Carling Cup SF - Arsenal vs Tottenham - Van Persie returns, Diarra on his way

The big news for the Carling Cup semifinal first leg at Ashburton Grove is that Lassana Diarra has been dropped, and that Robin Van Persie is in the squad. Fran Merida has also been left out, and that probably means that he's on his way to Chris Coleman's Real Socieded on-loan for the rest of the season.

Diarra not being in the squad means he's probably on his way, or that he's causing enough trouble for Wenger not to want him anywhere near the squad. Not quite sure what is running through his odd little (big?) head, but Arsenal has always been the place to be for young French players, and Wenger has an excellent track record of making them into internationals. Diarra is just 22, and his a big future ahead of him, but he's still quite raw. He wants to play so that he can be a France regular, but the irony is that most of his appearances for France have been filling at right-back, so what is he aiming for exactly?

He came from a Chelsea team that played ugly football and where he got no chances to an Arsenal team that plays wonderful football, and where he's gotten some chances, but what does he expect? To walk into a midfield that has Fabregas, Hleb, Rosicky, and Flamini playing out of his skin? Like Wenger said, he has to work his way into the starting lineup, that's how it is at a big club, and Diarra is causing problems and talking too much without having earned the right to do so.

He is a talented lad, and I hope he just goes out on loan, because the futures of Gilberto and Flamini are still in some doubt, so we might well need his holding abilities next year. Sam Allardyce was rumoured to be interested in signing him for Newcastle, but Sam Allardyce has been sacked, so who knows.

As for Van Persie, it's a welcome return for him. I doubt that he'll be starting, but it's a fantastic option to have him coming off the bench, and his individual genius is going to be much needed over the coming months. In games like the ones against Newcastle, Middlesborough and Portsmouth, where the team dropped points and looked uninspired, Van Persie could have made the difference with a dribble or free-kick or one of those inch-perfect shots from impossible angles.

The squad is as follows:

2 Abou DIABY
3 Bacary SAGNA
6 Philippe SENDEROS
9 EDUARDO
11 Robin VAN PERSIE
15 DENILSON
19 GILBERTO
20 Johan DJOUROU
21 Lukasz FABIANSKI (GK)
26 Nicklas BENDTNER
30 Armand TRAORE
31 Justin HOYTE
32 Theo WALCOTT
36 Mark RANDALL
40 Vito MANNONE (GK)
41 Gavin HOYTE

They are likely to lineup as:

Fabianski

Hoyte Djourou Senderos Traore

Walcott Denilson Gilberto Diaby

Bendtner Eduardo

That's a fairly straightforward 4-4-2, but Walcott will probably push further forward, with Diaby staying more central, and it might well be 4-3-3 depending on the situations.

The other possibilities are Sagna playing at left-back (Traore was awful against Burnley), or at right-midfield, with Theo on the left or up front. Van Persie could play wide in a 4-4-2, or on either flank in the 4-3-3, although the right-side is preferred by him.

Spurs have no real news coming into this game. Ledley King has returned for them at the back, and Michael Dawson will partner him in the middle. They have more or less a full strength side with Bale and Kaboul the only noteworthy absentees.

Update: Juande Ramos has apparently dropped Paul Robinson for this game