After last season's exit from the Carling Cup at the hands of Spurs, where the scoreline was more painful than the actual result, expect a fierce response from the players when they welcome the same team to the Emirates Stadium. With Berbatov and Keane no longer at the White Hart Lane club, the Gunners should really just thump Spurs and make them eat humble pie. Even the appointment of the maverick Harry Redknapp should not be enough to prevent another loss on the cards for the clown act of the English football season.

Perhaps Adebayor and Bendtner can continue to put aside their reported differences and put on another double act on the pitch. The big guy came on on Sunday and changed the course of the game at Upton Park, a nice win for a change and credit must go to him. He took some stick for not scoring earlier this season but things are starting to look up for Ade again. If he can contain his growing ego and work even harder for the team, playing with either Bendtner or Van Persie will provide different but just as deadly options for us.

And either combination should also be enough to rip Spurs apart at the Emirates today. Wenger bless the guy will not probably bring up last season's humiliation, but he should. Gee up the boys and let them loose on the sorry troops from White Hart Lane. Smother the threat of Modric in the 'hole' and show Bentley that he was wrong to defect, even though he left us a long time ago. Champions League football with Spurs? Could have been better sitting on the bench with us. But credit to him for doing what he wanted to further his career.

The fans will be out in full force for the game. Hopefully some of the guys working late tonight can catch some live football online with Arsenal meeting Spurs. Staying in touch with Liverpool and Chelsea will be important, but with the former you know it will not be too tough as the season wears on. They seldom last more than half the season with a run before crumbling again under the weight of expectations. Arsenal might not have done much better but at least we might be much closer again this season.

Another week, more of the same. This time, it was "10 men behind the ball" Sunderland that frustrated us and left Arsene Wenger feeling more than a little hard done by. There were the usual "goal that should have been" complaints, and our old failings have been exposed again. It was obvious that they never really did go away, despite claims by Wenger that the kids were now physically tougher to balance their footballing talent.

Many of the players are simply not good enough to win anything, other than a trophy for eye catching football. Wenger must do more than getting his players to stick to a beautiful game philosophy, that having the mentality to kill off games would also be required if they wanted to end years of frustration and trophy-less woe.

We also cannot expect teams like Sunderland to allow us to play our football, or even try matching us on the field by passing it around instead of putting 10 men across their goalmouth to protect it. Some of the complaints and frustrations voiced by Wenger have bordered on the immature and naive, and he must be really losing it if he were to believe teams with limited resources and playing ability would try to beat us at our own game. Their priority is to survive and hang on in the English Premiership, not to please students of the game.

There are reasons to be optimistic about the result though, disappointing to say the least. At least the lads did not give up and managed to secure a point. But honestly, there isn't anyone, apart from Wenger, who seriously believes that we can still win the league this season. He could adopt a softer approach and just praise the players for their efforts after a good game, and not blow it out of proportion each time when that situation comes along, by telling every reporter in the room that we can still win the league. Or is Wenger trying to do a Mourinho now and deflect attention off his underperforming players?

All talk of trouble within the Gunners camp was premature, and even Arsene Wenger was left purring with delight as his players responded to their Hull City defeat with a scintillating display of attacking football. There was hardly a single player who did not perform well, bar the occasional lapse in concentration (again), and Robin Van Persie showed why HE is the leading striker at the club, clinically despatching the chances that came his way, and playing a part in striker partner's Ade's first goal.

Strangely enough, Wenger did not carry out his threat to make sweeping changes after Saturday's debacle, as he only brought in Nasri in place of Eboue. Not a bad change considering how ineffective the latter usually is, sometimes I wonder what Wenger sees in him apart from being a workhorse, which we already have in others who are actually skillful workhorses unlike Eboue. Nasri came in and did a wonderful job, showing that he fitted right in with the team in Europe. Once he settles down in the Premiership after his injury problems, it just tickles the imagination thinking how he and Fabregas will run the midfield.

It was the response I expected," Wenger said. "I am pleased we did not concede a goal. We could have scored a few more but it was important to win.

While we indeed could have scored more, it was just as good that we did not let in any goals this time. Can't imagine the number of times I've been frustrated by Gallas and Toure losing focus during games. This time, with Porto lacking any creativity and imagination, and especially desire, it was left to Almunia making a grand total of two to three saves, from what I could remember. A commanding performance throughout, and hopefully the lads can carry it on to the next game on the weekend.

Despite suffering a shock defeat to Hull City at home on Saturday, Arsene Wenger's young Gunners look set to go top of their group in the Champions League after Tuesday's round of matches. Arsenal will be up against Porto, the current Portuguese champions, and although they trail the Portuguese by two points after the first round, home advantage at the Emirates Stadium will be key to their hopes. And the blip against Hull City should be regarded as such - just a blip. Arsenal have usually flourished in the Champions League group stages, and Tuesday should be no different.

The good news is that there does not seem to be fresh injury doubts for Tuesday's clas against Porto. If everyone stays healthy, Wenger should be able to field a rather strong team, with the likes of Theo Walcott, Van Persie and Fabregas ready to lead the line once again. We will keep up with the latest news prior to matchday, and determine if the Gunners can indeed win the game and continue to do well in the Champions League.

Just when you thought that the team had indeed matured, especially with Arsene Wenger throwing plaudits to his young proteges every few seconds, Arsenal conspired to turn in another toothless display at the Emirates Stadium. While their efforts could not be faulted, they really tried to throw everything including the kitchen sink at Hull City, but it was clear during the game that some of the Gunners fans could not stomach any more live English Premiership football until a real cutting edge could be found. Or in more accurate terms, a permanent cutting edge.

So often players like Adebayor have flattered to deceive, and the striker that Wenger tried so hard to keep during the summer hardly made his presence felt. Being marked out of the game by a team of supposed no hopers should lower his market value further, and keeping him might be a mistake in the end. But Van Persie was one bright spark in the game, as was Fabregas who worked tirelessly as usual. The only letdown, again, were their lack of finishing. This is now a problem that should rank as the most important for Wenger to solve, if he is really serious about adding further titles to his resume.

It was a typical letdown by the Gunners though, especially after their reserves hammered Sheffield United in the Carling Cup. The seniors failed to live up to their place in the squad. It might be time to take a look again at replacing Gallas, for he was at fault with the winning goal and is clearly a player in decline. The call to spend again in January will gather pace if such weaknesses continue to be exist. There is no doubt that Arsenal have a great chance to win the English Premiership this season, but players with killing instincts must be employed, instead of just focusing on playing attractive football. Perhaps when Eduardo is back, we might see more improvement in that area, but the Croatian will need a few months to get his sharpness back as well.

Well, at least now it's on to the Champions League, where we usually do well in the group stages.