The big news for the Arsenal ahead of this weekend's game against Wigan is the absence of six first teamers from the Arsenal squad - Alexander Hleb, Mathieu Flamini, Abou Diaby and Robin Van Persie are injured, Gilberto is fatigued from his exertions in South America, and Cesc Fabregas is suspended. Those are all important players, and Hleb, Flamini and Cesc have been Arsenal's best players this season, so it will be quite a test. Luckily, it's against Wigan Athletic. No disrespect to them, but they have been pretty dire this season.

So this means that the central pairing will quite likely be Denilson and Lassane Diarra. The former has been outstanding in the Carling Cup and in substitute apperances, and will be looking to pull the strings in midfield. The latter, a late summer arrival from Chelsea, has looked very promising in his substitute apperances, sometimes playing at right-back, sometimes in his favoured holding position. If Wenger is true to his word regarding the absentees for the game, then this will be the likely pairing in the centre, with Diarra getting a chance to show what he can do. Although Arseblogger feels that we just might see Gilberto starting this game.

The back 4 and goalkeeper should remain intact, and Emmanuel Adebayor will continue as the lone striker, so that leaves 3 positions up for grabs. There aren't too many candidates because os injuries, so it's likely that 3 of Emmanuel Eboue, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo will line themselves up behind Adebayor in some permutation of 4-4-2, 4-5-1 or 4-3-3, or a Wengerish mixture of all of those. I think Eduardo might be ready for a start tomorrow, especially since Arsene reckons that his performance against England in midweek will have given him some confidence. There is an outside chance that Kieran Gibbs or Armand Traore might come into the reckoning, to provide some width on the left, but it's more likely that we'll see them on the bench.

The big news for the visitors is two-fold. Firstly, Emile Heskey is back in training and likely to be in-line to start now. That's not the greatest news, since he has the potential to be a serious thorn in our side when playing well, and let's not forget his power, pace, and ability to fall down like a newly-born calf in attempts to win penalties.

Secondly, and this is the sort of ridiculous news, new manager Steve Bruce will be travelling with the side, and starting with this game. Bruce, Heskey's former manager at Birmingham, recently agreed to make the switch after Wigan met Birmingham's contract demands, and should finally give the rudderless Latics some direction. This is not the ridiculous news, the ridiculous news is that the actual move of Bruce from the Brum to the Latics was delayed over an image rights bonus issue (which eventually cost Bruce about £100,000). Now anyone who has seen Steve Bruce, will be wondering excactly why he was receiving an image rights bonus, especially since those are generally kept for people like David Beckham and Fredrik Ljungberg. I'm sure you know what i'm getting at... if not, then see below (not intending to go after Bruce in any way, he seems like a nice chap, but it's all quite weird):

Ex-Arsenal "legend" Ian Wright has been talking up Arsenal's chances this season, and about how Thierry Henry's departure was a good thing for the team:

"Thierry had an influence in the dressing room which was becoming too stifling for a lot of people...That showed in the way he played sometimes because he had his arms flailing and was upset with what they were doing. I think his departure was great for the club because a lot of players are coming out of their shells. Everybody's playing with more freedom and they all want to be the man by doing their bit."

Which is all well and good, except for what you said earlier in the season Wrighty:

"However, I think the hole left by Thierry Henry is just too big.

I was obviously sad to see him leave this summer. It’s not just his goals that will be missed but his presence as well. Any Arsenal fans who thought his departure would not cause a problem were kidding themselves."

So then you're not an Arsenal fan? Make sure you have someone to help you clean up the egg off your face.

Remember that old saying - "Empty vessels make the most noise"? Well he's is a perfect example of it (just listen to him on the radio, or see him as a pundit if you need more proof).

The first goal, scored by Eduardo. A cracker after good work by Bendtner, who had a good game without being too effective:

Second goal, again by Eduardo, and a great pass from the youngster Kieran Gibbs. Some of you might remember him from the Emirates Cup where he played very well against Inter Milan. He was on the wing in that game, and Arsene Wenger described him afterwards as a "mini Ryan Giggs". Well, on Wednesday he played at left-back and gave a good account of himself, even though he is primarily an attacking player. Just goes to show the "total football" philosophy that is running through the club at the moment:

As for the third goal, well Denilson had a pop from long range, and it went in via a slight deflection from the defender, although enough to deceive the 'keeper. Denilson had a fantastic game, and this was a great reward for him:

Other honourable mentions go to Theo Walcott, who looks much more confident, and hit the post, and Lassana Diarra, who looks a fearsome prospect (although he hung on to the ball a bit more than he needed do, but he was probably just trying to impress). 

