Adding injury to injury

Last time Arsenal played Manchester United in August they were missing ten of their first team players. They played with a team filled with debutantes who clicked together into a collective unit like a bunch of round pegs and square holes. The drubbing that followed prompted a string of insufferable 8-2 jokes. It's January now and the United travel to London for the return fixture but the injury situation hasn't improved even one bit. Yet again, Arsenal are without almost ten of their first team players going into a match with Man Utd. I can hear the the detestable scoreline jokes coming.

Utd tend to pack their midfield when playing against Arsenal. Last year's FA Cup they played with seven defenders with talentless thugs like O'Shea, Fabio/Rafael sent out to play in the midfield to choke Arsenal's passing. Credit to them, they do that quite successfully. When the midfield is crowded it becomes crucial to spread out play on the wings and utilise the space that opens up on them flanks. Which means you need to have wingers who can wing it and not blindly run like decapitated poultry. Some pace, some trickery on the wings and one can by pass the midfield buses. Which brings us to Walcott and Arshavin who on current form have all the pace and trickery of PC Sorcar's grandmother on a wheelchair. 

Utd are going to come and do that again. Pack the bloody midfield and stifle our passing, not that there is going to be much of it with Arteta injured and Ramsey playing like a quadraplegic. Vermaelen is our only hope for blocking Valencia and if he doesn't start then there is no hope, which is why he is our only hope. Valencia cross and Rooney header routine resulting in goal likely within first 15 mins. Nani is going to make mince meat of Djourou. Rooney is going to be all over Mertesacker unless Kos is supereffective today. And then there is Welbeck too. And what do we have by way of attacking response? Ramsey Rosicky who will be perfectly nullified by thug-in-chief Scholes, and Walcott and Arshavin who will be an improvement if they need nullifying of any sort. RVP can sulk alone up front. Joy.

Not a game I am particularly looking forward given how uneven it seems to me as of now. With our choice eleven fit I am sure we can give a game to anyone but the problem is we never seem to have our choice eleven fit. Or even our choice 5. Anyway, it would be good if Arsenal can pull a rabbit out of a hat much like PC Sorcar and grab three points out of nowhere. With Chelsea slipping up last night these three points are mighty crucial in closing that ever widening gap to the fourth place. Good luck, but not expecting much.