We’re LIVE! from Emirates Stadium from 11.30 with all the pre-match info!

What about the teams though? Read on for our summary of both teams.

ARSENAL

Talismen... Cesc and RvP are set to return.

After an extremely controversial transfer market continues to roll on in North London, Arsenal may well be distracted by the ongoing goalkeeping situation that seems to be annoying some at the club. Wenger will need to keep his team focused if they are to defeat a confident Blackpool side.

Last Week

Luckily, but deservedly, coming away with a point from Anfield. Marouane Chamakh’s professional debut was a highlight as was Samir Nasri in midfield. However, there will be some frowns at the side’s inability to break down a 10-man Liverpool defence in the second half.

Team News

Out: The aforementioned Nasri was dealt a blow at Liverpool, minor knee surgery ruling the Frenchman out for five weeks. Laurent Koscielny will serve his one match ban, while young gun Emmanuel Frimpong is also set to miss most (if not all) of the season with knee ligament damage.

In: Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas are due to return providing a massive boost for the Gunners. Alex Song is likely to cover at centre half with Thomas Vermaelen, while Johan Djourou might also return but is still under an injury cloud.

To Win They Must…

Stop Marlon Harewood. The striker proved himself once more in the Premier League last week and likes to play against the Gunners. With a shaky defence, you never know..

BLACKPOOL

They shocked the world last Satuday, and if they go to the Emirates and come close to a repeat performance, we might be witnessing the biggest upset of English Football.

Magic... Can Holloway produce another bunny?

Last Week

It’s hard playing away at Wigan (as Arsenal would know..), but impressively, Blackpool went there with a high spirit and played the way they wanted. They took risks and threatened Wigan’s goal. They got four goals for their efforts. Nuf said.

Team News

Out: Keeper Paul Rachubka will miss six weeks through injury whilst Keith Southern, Louis Almond and Billy Clarke all continue to remain on the sidelines.

In: New summer signing Dekel Keinan debut’s for the Tangerine’s and should give further boost to the side.

To Win They Must…

Break down Arsenal’s passing. It sounds cliche these days, but if Blackpool can get stuck in and really rattle the Gunners early they might have a real chance of getting something out of this one.

Arsene... looking for new faces.

Wenger has come under constant scrutiny in recent times for his lack of spending in the market, but after falling prey to many injuries last season, fans and media have called for him to strengthen his squad.

But Wenger seemingly crushed any speculation leading to the purchase of more strikers after the arrival of Marouane Chamakh from Bordeaux.

“We’ve got enough (strikers), enough players up front,”

“We look now into other areas,”

Wenger remained consigned that whilst he is keen to bring in new faces, the club is still monitoring certain players.

“We are still looking at the moment, taking information, scouting; we’re working very hard,”

“And we’ll get one or two more signings, that’s for sure,”

The manager’s words will be music to the ears of Gooners around the world. The club has been linked to a various amount of players worldwide, in particular goalkeepers like Gianluigi Buffon, Joe Hart, Hugo Lloris and Robert Green after the calamitous displays of Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski toward the back end of the season led to calls of signing a top notch number one.

In team news, Chelsea welcome back Ashley Cole and John Obi Mikel, the Nigerian expected to start his first match for over 6 weeks. However, Michael Essien is still carrying a long term injury. Chelsea also retain the prolific Didier Drogba, who has scored 10 in his last 11 against Arsenal, the Ivorian scoring against Hull midweek as well. Carlo Ancelotti has also confirmed that John Terry will start the match and as captain, citing that his behaviour is extremely professional and that in terms of training it has been “A very normal week”.

Arsenal on the other hand have more pressing injury concerns and while Abou Diaby is expected to pass a late fitness test to start; Eduardo, Carlos Vela, Fran Merida, Kieran Gibbs, Robin van Persie and Johan Djourou remain casualties. However, Cesc Fabregas has been in scintillating form, netting 11 League goals and notching 13 assists.

