Flu / Man Utd

I have been as sick as a dog for the last couple of days. What initially started as a bit of a niggle at the back of my throat and a bit of a cough rapidly progressed into a full-blown flu. I had a fever, muscle aches, a headache and this severe tiredness that wouldn't seem to go away. I spent most of Friday asleep, when I was actually planning on going into the hospital to see the patients I was going to write up for my assessment. Fat lot of good trying to see sick patients when I was in no shape to get out of the house myself!

In any case, I seem to be recovering - hopefully in time to catch the biggest game of the season yet: Man Utd vs Arsenal! With Thierry Henry out for the Arsenal, it will be difficult to predict what the outcome of the game will be. If Man Utd try to play football against us, they will find that we are exceptionally dangerous on the counter. On the other hand, if they sit back, the game might end in a draw - a result which we would be more than happy with.

Aspects of the game which I think will be important are:

1. Rooney/ Saha / Ronaldo vs Toure and Djourou: Whether the inexperienced Djourou will be able to keep a lid on Saha/ Rooney and Ronaldo is very important. If our defence holds firm, then it will give us every chance of snatching a goal at the other end.
2. The injury to Henry/Who will play instead? With Robin van Persie possibly out as well, whether Wenger chooses to use Adebayor as a lone striker up front, or in partnership with Baptista or Walcott will also be key. The latter two players have not played many minutes for Arsenal and it will be interesting to see if they are up for the challenge of playing Man Utd away from home.
3. Fabregas/Gilberto vs Scholes/Carrick: The midfield battle will be all important. Good service to the front players on either side will obviously have a huge bearing on the way the match will go. Gilberto will need to be on top of his game to close down the passing channels. Wenger has already talked up Carrick and his importance in picking out passes.
   

Tags: Arsenal, Medical