Well Arsenal ended their unbeaten run of 28 games in all competition in Spain tonight, losing 3-1 to Sevilla. The referee was not great, and gave a free-kick to them that was never a free-kick, and which also resulted in the second goal. Even worse than the referee though, was Philippe Senderos, who single-handedly tried to hand Sevilla the match with clearances and decision of such severe incompetence that he almost made one long for Alex Song. Almost as bad, was Fredi Kanoute, whose finishing was just god-awful. He should have at least scored a brace, if not a hat-trick, and the scoreline really should have been 4-1 or 5-1 to Sevilla.

I suppose there are some "positives" to take from the game, for both sets of fans.

For Sevilla - well they will have restored some pride, and can look forward to being the group winners. They avenged their 3-0 loss in London, and looked once again like the team that was so sensational last season, and are continuing to come out of the shadows of the sad death of Antonio Puerta, and the sudden departure of coach Juande Ramos to Tottenham. Luis Fabiano continued his good form, and Jesus Navas was especially mesmerising towards the latter stages of the game.

And for the Arsenal? Well this was as good a game to lose as any. They've lost in a somewhat meaningless game to one of Europe's best teams. They've lost badly, and it's broken their unbeaten run, but it's without detriment to their progress into the next phase in the Champions League, and it would have had far worse effects in the league. Let's face it - they would have lost sooner or later, and it's better that it happened now so that they can address their shortcomings, rather than later, because there won't be a game this unimportant for a while.

Also, let's also take into account the fact that they played with three second choice defenders - Hoyte was average, Senderos awful, and Traore lost (but promising), and three second choice midfielders - Denilson was OK but ineffective, Gilberto was OK but made scary errors, and Eboue was exciting but wildly wasteful. And upfront, they were missing first choices Adebayor and Van Persie, with Nicklas Bendtner and Eduardo making their first starts in this competition. Eduardo was somewhat wasted out on the left, but did well for his goal, which was set up by the young Dane Bendtner.

So a side shorn of their top scoring strikers (Ade and RvP), captain (Gallas), most influential ball winner (Flamini) and most influential attacking midfielder (Hleb) lost to a full-strength Sevilla side.

It's not the end of the world. 

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.

As you all know by now, Arsenal absolutely demolished Slavia Prague on Tuesday. 7 goals, 6 of them were top, top quality, and the football, control and composure on displays were pure class. It was Arsenal's third 7-0 win in the last 4 years, and the Gunners' biggest win in Europe.

It was great to see this new, young team really explode, and stability has really been the key factor. They've all had about 2-3 years of playing together now, and there are options and fluidity in every position. Some of the goals were just stunning, particularly both of Cesc's. You can see all the goals here:

1-0 Cesc Fabregas
2-0 Hubacek o.g.
3-0 Theo Walcott
4-0 Aliaksandr Hleb
5-0 Theo Walcott
6-0 Cesc Fabregas
7-0 Nicklas Bendtner

Hleb was absolutely outstanding all game long, Walcott showed us what he's capable of, Adebayor was a bit useless, but worked hard as always, and everyone else was solid and strong. Eboue is still a bit uncomfortable/wasteful on the wing, but did fantastic well to set up the 7th goal, which Bendtner did showed great resolve to tuck away.

So it's quite a confidence boost ahead of Sunday's big matchup against Liverpool, who along with Arsenal are the only two undefeated teams in the Premiership. Although in many ways, because Slavia were such poor opposition, it wasn't the greatest preparation. Liverpool will be much, much tougher opposition, and will be looking to prove a point after losing to Besiktas yesterday in the Champions League. It's also reaching that stage of the season where they have dropped a lot of points, and they will need to start winning consistently now, especially against the big teams, since they have to claw back points to make up the difference.

Fernando Torres was missing against Besiktas, but will likely be back for Sunday, and no one can really predict what kind of tinkering Benitez will do with the rest of the side. Crouch scored a hattrick against Arsenal last year, so it's quite possible that he will partner Torres.

As for the Gunners, well Van Persie is still missing, and there are doubts over Eduardo. As good and exciting as Theo Walcott was against Slavia, the Liverpool defence are far, far superior, and 4-5-1 is probably the best way to go for this game - Adebayor up front on his own, with Hleb, Fabregas, and Rosicky/Eduardo supporting from deeper positions. Walcott would be a good substitute coming on against tired legs, especially against Sami Hyypia.

They key points will of course be the performances of Gallas and Toure, and how Liverpool deal with Cesc. The two centrehalves were absolutely hammered by Crouch last season, and they will need to do better this year. As for Cesc, well everything good runs through him (and Hleb of course, and Rosicky when he plays), but with options like Sissoko and Mascherano, Benitez will be looking to limit the amount of time and possession that he gets. This is where Flamini becomes important, because he battles and snaps into tackles, and gives Cesc fantastic support. I have a feeling we might see Diaby in there as well, giving an additional option in the centre.

