Arsenal-Standard Preview

By: Martin | November 23rd, 2009

Home to Standard Liege tomorrow. A draw would clinch advancement to the group stages, and a win would win the group outright. As I’ve said previously, I think winning the group this season is definitely in our best interests–more so than in past seasons, some of the clubs that look likely to finish second in their groups are not traditional European powers. While (all together now…) there are no easy ties in European competition, it looks like there are clubs from Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Germany which we could draw as a 1st place finisher, whereas the first-place finishers look likely to come from England, Spain, and Italy (and possibly France).

Not to disrespect them, but Standard really shouldn’t pose much of a problem for us. Of course, they grabbed 2 quick goals against us at home and gave us a real scare, but we managed to come back for the 3-2 win. We’re much tougher at the Emirates, though. They’re currently 4th in the Belgian table, and missing talisman Steven Defour. It would be a shock if we didn’t come away from this fixture with a win.

It’s also a good opportunity for Wenger to rotate the squad and rest some players. I’m not sure if the international break was solely to blame, but it did seem like a lot of players looked tired and flat on Saturday. And with Chelsea coming up on Sunday, a lot of the players could probably use a few days to rest and refocus. My sense is that we’ll see a lot of younger players get some action tomorrow. Having said that, trying to predict a lineup is to some degree an exercise in futility. But here’s my best guess:

Almunia

Eboue-Gallas-Vermaelen-Gibbs

Fabregas-Denilson-Ramsey

Walcott-Eduardo-Vela

But Senderos, Rosicky, Song, Nasri, Silvestre, Wilshere, Arshavin, Mannone, or Traore could also be involved in the starting XI, and I wouldn’t be surprised.

In other news, Fabregas has responded to another upsurge in speculation that he might depart for Barcelona with characteristic awesomeness:

“It does not affect me at all because it’s been going for years. To be honest I just don’t think about it, I don’t want to and I don’t think I should because I’m at a great club and in a great team. I’m very happy where I am and there is very long season in front of us. The last thing I want to do is get disconnected from what I have to do which is to play football for my team and for the Club that pays me. I’m really looking forward to a great season with Arsenal.

When asked whether he thought he might stay at Arsenal for his entire career, El Capitan responded: “Why not? I have never thought about it. I’m only 22. You never know what your career will bring but why not? I’m in my seventh season now and I’m really happy, better than ever.”

Te amo, Cesc. Te amo. It must be so tiresome for him to have to deal with these constant rumors, and is, more than anything, unfair to him, because he’s been the consummate professional and team player throughout his time with the club, and has never given the slightest outward indication that he’s unhappy at the club or looking to leave.

In other news, Stan Kroenke bought 10 more shares of Arsenal stock, bringing him right to the brink of the 30 percent that would require him to make a takeover bid. I still have no idea what’s going on, but I wish he’d either make his intentions clear one way or the other so we’d know what the future of the club’s ownership would be.

Anyway, that’s it–here’s to 3 points and winning the group tomorrow. Come on Arsenal.