Here's the Arsenal squad for the game:

2. Abou DIABY (Age 21)                    
8. Lassana DIARRA (Age 22)                    
9. EDUARDO (Age 24)                    
15. DENILSON (Age 19)                    
17. Alex SONG (Age 20)                    
19. GILBERTO (Age 31)                    
21. Lukasz FABIANSKI (GK) (Age 22)                    
26. Nicklas BENDTNER (Age 19)                    
31. Justin HOYTE (Age 22)                    
32. Theo WALCOTT (Age 18)                    
34. Kieran GIBBS (Age 18)                    
39. Henri LANSBURY (Age 17)                    
40. Vito MANNONE (GK) (Age 19)                    
41. Gavin HOYTE (Age 17)                    
42. Fran MERIDA (Age 17)                    
43. Nacer BARAZITE (Age 17)

That's an average age of 20.2, and if you take Gilberto out of that, it makes the average age a staggeringly low 19.4.

The absence of Arman Traore means that Justin Hoyte will probably play at left-back, with either his brother Gavin or Lassana Diarra playing at right-back.

Gilberto and Alex Song will be the likely central defensive pairing, with Bendtner and Eduardo playing up front together.

The spots on the wing are up for grabs - if Diarra plays in midfield, then Diaby will probably play on the left, if not, then Diaby and Denilson will play in the centre together, with Gibbs, Merida, Walcott and Barazite vying for the wide positions. Gibbs is due a chance on the left after his impressive pre-season showing there against Inter Milan.

Probable starting XI:

                   Fabianski
Diarra     Song      Gilberto    Hoyte
Walcott   Denilson   Diaby    Gibbs
           Bendtner    Eduardo

Oh and serial murderer Chris Morgan has been whining about how no one shook his hand last year.

Under Sam Allardyce, Bolton were a dirty, cynical, and dangerous team. In the post-Allardyce era, they are no longer dangerous. And so Arsenal faced a dirty, cynical Bolton on Saturday. With Sammy Lee already sacked (his "more expansive" style of football essentially = crap), coach Archie Knox was appointed caretaker, and he did what so many teams do against Arsenal - clog up the midfield, and get his players to kick and scrap as best they could to keep the scores level.

Shorn of Nicolas Anelka, their only genuine attacking threat, through injury, Bolton never once looked like threating, and although they managed to keep the scores level for an hour, Arsenal were already in their second half ascendancy when they took the lead.

And that moment was all about Kolo Toure. Those who've followed the Arsenal steadily for the last two years or so would have noticed an ever increasing tendency by Toure to take speculative thumps from anywhere between 30-60 yards out. From time-to-time they'd force the 'keeper into a save, often even resulting in rebounds for the strikers. But most of the time it would just leave you wondering why perfectly good free-kick positions were wasted; it was always a familiar pattern, someone standing on the ball, and Toure running in to thump it high, wide, or into the wall. So often the entire sequence was messed up, and there would be missed kicks, or the coordination problems, and he couldn't even get the shot away. Yet Kolo still seemed to be on a mission to thump in a long ranger.

Well, last week against Sunderland he thumped one that came back out off the post, and that was perhaps a sign of things to come.

Yesterday, without the prodiguous left-foot of Robin Van Persie, they needed to improvise for a free-kick outside the box. 3 Arsenal player waited patiently around the ball when the free-kick was given. Then, when the whistle blew, Cesc Fabregas rolled it to Mathieu Flamini, who cushioned it into the path of the onrushing Kolo, who in turn drilled a low hard shot perfectly into the bottom far corner of the goal. It went through the legs of two defenders, and the Bolton 'keeper had no chance.

And that was, as Ian Grant descibred, the "unblocking of the drain". The football flowed after that - Adebayor wasted two chances, one with a poor shot, and the other with an absolutely horrendous messup. Gallas had chances, and Theo zipped past 4 Bolton players before putting in a low cross that no one was alert to.

