Game : Arsenal vs Fenerbahce

Competition : UEFA Champions league Group G

Venue : Emirates Stadium, London

Date : November 5, 2008

Time : 19.45 GMT

After being physically outplayed by a passionate Stoke side, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal host Fenerbahce in the Champions league on Wednesday with one eye on qualification for the knockout stages.

Two throwins from Rory Delap proved to be the undoing of Arsenal against Stoke at the weekend. Gael Clichy’s late goal was not enough to save the Gunners, and Stoke again proved that a physical side could trouble the Gunners a lot, just like Bolton have done in the past. Wenger opted for a weird formation in midfield that saw Abou Diaby on the left, Denilson on the right, and Song and Fabregas in the center. To compund matters, Arsenal had Robin Van Persie sent off and Theo Walcott had to be stretchered off. There are also doubts over right back Bacary Sagna and striker Emmanuel Adebayor, both of whom were injured in the game. And all this is bad news for Wenger considering the fixture after Fenerbahce sees them play Manchester United. The absence of Walcott will please Fenerbahce, for the young winger was a constant source of trouble in Turkey a fortnight ago.

Fenerbahce lost 5-2 to Arsenal at home in their previous UCL clash, with defensive errors breaking their fifteen game unbeaten home run in Europe. Luis Aragones has led them to their worst Turkish league start in 20 years, and they may have to do without Alex who scored twice in their weekend 2-2 draw against Eskisehirspor. Prior to the draw, they beat Bursaspor 5-2 and overcame MKE Ankaragücü 1-0 in the Turkish cup. Like Arsenal, who have Manchester United coming up next, Fenerbahce’s next league clash is against bitter rivals Galatasaray. Fenerbahce are currently at the bottom of Group G, with one point from three games. Asking them to do a Liverpool and qualify for the next stage might be too much, but they will certainly want to atleast finish third so that they take the UEFA Cup spot.

Arsenal are a bit low on confidence, having thrown away a 4-2 lead against Tottenham and then losing to Stoke. A 1-1 draw may not be a bad option, for RVP and Dani Guiza scoring.

Game : Stoke City vs Arsenal

Competition : English Premier league

Venue : Britannia Stadium ( Stoke are at home)

Date : 1 November

Time : 3pm GMT.

After squandering a two goal lead not once but twice on Wednesday night against Tottenham Hotspur at home, Arsene Wenger’s young guns travel to the Britannia Stadium to take on Tony Pulis’ Stoke City.

Arsenal lead 4-2 with minutes to go on the clock, but they crumbled when it mattered the most and allowed goals from Jermaine Jenas and Aaron Lennon to convert what looked like a certain three points to one. The result, along with Hull City’s 0-3 loss to Chelsea, means that Arsenal are in third spot currently, six points behind league leaders Liverpool. Wenger chose to start with Silvestre and Gallas in defence against Spurs and opted for the quartet of Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas, Denilson and Theo Walcott in midfield. Wenger will continue to rotate his men, with the Champions league clash against Fenerbahce coming up after this one. That means the likes of Alexandre Song, Emmanuel Eboue, Carlos Vela, Nicklas Bendtner and Abou Diaby could start. Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo remain sidelined with injuries. Robin Van Persie had a great game, having a hand in all four goals before he was substituted for the night.

Stoke produced one of their best performances of the season to beat Roy Keane’s Sunderland 1-0 on Wednesday night. The goal by Ricardo Fuller came from another accurate long throw in by Rory Delap, and his skills there are proving to be immensely valuable to Stoke. It lifted them out of the relegation zone on Wednesday, and has helped them quite often this season. All three of Stoke’s wins this season have come at win- against Sunderland, Tottenham and Aston Villa. Stoke have a direct and more physical style of approach, quite different in comparison to Arsenal’s pleasant ” pass the ball into the net ” policy. Stoke have leaked in quite a few this season, and the lack of a composed central defensive pairing has been a constant headache to Pulis.

Arsenal often struggled against Bolton, a side with a very physical game. However Wenger would have impressed upon his boys the need to pick three points here, and they should win this 3-1.

Game : Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur

Time : 8pm GMT.

