Arsene Wenger, he should be out for 8 to 10 days, so I believe he will not be fit to face Aston Villa. And of course, many believe that the Three Musketeers of midfield, that is, Denilson, Alex Song and Abou Diaby, will start in that so-much crucial area of the pitch.

A lot has been going on last season and this season on these three. Some like them, some don’t. Speaking of Denilson by the way, one of our readers provided a different perspective on how statistics could be read on the Brasilian. It’s a very interesting piece, was published this morning and if you want to know more, make sure to read Ben’s piece on Denilson Statistics.

Hull City

It’s not easy to forget what happened last season when these two met at the Emirates. In a way, that was the start of an insecure season for the Gunners who went on to lose the game despite seeing plenty of the ball. We did make up for that later on in the season, at least against Phil Brown’s side, but at least for me, that 1-2 defeat still hurts.

They conceded a lot of goals, the tigers, and have never won away from home this season with only two points collected on the road. Seems easy, but with Arsenal, you never know.

Favourite line-up

Well if sometimes I’m not sure about the starting eleven, for tomorrow I am more than convinced that based on what we’ve seen this month and considering those who are injured, the below eleven are those who deserve to start.

Manuel Almunia needs to sit on the bench. We simply cannot afford to go out there we a goalkeeper who is offering no security whatsoever to the central defenders. In midfield, Aaron Ramsey should be the one to replace Cesc Fabregas, with Abou Diaby who did pretty well at Burnley keeping his place. Theo Walcott should also be relegated on the bench as I again hope to see Samir on the right and Carlos Vela on the left.

Pre-match Interviews

Speaking on last March’s spitting episode, Hull City manager Phil Brown took a philosophical approach as he preferred to remember the 1-2 win in the Premiership.

He said:

It was a storm in a tea cup as far as I am concerned. It is something that you get experience from and learn from. If you don’t you go backwards. But the memories of the Arsenal win are all strong and positive. Arsenal were just beginning to get their rhythm and Geovanni upset that with a tremendous goal.

That was the bit of luck from 30-35 yards we needed. We might need that again but we have enough belief, enough togetherness and enough quality. If we perform to the levels of last season we might just ride our luck and get something from it.

Arsene Wenger was very critical to Wolves for fielding a weak side against Manchester United and even if he was criticised as he usually does the same, he stands by his comments.

The Frenchman said:

I gave you my opinion. I do not want to go into controversy with any managers. I respect that people have their own opinion – that does not have to be personal.

I am one of the few who says what he really thinks about the situation. I am not scared to get different opinions that have a go at me. I give my opinion without any aggression or anything bad about an individual. I just say what I think about the situation. That’s it.

What I said makes common sense but many people, because they don’t want aggravation, they don’t say a word. I can live with that

The Gunning Hawk Coverage

As always, tune in for team line-ups, streaming links, half time and full time reports, post-match thoughts, video highlights and what the press is writing. And of course, do contribute if you want to by making use of the comment box available at the bottom of the post as it’s always nice to hear your opinion. And as a final note, if you want to go one step further than just leaving a comment and want to have your articles published on our website, take a look here for more information.