Matchday: Arsenal

• He grabbed a goal, a suspension and the headlines last year, but Emmanuel Adebayor will likely return to the bench after his midweek hat-trick against Lech Poznan. Tevez will take his place, looking to add to 28 goals in his last 30 games.

• I'm fully expecting a return to 4-5-1 after the unsuccesful 4-4-2 experiment last weekend against Blackpool. Yaya Toure returning from injury will mean a full strength midfield, most likely made up of De Jong, Barry, Yaya, Milner and Silva. The De Jong-Barry-Yaya triangle proved to be extremely effective at stifling Chelsea and we will need them to replicate that performance tomorrow against Song, Diaby and Fabregas.

• Tomorrow's defensive line up however, is far less certain. Deposed skipper Kolo Toure is still unavailable after failing to recover from the injury which has kept him out of the last two matches. This is a major blow to our hopes of keeping Chamakh and co quiet as the Kolo/Kompany partnership has matured into one of the best in the league.
  

• Big news on the injury front is that Kolarov and Balotelli will be available for the match, although I'm expecting bench starts at most for both of them. Competitively they have less than 90 minutes between them this season, so will most likely be gradually introduced into the team.

Ask The Opposition: Arsenal

The fan

Name: Vince

Age: 26


The game

Scoreline Prediction: 1-3

One to watch: Samir Nasri. Superb form going into this game.

Although it is still early, many are considering the game a six-pointer; has your season progressed as you had expected so far?

It's been as inconsistent as I'd expect the season immediately after a World Cup to be. Certainly the home defeat to WBA wasn't the anomaly I'd like to claim it as; Hull achieved similar in '08 -'09 against an equally complacent Gunners team. Aside from some early shakes, even as an Arsenal fan I don't think anyone expected us to have had the sheer number of injuries we've had to contend with so far. While Robin 'fibreglass' Van Persie wasn't a massive surprise (and he's fast becoming viewed as a luxury player at the Emirates), losing Vermaelen was an unexpected blow and this time last year meant either losing Song from the midfield or (shudder) bringing in Silvestre. Another player who's seemed absent despite physically being on the pitch is Andre Arshavin. Most of us felt that a good rest in light of Russia's failure to qualify for South Africa would do him good, in truth he still doesn't seem to have shed the weight he piled on over the Summer and after anything above a light jog he ends up doubled over and breathing heavily. While defensive duties have never been top of his priorities list he's left Clichy looking woefully exposed and the latter looked infinitely more comfortable playing behind the more tenacious Tomas Rosicky, who's been in great form of late. In terms of where we are in the table I'm cautiously optimistic; there's a gap to the top but it's smaller than what we overcame (twice!) last year. It's been nice to have gotten some tricky away fixtures over with but I'd like to have played a post-Mascherano Liverpool with the Jack Wilshere who's grown out of that match at Anfield.

Squillaci and Koscielny were the defensive additions this summer whilst Chamakh is already weighing in with goals, how do you feel the new recruits are settling in?

I think they're doing incredibly well. The pair of French lads in defence have been a welcome addition, as has Johan Djourou who has finally returned from injury. The communication across our back 5 has been lacking since the days of Adams and Keown; Toure and Gallas famously hated each other and last year the defence spoke entirely in French, unless they felt the need to include Almunia at which point they'd throw in some English! Squillaci has brought some much needed experience and is very vocal while Koscielny's got an uncanny knack for interceptions. Both have had the odd teething problem but nothing disastrous. Chamakh has been quietly becoming something of a revelation, the Moroccan penalty-collector may not lead the line quite like RVP but he has more experience than Nic Bendtner and after injury forced Arshavin to play as the lone striker last Spring, it's been brilliant having a big target man up front.



General Arsenal

What has been your favourite memory/moment from supporting Arsenal? -

The Dennis Bergkamp goal against Newcastle. It's a pretty obvious answer but aside from THAT Roberto Carlos free kick i'd never before seen a goal I didn't fully understand. It's a goal I get up on youtube whenever I'm with someone who says "why do you even watch football?"
I also have a feeling that the crowd reaction to Eduardo's return/goal on Tuesday will live long in the memory too.

And the worst -

If not the Champions League final, then the day of the injury to our aforementioned Crozillian. I was in Manhattan at the time watching the game in some tacky faux-Irish bar at about 9am due to the time difference, with a girlfriend I'd been with for years who'd grown to silently loathe me. What transpired in that game did nothing for my mood and the relationship went the same way as Eduardo's leg shortly after we returned to England.

If you could sign a player from the City squad (wages etc irrelevant), who would you choose -

Joe Hart. I'm not one of the people who expected Wenger to sign a new 'keeper in the Summer and always kept to the belief that a run of games would see Fabianski show us why we signed him, but you can't go wrong with a player like Hart who just seems to exude the kind of natural confidence you need. It spreads through the defence and makes the whole team more secure when you can trust the guy behind you not to do anything mental.