But the second goal did come, and it was the two substitues who combined for it. Hleb showed great awareness to play the ball to a just-onside Walcott. It was a hard, high pass, and Theo did fantastically well to control it, turn a defender inside out, and then square another low-cross in from the right. Rosicky had made a great run in, and he showed excellent technique to deftly flick the ball across the keeper into the far post with his instep. 2-0 to the Arsenal, and that was the game.

Hleb was oustanding, and the team played well overall. Eboue continues to look uncomfortable on the wing, and Adebayor was extremely, extremely wasteful, but had an immense team contribution over all. 11 straight wins now, but the real tests will come over the next two weekends - with games against Liverpool and Manchester United. 

And for once he's not talking about how wonderful he is, or how regretful Chelsea should be, or how nobody around him is good enough. That's right ladies and gents - it seems that when the going is good, it gets Gallas going (or something like that). Seeming happy and cheery before France's Euro 2008 qualifier, he's talked about the various goings-on at the club, including his own absence, as well as giving his optimistic opinions on a few teammates.

He starts off by apologising for his behaviour during his enforced absence through injury, in stark contrast to last season's hissy fit at the alleged "incompetence" of the Arsenal medical stuff, and says he's looking forward to playing for both France and Arsenal:

"It's difficult for everyone. I have experienced it before when I have been injured, and it's always the same. The first week or so you can deal with it, but three, four, five weeks later? Trust me it's hard to keep smiling. So I want to say sorry to all of the players, and also the staff at the training ground, because they could see I wasn't always happy. It's just that I really want to play."

Fair enough I suppose.

He also talks about Gael Clichy's absence from the France squad, which is quite puzzling given his excellent form this season. Clichy was named along with Gallas, Sagna, Flamini and Diaby as provisionals for the squad, but was the only one not picked. The best thing Clichy can do now is to just keep plugging away, because he's one of the best left-backs in Europe, and that cap will come sooner rather than later. Gallas:

"He has to be patient now, and I know what he is feeling because I was in the same position as him when I was at Chelsea and all I can say to him is to be patient because it will come."

Discussion moves on to another young, French left-back - the exciting Armand Traore, and Gallas clearly sees a big future for him:

"There are lot of great youngsters at Arsenal so it is difficult to say one name above the others. The one who has monster potential and can achieve something special is Armand Traore. He is only 18 and plays for France’s Under-19 team. If he keeps his head on his shoulders he can do something big in the future."

Thankfully for Armand, his head seems to be quite small and dainty in proportion to his shoulders, so hopefully it stays firmly there. Which is in stark contrast to some very big-headed people at the club:

And lastly, our great captain shares his wisdom on Eduardo, our Crozilian striker who is still in the process of settling in, and hasn't yet had the chance to show us what he's capable of:

"When you are on your own you ask yourself questions on your sporting performances. In such moments you have to feel mentally strong. Eduardo is not a different person. Everybody has to go through this. I can reassure Arsenal fans that he is a talented striker. We will see the Eduardo we know from Croatia in a couple of months."

Well we look forward to that, and to Gallas's return to action from injury. It's a bit annoying that he's going to play for France in the qualifiers, but he looks to be doing so with Wenger's blessings this time, and hopefully he comes through unscathed. Things are going well with the team at the moment, and Gallas even talks about how the French Gunners are all happy in the national training camp because of how well they're doing in the league:

"It's a great feeling, though, for us all to meet up for France when we are top of the league, and top of our Champions League group. Of course nothing is done yet, and I would prefer to go to the national team as champions, because then you feel very strong - but at the moment things are fine, things are going well."

I have no problems with a happy, committed Gallas coming into the first team, because he's a classy defender with a wealth of experience. It's when he's in his whingey, self-centred psychosis that he starts to become a complete pain. But so far, so good, and it's nice to see that the youngsters aren't the only ones starting to show a bit of maturity.

After another swashbuckling goal against Sunderland over the weekend, one has to wonder whether Robin Van Persie's left peg isn't really some sort of explosive bionic device grafted onto his hip by the Cyborg Lizard Overlords that rule our world. The young Dutchman says that Arsene Wenger watched him 40 times before he was signed, and that there was an entire development planned mapped out for him in his Arsenal career.

