Massive Fixtures Ahead : Arsenal Title Credentials On The Line

They said "Arsenal will be tested by Swansea"; Arsenal won the match. They said "It will be Napoli who will really test Arsenal"; Arsenal won the match- comfortably I should add. We lost against Dortmund but they were champions league finalists last season and Arsenal did not make it a walk in the park for them did they?

Arsenal Flying High But Tougher Tests Lie Ahead

Arsenal are 2 points clear at the top of the EPL and there still remains doubts, in the minds of the so-called football pundits at least, whether Arsenal are genuine contenders to the title. Who cares what they think, Arsenal are top of the league and Arsenal fans are loving the view from the top :). My honest opinion is that it is too early to predict who will win but we will get a better idea at the end of December.

Moving on from foretelling the title winner, Arsenal are heading into the start of a very difficult period in the season with some tricky ties coming up. Staring with the home match against Chelsea tonight in the Capital One Cup, Arsenal host Liverpool followed by a visit to Dortmund in the Champions League and then to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the League and they face an equally daunting task against a flying Southampton side at home in the league.As if that was not enough, Arsenal will arguably have an even tougher December to follow with games against Everton(H), Machester City(A), Napoli(A) and Chelsea(H). It is incredible how these big fixtures have all been put together. No wonder people are reserving their thoughts on Arsenal's credibility, because if Arsenal get past this storm of massive fixtures unscathed, or at least not battered, the title would be Arsenal's to lose.

A short note on tonight's match. Arsene knows that a critical phase is approaching in the season and I think he will be forced to prioritize here. He would want his best players to be fit for all these fixtures ahead and I think he will take a big gamble if decides to start with any of his regulars in tonight's match. Whether he will take that risk remains to be seen.

WALLCOT OUT! AND CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREVIEW

WHERE DOES HIS FUTURE LIE?

Arsenal play host to Montpellier in the Champions League tonight and it has emerged that Theo Wallcot will miss the match due to injury. On the bright side, Gervinho is back in the squad and so is Gibbs. In the case of Gibbs it now seems as a matter of "when" rather than "if" he gets injured again. Such a pity.He is a decent player but injury has ruined him.

The situation with Wallcot is getting stretched by the day like rubber. There have been news of breakthroughs but until the deal is not done, anything can happen. Personally, Wallcot is not among my favorites and I would not mind him leaving especially after Wenger admitted he would replace him with "one of the best" if he was to leave.(Oh Mr.Wenger, we won't fall for that again!)

There are also rumors in the media that Henry is signing for us on loan again.Mr. Wenger too told the official Arsenal FC site www.Arsenal.com that Henry could be given a chance.Well, it would be a welcome no doubt for fans like us.Although on the downside,Henry is not the Henry of old. Yet he can give the team a lift and score some important goals too like last season.

Amidst all this, Arsenal host Montpellier in a crunch tie in the Champions League.Securing a place in the knockout phase of the Champions League depends on the result in these final two matches.It is not ideal to leave qualification till the final match but that is the case right now and we must face it.Only a win tonight and at least a point from our next match will guarantee progression to the next match.Arsenal must be ruing the two goal lead they allowed to slip in their last match against Schalke.One thing is certain,it is a must win or Arsenal.However, it won't be that easy as many think it will be. Montpellier will be coming with confidence after they played well against a strong PSG side in the French league. Added to the fact is that they have nothing to loose. Arsenal did defeat their bitter neighbors Tottenham 5-2 in their last match but they were not convincing when they played against 11 in that match. It will be an interesting tie tonight.  

GIVE ME A BREAK

So it is here again!It is that time when we go into a break in club football to be "Entertained" with some international football matches.The good thing for football lovers like me, is that we get to watch some good football.The hunger for watching football is constantly replenished for us,either through club football or through international football matches.But, you do have to take a moment and wonder how the players would cope with such continuous football week in week out.

From an Arsenal perspective, we have seldom done well in a match immediately following an international break(as if Arsenal fans needed to be reminded of that!). Either we have lost some important players to injuries or our players would not recover fully for the following match.And this "curse" seems to be upon  us again as new has surfaced regarding an injury to Koscielny.(God,no more injuries please...fingers crossed!)

Looking at the bigger picture, England national team seems to be suffering the most with so many football matches for club and country. Talks of a winter break like in other European countries has picked up fuel quite a lot recently. If you look at the performances of the English national team, they have been average,let alone being genuine contenders for any title.There is no proof that a winter break will help any team to perform well but other leagues who go into breaks seem to do better internationally (Germany,Spain,Italy,Netherlands,France).So, perhaps the call for a break is not a bad idea after all. (Although that would deprive us of some football matches!).

For the time being though, let us support all the teams that have players from Arsenal FC(which most of us will do) and enjoy some International action.