The Game

Arsenal tomorrow host Fulham knowing that they can be back in the Top Four at the end of the day.

Wednesday’s game was not easy to win and it showed, as many are saying, that we can win games in different ways as we needed to be patient in the first 45 minutes of the game only to then bounce back and score two vital points that not only mean all three points but of course the possibility of moving through as Group leaders.

Last season I was very disappointed at the way we lost points in our last few games, losing first place in the Group and going on to face Barcelona so early in the competition. This will not be the case this season and although there are other tough teams we at least know that whoever we get to play against, it will be game on.

But on to tomorrow’s game. It is funny that we are already talking about entering the Top Four zone only weeks after we were struggling to brush off the disappointing start to the season. But now that the crisis is over, now that the new players have settled down and now that we are enjoying a nice run, we can indeed aim higher and start thinking about something special.

With Chelsea struggling to put together a number of positive scores, I feel that it won’t be long before we leapfrog them in the table and not long before they sack poor André Villas-Boas to replace him with, who knows, Carlo Ancelotti’s return. I always say that a manager has to stay in charge until the very end of the season but the Blues have other ideas, of course.

This weekend could also see Manchester City suffer their first defeat of the season. Roberto Mancini’s men are very close to crashing out of the Champions League and this could affect them as they travel to Liverpool to face the in-form reds who have done so well, in big games, this season.

As for us, I very much doubt we will end the game with less than three points. The confidence is high, some of our players are enjoying the form of their life and according to our manager we suffered no injuries after Wednesday’s game, meaning that tomorrow’s will be a very similar line-up to the mid-week one.

As always, my favourite line-up is below. Remember you can submit your own at Arsenal Interactive and then share it on Twitter and Facebook.

Favourite line-up

And indeed, as said above, we should expect a very similar line-up to the one we saw against the Germans and Norwich City with my only change, again, coming in midfield, as I believe it’s time to give Gervinho a rest.

Make no mistake, I believe that the Ivorian has been one of our best players this season and my request of having him benched is not a “punishment” for the disappointing game against Dortmund, it’s just that with the Christmas period fast approaching, we indeed need to understand who is fit and who is not, who is in form and who is not.

Also why not, if not Andrey, it would be nice to again see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with Theo moving to the left and the youngster starting on the right. That would be … “pacey”!

And of course, the likes of Yossi Benayoun, Abou Diaby and Tomas Rosicky can all make second-half appearances if we manage to put the game to bed early, something that is more than possible when you have Robin van Persie on the pitch.

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.

Arsenal Interactive

And of course, don’t forget you’re still in time to pick your preferred team for this game. And when the final whistle blows, don’t forget to rate the players, comment on their performances and share your personal ratings with your friends. All this and more, available at http://www.arsenal-interactive.com.