The 143rd North London derby takes place on Wednesday, with bottom of the table Tottenham Hotspur taking on Arsene Wenger’s young Gunners. It has been a horrendous start to the season for Spurs- their worst ever in a century to be precise. Spanish manager Juande Ramos has been fired, and chairman Daniel Levy has brought in Pompey boss Harry Redknapp to White Hart Lane. Asking Redknapp for a win may be asking too much though. David Pleat, Glenn Hoddle, Jacques Santini, Martin Jol and Juande Ramos did not manage to win a single North London league derby.

Arsenal are four points off leaders Liverpool, and have nineteen points from their nine games. They beat city rivals West Ham 2-0 at the weekend, with Emmanuel Adebayor having a hand in both the goals. Adebayor is expected to start against Spurs, after being benched for the game against the Hammers. Mikael Silvestre and William Gallas had a decent outing against West Ham, and will continue in defence with Clichy on the left and Sagna on the right. Nicklas Bendtner, scorer of the winner when the two teams met at the Emirates last December, will have to do with a spot on the bench. Wenger has many young attacking options, with the likes of Vela and Walcott available for selection. The midfield looks strong, with the likes of Fabregas, Song and Diaby in it.Manuel Almunia, who saved Robbie Keane’s penalty in last season’s corresponding fixture, has looked composed in goal, in comparison to Spurs’ Heurelho Gomes, who has been guilty of some unexplainable eccentricity.

Spurs restored some pride with a 2-0 win over Bolton- Harry Redknapp’s first win in his first game in charge. Roman Pavyluchenko and Darren Bent both got on the scoresheet, and that was good news for a Spurs attacking line which has been woefully out of form after the departure of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane in the summer. Gareth Bale returns to the starting lineup after serving his one game suspension. Fellow defender Michael Dawson sits this game out- the second of his three game ban for his horrendous challenge on Stoke’s Mamady Sidibe. Spurs are also sweating on the fitness of Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate. Spurs have not won a single game on their Premier league travels, having lost three and drawn one.

Form doesn’t matter. Harry Redknapp knows all about the energy of derbies, with Portsmouth having played Southampton quite a few times. And along with the Merseyside and Manchester derbies, the North London derby is one of the biggest out there. However Spurs are still in rebuilding mode, and Arsenal, given their past record against Spurs, should win this by two or three goals, with Adebayor, Nasri and Vela scoring. Spurs are huge underdogs for this game given their current form- the Odds reflect that. Paddypower has them at 13/2, and Bluesquare has them at 7/1.

Arsene Wenger’s young Arsenal side travel to intimidating Istanbul to face Luis Aragones’ Fenerbahce in a Group G Champions league fixture on Tuesday night, knowing fully well that a win will put them in pole position to win the group.

Arsenal lead Group G with four points, and put on an impressive display to rout Porto 4-0 a fortnight ago with Adebayor and Van Persie grabbing two each. On Saturday, they came back from a goal down to beat Everton 3-1, with Van Persie, Nasri and Walcott on the scoresheet. However Wenger does have some problems in defence. Alexandre Song looked extremely uncomfortable occupying the right back position against the Toffees. Stand in skipper Kolo Toure’s injury means that Wenger will be without his first choice central defensive pairing- Gallas and Toure. Manuel Almunia will captain the side in the absence of Toure and Gallas. Bacary Sagna is out too, but young Swiss centreback Johan Djorou returns, and is likely to partner Mikael Silvestre. Wenger can once again call upon the services of Danish striker Niclas Bendtner, who missed the Everton game with an ankle strain. Eduardo, Amaury Bischoff and Tomas Rosicky remain on the absentees list.

Fenerbahce, who hired Euro 2008 winning coach Luis Aragones, have not had the greatest of starts to both domestic and European campaigns. They lost to Porto 1-3 away, and then had a goalless stalemate against Dinamo Kiev at home. Fenerbahce reached the last eight of the Champions league last year before falling to Chelsea. A late goal from Semih Senturk saw them edge Kocelispor 3-2 in the Turkish Super Lig on Saturday. Fenerbahce possess some excellent players- Senturk, Dani Guiza, Ugur Boral, Alex, Diego Lugano, Roberto Carlos and Colin Kazim Richards to name a few. Fenerbahce will be relying on the home crowd to unsettle Arsenal’s youngsters, many of whom are making the trip to Turkey for the first time in their careers.

In 1979, this fixture ended 0-0. How could it end in 2008 ? It probably all comes down to how Arsenal cope with the Istanbul crowd. Arsenal might just nick this 2-1, with goals from Nasri and Van Persie. Guiza to score for Fenerbahce.