Bill Gallas may or not play against Chelsea after his clash of heads with Andrey Arshavin in Tuesday’s Champions League win over Standard Liege and the doubts over his fitness only serve to remind us that we are short of decent cover in central defence.
Gallas’ swollen eye is apparently closed and only time will tell if he recovers sufficiently to face his old club at the Emirates come 4pm on Sunday. But it seems that one potential target of Arsene Wenger’s won’t be joining the glorious Gunners after today’s Mirror revealed that Fulham defender Brede Hangeland is set to sign a new deal which will see him commit his future to the club.
Elsewhere Arsenal news is thin on the ground, apart from a number of pieces looking at previous clashes between London’s top team and the Russians. The Daily Mail’s Steve Curry had lunch with Ray Parlour, Martin Keown John Hollins and Jason Cundy to look ahead at the match and you can read the full feature by clicking the link.
There is a depressing comclusion to the piece, though, when Curry asks the former players who will win the league.
JC: Chelsea. They have the strength in depth.
RP: Chelsea.
MK: Chelsea. But the Premier League needs an Arsenal win on Sunday.
JH: Chelsea. They have the manager and the players.
Cheers Ray. Cheers Mart!
One more tale from the Mail looks at which London grounds will be used if England win the bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
The paper says London could push for three venues if we are successful – despite FIFA rules only allowing that figure in exceptional circumstances.
Wembley has already been designated by the 2018 bid team as the venue for the opening game and final.
And should the London bid team attempt to use the Olympic Stadium as the second venue, they would spark a battle between Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and Tottenham’s planned new 56,000-seater home as to who would gain the potential third slot.
Ha, ha, ha. We all know it’ll never be built so where the problem?
More news ahead of Sunday’s showdown will surface once the press conferences get under way this afternoon but in the meantime, if you fancy a slice of Arsenal nostalgia check out the Times’ page focusing on historic Gunners’ games.