Well the plan seems to be taking shape quite brilliantly. Despite not playing for most of the first 6-8 months that he spent in London, and constant injury problems, Van Persie has scored 41 goals in 119 appearances. That's a ratio of just under 1 every 3 games, and when you consider that he spent much of his first two years making substitute appearances and playing second fiddle to Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Jose Reyes, then that's not bad at all.

He's scored 7 goals in 11 games this season, and his goal last Sunday was by far the pick of them. Unbelievable technique, power and precision. Craig Gordon (Britain's most expensive goalkeeper) had no chance.

Well, it got me thinking about the Dutchman's other stunners in his brief Arsenal career (and there have been a few), so I decided to put together a Top 10, with video where possible. Enjoy!

1. Arsenal 2-1 Charlton - Premier League - 2006/07 - WATCH
Easily Van Persie's best goal, and last season's goal of the season. It was an incredible volley from Arsenal's number 11. Hleb weighted a perfect ball through for Eboue running down the wing, he in turn crossed to the edge of the box, and Van Persie hammered in a volley at shoulder height.

2. Arsenal 2-1 Inter Milan - Emirates Cup - 2007/08 - WATCH
Despite it only being a pre-season friendly, this goal can't count as being anything but brilliant. Arsenal fought back from being a goal down, and Van Persie scored the winner with a piece of ingenuity that is difficult to comprehend even in slow motion. Standing near the right-touchline (as he so often does when scoring spectacular goals), the Dutchman somehow turned the entire Inter defence inside out before drilling the ball right-footed past Julio Cesar, high at the near post.

3. Arsenal 3-0 Blackburn - Premier League - 2005/06 - WATCH
Coming on as a substitute, Robin once again produces one of his right-wing extravaganzas. Getting the ball just past the half-line, he twists and turns and works his way down the wing, before cutting in past 3 players and thumping an unstoppable shot past Brad Friedel.

4. Arsenal 3-2 Sunderland - Premier League - 2007/08 - WATCH
Van Persie's deadball exploits have come on nicely, with some vital goals over the last 2 seasons. Sunday's opener against Sunderland was probably the pick of the lot, a shot struckwith incredible pace and power, giving the goalkeeper no chance to even move. 77 km/h is what we've been told the speed was.

5. Arsenal 5-0 Aston Villa - Premier League - 2005/06 - WATCH
Yet again from his favoured position near the right touchline, and showing exquisite close control to outwit Sorensen and a few defenders, before scoring an acute, powerful near-post shot.

6. Fulham 2-1 Arsenal - Premier League - 2006/07 - WATCH
Not a great result for the Gunners overall, but Van Persie at least gives them a chance with this vicious free-kick. It's from a similar position to the one against Sunderland, and although it's nowhere close to as powerful, it swerves a lot more.

7. Arsenal 2-1 Wigan - Carling Cup - 2005/06 - WATCH
Another excellent free kick, but this one is more about technique and precision. It was a vital goal to give Arsenal the lead against Wigan in the 2nd Leg of their Carling Cup semi-final, and it was a perfect over-the-wall-and-back-down dipper.

8. Arsenal 3-0 Blackburn - FA Cup - 2004/05 - WATCH
Arsenal were 1-0 ahead in a very tight game, when Van Persie came on as a late substitute to take a short pass from Vieira, turn brilliantly, slalom past the Blackburn defence and put Arsenal 2-0 up. Not one of his most spectacular goals, but a great display of the touch, technique and awareness that he has. He then scored Arsenal's third, only to be elbowed in the face by Andy Todd as he wheeled away to celebrate.

9. Arsenal 6-2 Blackburn - Premier League - 2006/07 - WATCH
Yet another Van Persie goal against Blackburn, yet again from that spot out on the right. This time he completely rips apart his compatriot Andre Ooijer before thumping one past Friedel. Van Persie is one person that Friedel has been powerless against, and he has scored 7 against them in the last 3 years or so.

10. Arsenal 1-1 Southampton - Premier League - 2004/05 - WATCH
To round off the Top 10, we have Robin's first goal for the club, another typical effort cutting in from the right. It was a sign of the character and talent to come, because he came on as a late sub with Arsenal chasing the game, and you can see him demanding the ball, and oozing confidence in his own ability to carve out the chance the way he did.