If you could place a past Arsenal player into the current team, who would it be -

Thierry Henry. I think he in his prime would love the way the team plays at the moment and he'd provide that vital unpredictability we sometimes seem to lack.

Ask The Opposition: Newcastle United

The fan

Name: Michael Bates

Age: 21


The game

Scoreline Prediction: Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle United

One to watch: Ben Arfa

Sunday marks the return of Joey Barton to the ground at which he made his name. Do you feel he has finally put his problems behind him and what is the general fan perception towards him these days?

I still think he is rebuilding his reputation but has so far started to put his past behind him; lets just hope he doesn't go back to his old ways.
Generally I think he is a good player to have in the team, particularly in the premiership as he will battle and has a fiesty side to him, which you need at that level.

If you could sign a player from the City squad (wages etc irrelevant), who would you choose?

If I could have any player from Man City it would probably be someone like Adam Johnson or Carlos Tevez.


General Newcastle

What has been your favourite memory/moment from supporting Newcastle? - Would have to probably be being at St James Park for Alan Shearer's final game against Wigan, which he scored in.

And the worst - Being relegated.

If you could place a past Newcastle player into the current team, who would it be? Alan Shearer

Do you know more than Shearer about Ben Arfa? I would like to think I may do, but I couldn't honeslty say if I do know more about Ben Arfa than Shearer.

Ask The Opposition

I'll be starting an 'ask the opposition' type interview for every City game, starting this weekend with the visit of Newcastle.

The 25 is announced

Michael Johnson is in the squad in place of David Gonzales as the only difference to my predictions. The only Mancunian in the senior squad at the moment, I didn't expect him to make the cut due to the fact he is out injured until late November (mixed with our terrible goalkeeper trouble last season) but I'm delighted for him. Hopefully he can get a few appearances but I believe a loan spell will follow in January in order for him to build up match fitness.

Keepers: Shay Given, Joe Hart, Stuart Taylor.

Defenders: Jerome Boateng, Wayne Bridge, Aleksander Kolarov, Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, Shaleum Logan, Micah Richards, Kolo Toure, Pablo Zabaleta.

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong, Adam Johnson, Michael Johnson, James Milner, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Patrick Vieira, Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Forwards: Emmanuel Adebayor, Jo, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez.

Squad prediction

The squad has been trimmed, I know a lot of people were worried about that, I'm looking at you, tabloids.
The only first XI player from last season to leave has been Craig Bellamy, the rest being a mix of youth, loaned out, reserve and fringe squad players. I'll do a full write up later but for the moment here is my prediction for the squad to be announced later today.


Joe Hart
Shay Given
Stuart Taylor
David Gonzales

Aleksandar Kolarov
Jerome Boateng
Joleon Lescott
Wayne Bridge
Micah Richards
Kolo Toure
Pablo Zabaleta
Vincent Kompany
Shaleum Logan

David Silva
James Milner
Yaya Toure
Patrick Vieira
Nigel De Jong
Gareth Barry
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Adam Johnson

Emmanuel Adebayor
Jo
Roque Santa Cruz
Carlos Tevez

Robinho signs for AC Milan

It was a day which will live on in the memory of every City fan, we had become the world's richest club overnight and were chasing four or five targets around the world, as the clock approached midnight the news broke that we had signed long term Chelsea target Robinho.

Two years on and Robinho becomes the latest signing for AC Milan, joining Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front for the rossoneri, ending an eventful short spell at Eastlands.

Signed not by the manager, but by the owners, Robinho was, and always will be more than a player for us, he was a statement. As much as I love Pablo Zabaleta, he wasn't the signing to make the world take notice that there was a new major player in the transfer market and on the footballing map.

After a stunning first half of the 08/09 season, including a debut goal against Chelsea, his performances dropped off after allegations into his personal life and anonymous showings in a team struggling away from home.

A summer move to Barcelona never materialised and it appeared he would remain in Manchester for at least another season, but a stress fracture on his right ankle sustained whilst on international duty sidelined him early on and he was never able to force himself back into the team before joining his boyhood club Santos in the January transfer window in order to gain fitness for the 2010 World Cup.

He split opinions between City fans, some seeing a talented player who is in the team to create, not defend, others seeing a lazy player not putting in the same effort as he did for Brazil, seeking an exit at the first opportunity.

Personally I am sad to see him go, the team he played in was not set up for his style of play, I believe he would've thrived in what is now a more solid City side with a defensive base. It may have been a case of running before we could walk, but we can have no regrets with the Robinho signing, without the profile he brought to the club I doubt we would've been able to attract the calibre of players we currently can.

Good luck Robson De Sousa and good luck AC Milan. Although with a forward line of Robinho, Ronaldinho, Ibrahimovic and Pato I don't think they need luck. Some defenders maybe...