This is the first real test for Arsenal, and they must get it right.

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. 

The big story ahead of this Saturday’s matchup against Bolton is that Manuel Almunia will keep his place in the team, with Jens Lehmann not even making the bench. Wenger also mentions that he has three world class keepers, and that he can’t please all of them. I know that referring to the occasionally walkabout Almunia and the untested Fabianski as “world class” will cause a few laughs, but we can’t really question Arsene’s judgement, especially after this season’s resurgence.

This will all come as a shock to Jens Lehmann though – he’s been progressively getting more antsy and mouthy, and his latest interview is a bit of a shocker and a challenge to the boss. He claims that his absences have been purely through injury (“Did you seen me sitting on the bench once?”), and that he expects to play from now on. Well, this will come as a shock to his system I’m sure.

Arsene is never one to publicly criticise, but he will not have appreciated Jens’ outburst, and leaving him out of the squad when he’s declared himself fit is a strong reproach. Whilst Almunia hasn’t really convinced or done anything exceptional, he has been solid, and the team have won all 10 games in which he’s played. We must remember that it was Lehmann who lost his own place with his errors in the first two premiership games, and it’s only fair that Almunia has gotten his chance.

We need to show a little patience towards Manuel too – after all, this is his first real run in the team in the 4 seasons that he’s been at Arsenal, and he’s not let anyone down. He’s been getting better over the years, and we won’t really see the best of him until he’s had about 15-17 consecutive games in which to cement his place and feel comfortable.

Jens on the other hand, has been “in decline” for a while. There were several errors from him last season, although he redeemed himself with some stunning saves, but the signs were there, and for many his mistakes this year weren’t that surprising.

It’s going to be a tricky situation though, because Jens has challenged the boss, and the boss has responded. He’s said that Lehmann needs to be patient and win his place back, but the harmony of the squad is now at stake. Jens has already made disrespectful statements towards Almunia, and the more agitated he gets, the worse it will become for the team. He’s also got his Euro 2008 place at stake, and the next few months will be very interesting.

There have been persistent rumours about Miguel Veloso coming to Arsenal for the last 6 months. It all started with stories towards the end of last season about us trailing him, and Joao Moutinho. Then late this summer, there were quotes from his agent about how English clubs were interested. Over the past few days, there have been stories circulating everywhere about how we have come close to matching his £20 million release clause. There are also stories that he had signed a pre-contract agreement to arrive in January 2008, which appeared on his Wikipedia profile (it now says that he is on the verge of signing for a club record fee of £17 million.

I spoke to LaViz, our excellent Portuguese blogger, and she tells me that Veloso currently plays in a style quite reminescent of Fernando Redondo, the Argentine ex-Real and AC Milan holding midfielder who was a brilliant reader of the game, and had incredible technique and vision.

She also describes Veloso as being a bit like Nicolas Burdisso - in that he is very versatile, and can function anywhere across the back line or midfield, or in between. And not only can he play in these positions, he can do so effectively.

Because of the fact that he is athletic, and technically blessed, she feels that the coaches are trying to get him to play a bit like Esteban Cambiasso (she's an Inter fan, so does best with these comparisons); i.e. getting him to contribute more when going forward, and be more dynamic with his movement.

And how would he fit in at the Arsenal? The answer is... well... I have no idea. We signed Lassane Diarra this summer, and his best position is the holding midfield role, as is Gilberto's. However, neither of them have seen much playing time because of Mathieu Flamini's all-conquering, Gattuso-esque displays. Don't forget about Abou Diaby either. However, it's worth noting that Flamini is yet to sign a new deal, and that Gilberto might well be off in January (the Valencia rumours keep persisting, and Juventus haven't gone away either). Even so, with Diarra, Cesc, Diaby and Denilson around, that's quite a congested midfield.

Then again, Arsene Wenger has a habit of signing players and then doing other things with them. He spent £10m on the winger Thierry Henry (remember him?), and made him into a terrific striker. He spent £12m on left-winger Reyes, and made him into a striker (which never really worked out). He spent £11m on Wiltord, and played him at right-wing a lot of the time. Those are the big buys, there's also Van Persie, Ljungberg, Toure, Djourou and Eboue who have all learned new positions.

So where would Veloso fit in? He's played left-back, centre-back, central midfield and left-midfield, so we know he could cover all of those. He's got an excellent left-foot, and we all know that Arsene likes his gifted left-footed midfielders (Petit, Edu, van Bronckhorst, Reyes). The team has no left-footed midfielders at the moment, and is missing a bit of width, so it's quite possible that he might be sizing up Veloso as an option.

There's also the theory that he signed as the ultimate utility player - capable of playing anywhere in defence or midfield, he might hasten the departures of Hoyte, Senderos, Song, Gilberto, and maybe even Gallas, trimming the squad, and reducing the wage bill. However £17 million is quite exorbitant for a utility player, even if the club has cash to spend, and Gilberto's (possible) departure might bring in about £7 million or so.

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.