A professional counter-attacking performance from Arsenal saw them prevail 1-0 in a tough away fixture in Romania. Robin Van Persie scored the only goal of the game with 15 minutes left to play, absolutely hammering a left-shooted shot from Emmanuel Adebayor's square pass across the face of goal.

The interesting statistic in this game was that although Steaua had a fair share of the possession, the Gunners had 21 shots to Steaua's 7. The win was achieved on the basis of efficient counter-attacking, although you might say that Arsenal were hardly efficient given that despite all the chances that they created, there was only one late goal to show for it. Still, it is an improvement on many of the performances they had last season in the Premiership and in Europe, where they created and wasted countless chances and drew or lost many games as a result. Cesc Fabregas even provided a reminder of those days when he missed an easy chance from about 3 yards out.

Still, this Arsenal looks more purposeful, patient and composed. Alexander Hleb was a darting, menacing presence throughout. Van Persie made life tough for opponents with his aggression and technique, Fabregas was controlling as always, Flamini was busy and "bossy", Kolo Toure was heroic, and Emmanuel Adebayor continued to show his curious duality of being profligate but good at the same time. Senderos had a very good game apart from a few moments, and both fullbacks were very solid (Clichy having a few suspect moments). Eboue looked rusty, but did his job, and Gilberto came on in the second half for him to stem Steaua's attacking pressure. The team always looked confident that the goal would come, and it did, unlike last season where they would start to panic more and more, with desperation creeping into the play.

It could have been quite different though if Steaua had made the most of their chances. First, Manuel Almunia rushed out to head clear, but didn't manage to get too much distance on the header. He was also unlucky that the ball fell to the clever number 10 Dica, who took a touch and lobbed him. However, Captain Kolo was on hand to perfectly anticipate the lob and head it away with Almunia completely stranded - whether the sequence just happened that quickly, or Almunia was ballwatching and didn't get back soon enough, I don't know. Their second chance came when Iacob went clean through on the left-side of the box, opened up his body and curled a far-post shot high and wide of both Almunia and the goal. Perhaps he thought he would try to score a Thierry Henry goal since he was playing against the Arsenal, but it ended up being more Adebayor (on a bad day) than anything else.

And that was about it for the Romanians. They had some clever, technically gifted players, but Arsenal were the superior team, and should have had at least a goal or two more to show for their efforts.

One can't help but feel sad at their disappointment at the end though. Gigi Becali, their mad owner had already said the coach Pedrazzini would be sacked if he couldn't get a result against Arsenal, and the players would all have received £20,000 each as a win bonus, and they must have been devastated by Iacob's missed chance.

Well, good riddance to bad Reyes.

He's cried and moaned and whinged like a little baby for years now, and really needs to grow up and act like a professional. Arsenal paid a lot of money for him, and he basically put them in a position where they had absolutely no bargaining power and every club in the world knew this.

He's signed for Atletico for about €9 million, which is pitiful considering his talent and ability, and that he was valued at almost £14 million (approximately €20 million) when he went on loan to Real last season.

He always gave 100% on the pitch for Arsenal, even though he played like shit for a lot of it, and although he's never said anything bad about the club, his acting like a sissy has cost them in the transfer market. He's nearly 25 now, and needs to stop behaving like a lost, little boy. After crying all year round about the weather and how he wouldn't play in England again, he's gotten his wish, but at the expense of Arsenal. It's sad, especially when Arsene Wenger showed so much faith in him and gave him so much support.

Anyways, good luck to you Reyes. Hopefully he can make use of his incredible talent and stop crying in the media every other day.

And of course we have some leaked photos for you: 

Fiorentina wouldn't pay him enough, and so he was back with the Arsenal for pre-season training.

But West Ham winger Julien Faubert did his knee, and will be out for 6 months, and a high-quality replacement was needed.

West Ham have money to spend, so Arsenal are rumoured to be getting a decent fee out of this (3.5m) and Freddie is rumoured to not be having to take too much of a paycut (60,000 per week).

Altogether not bad business for both clubs.

Freddie... thanks for all those great moments over the years, and good luck.

Arsene... please... sign someone!