Wenger’s main concern will be his sides mentality against such physical opposition; with Sol Campbell fit it would make sense to play him and push Gallas out to the left, Clichy having a torrid time against Nani last week. This would at least give Drogba a physical equal and also give Ballack and Anelka something to think about with Gallas out on the left. Also, playing  Nicklas Bendtner as a centre forward and pushing Arshavin out to his more familiar support role would vastly benefit their goalscoring opportunities as most would think John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho will physically dominate the 1.75m tall Russian.

Ancelotti seems to have deffered to the 4-2-3-1 that Chelsea used under Guus Hiddink last season and with good results apart from the blip against Hull. The only problem with this system however is that Drogba prefers a second striker and that Anelka tends to disappear out wide, however Lampard becomes much more effective. With Mikel returning, it would be no great surprise to see a return to the 4-1-2-1-2 that was played earlier in the season.

Expected line ups:

Chelsea: (4-2-3-1): Cech, Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole, Mikel, Lampard, Cole, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba.

Arsenal: (4-3-3): Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelan, Clichy, Diaby, Song, Fabregas, Arshavin, Bendtner, Rosicky.

Score prediction: Chelsea have got a point to prove against Hull and have the physicality to play ugly when outplayed. Arsenal it seems do not have a plan B and a lack of mental toughness, this could be their undoing; or at least until they can find a reliable centre-forward and a gritty midfielder. In my opinion, Chelsea will be too strong. 2-0 to the Blues.

Awesome? It'll do me just fine.

Greetings to all as we head into what promises to be a very tight and tense period of the English Premier League calendar; Christmas. Not often words one might associate with the festive holiday, but it seems many loyal Gooners are gearing up for one of the closest league battles in recent years.

After a twenty-three hour flight from Sydney to Heathrow, I stepped off the plane to arrive at a destination I had dreamed of coming to since my youth, London. Walking out of the airport, I was welcomed with a wonderful cold breeze and a sprinkling of light rain; somewhat of a rarity back in my 30+ temperature home.  Loving the weather, I was looking forward even more to the massive Gunners v Chelsea clash.

The first English Premier League game for yours truly, and it’s my boyhood team Arsenal up against current EPL leaders, Chelsea. Mind you, it did take some effort to even get tickets, but that story is for another day.

As I geared up for the big game, threw on my “Nasri 8” home jersey and placed my camera in the pocket of my jacket, and got on the (very impressive) Tube to Arsenal station. As I left Bayswater with my Tottenham (curse!) loving cousin, and changed at Edgware, more and more Gooners stepped on. By the time we had got onto the Piccadilly line, the train was more than half full of Arsenal supporters. Magnificent.

Walking over the bridge, there it stood, The Emirates Stadium, what a sight to behold. I posed for some souvenir pictures before heading to Gate L. My blood started to pump as I heard the boisterous noise of Gooner and Matchday booklets being sold. We were fairly early, but when we got into the stadium and to our seats on the upper tier, both of us could only sit in awe.

The Emirates... in it's early emptiness.

Slowly, the stadium filled and after the late hourly rush where the stadium almost doubled in capacity, we were set for a wonderful evening. I was ready to see my beloved Gunners get stuck into some Chelsea scum. Yeah, that didn’t happen.

As the players walked out to a deafening roar and completed their mandatory handshakes, the game got underway. The chants began as the game panned out. As the guy next to me found his seat four or five minutes in, I jokingly asked, “A bit late there hey mate?”. He laughed and replied in a classic London, yes London, accent, “Yeah it was that bloody dad of mine who couldn’t find the f**king tickets!”. I pat him on the back as we both shared a laugh. This was the life.

I was pretty happy with the first half performance, that’s what I said to my cousin after about 38 minutes. Then we all know what happens. Ccccashley sets up two goals for a 2-0 deficit for the Gunners at the break. Shock might be an understatement. The Chelsea supporters were “going f**king mental”, as they say.

The mood dropped considerably, but when Arshavin ‘seemed’ to have netted the equaliser, a renewed hope went up that we might still get a result from the game. A few chances, a penalty call and another Drogba rocket however saw the Gunners lose their first game at home for the season. It was also the first time they had been kept scoreless at home this season and saw them fall, a daunting, 11 points behind Chelsea. Oh, and can someone please do something about that bloody Drogba!

