The Game

It’s great to be back and it’s great to know that this week’s was the last International break for at least three months.

We today play 9th-in-the-table Norwich City who had an impressive start to the season. One area of their game that is however disappointing, at least by looking at the numbers, is the defensive department as they conceded seven goals at home and eleven on the road so I predict a lot of goals in today’s game, hopefully all coming from the Gunners.

Defensively, we finally started to enjoy clean sheets, which is nice, considering that we have been shuffling options at the back. But, I strongly feel that it’s time to start using the same players and to take final decisions on the full backs.

With Kieran suffering yet another injury, Andre Santos will of course take over on the left wing but it’s right back position that still has question marks hanging over its future as with the injury of Carl Jenkinson we might see Johan Djourou getting the nod from the boss even if he’s not at all comfortable in that role.

Anyway, this one is an early kick-off, it gives us the opportunity to get all three points before anyone else and to then relax and follow the other games hoping to see those above us drop points.

And, until you wait for kick-off, check out Thomas Vermaelen’s comments on clean sheets, rotation and his fitness, what manager Arsene Wenger had to say on Friday on all injured players including Jack Wilshere and also why Robin van Persie is expected to feature today and also in mid-week in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund.

As always, please do join the discussion in our chat room which will also be active after the full time whistle. You will be glad to know that from this season, to provide a better chat experience to our readers, users can be banned if they post offensive comments.

Streaming Links

For those who don’t know where to watch the game, maybe we can help, follow this link for streaming options. Links are updated before and during the match.

The Line-Ups

Norwich City

Ruddy, Martin, Barnett, Tierney, Naughton, Crofts, Johnson, Hoolahan, Fox, Pilkington, Morison

Subs: Rudd, Adam, Andrew, Elliott, Grant, Jackson, Wilbraham

Arsenal

Szczesny, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Santos, Song, Ramsey, Arteta, Walcott, Gervinho, van Persie

Subs: Fabianski, Djourou, Rosicky, Coquelin, Benayoun, Arshavin, Chamakh

Half-Time Thoughts and Analysis

As the chat room has grown in popularity, my half-time thoughts as well as the comments of other Arsenal fans are now being discussed in the Arsenal Interactive chat room to which you can find a link at the bottom of this page. Please feel free to join the fun and share your point of view.