As we left the stadium for the tube, a man from a local food-support charity was politely yelling to everyone to donate. However, he did brighten most of our nights very slightly when he said, “One person asked me if we feed Spurs fans. I said yes, to the lions”. Brilliant stuff.

First ever EPL game, what a result. I’ll be fair, the experience was amazing though and I might not see such a game ever again with the amount of quality on the field at the one time.

Credit to Birmingham, it was another impressive display in solid campaign thus far. They were unlucky not to get a point at Manchester United and had Arsenal nervous at the Emirates. But whilst they might have only got one point from the three matches, they’ve earned some respect.

Benitez finally found his first goal, while Jerome is proving some talent. However, the defence does need some work, especially after that first goal. But to get a draw at Anfield is a result one would think they would always take

However, it was Ngog’s theatrics to set up Gerrard’s equalizer was the big talking point post-game. If Eduardo’s dive in the Champions League was clear-cut, this was blatantly obvious. Ngog rounded Lee Carsley but fell to the ground as the defender slid in.

But Liverpool now sit eleven points behind Chelsea and are in genuine danger of missing the top four, much like Arsenal were at this stage last year.

In other news, the big game of the weekend was the Chelsea v Manchester United match blockbuster. Well it didn’t exactly live up to some of the other big games of the season, but after Chelsea were outplayed by United for most of the match, John Terry popped up for an invaluable goal.

The victory puts Chelsea in a great position as the clubs go into the international break with a five point gap separating them and closest rivals, Arsenal. The Gunners though do have a game in hand and have been in scintillating form since losing to the two Manchester side’s early in the season.

The Red and White’s smashed another four past Wolves on the weekend in a demanding performance. Wolves looked promising early, but once Arsenal got into their rhythm, the game was dead. First half own goals and a classic Arsenal goal through Fabregas seemed to seal things. Arshavin added a fourth until Wolves grabbed a consolation via Craddock.

Arsenal’s maturity is starting to become more evident after their contrasting previous seasons. The only thing opponents seem to be getting from the Gunners lately are consolation goals, and what will please the fans is that they have found the equation of how to kill of games after the 2-2 draw with West Ham a few weeks ago.

Arsenal and Chelsea’s good form sets up a blockbuster at the Emirates Stadium on 29^th November.

Burnley, meanwhile, picked up their first away point of the season with a come from behind 3-3 draw with Manchester City. However, the Clarets would have fancied their first away win after jumping to a 2-0 lead.  But in the space of fifteen minutes, between the 43^rd and 58^th, City went from 2-0 down, to 3-2 leaders. It seemed as if they’d come away with the points, but with four minutes left McDonald equalised to grab a point.

After a 3-0 loss to Arsenal last week, Tottenham bounced back to winnings ways against Sunderland in a 2-0 victory. Former White Heart Land strike Darren Bent returned to Spurs seeking to find his impressive goal scoring attributes he had already showcased this season. After Robbie Keane gave Spurs an early lead, Bent got his chance to take revenge on his old club with a penalty. It appeared to be a soft foul be Gomes, who got a yellow card for his efforts. But perhaps equalling the ledger, Gomes saved the striker’s attempt and sixteen minutes later Huddlestone secured victory with a solid strike.

Hull took some more weight of Phil Brown’s shoulders as Vennegoor of Hesselink produced a 90^th-minute goal to give the Tigers a 2-1 victory over Stoke. Already missing Geovanni, the task became harder when Mathew Etherington gave Stoke the lead. However the Tigers rallied and after equalizing through Olofinjana, the sending off of usually reliable defender Faye turned the momentum. As time was running out, Bullard pulled the trigger from distance, but Sorensen was only able to parry into the path of Hesselink for an easy tap in.

Elsewhere, Villa thrashed Bolton; unlucky West Ham went down to Everton, Blackburn made light work of Portsmouth, whilst Fulham and Wigan shared the points.