Arsenal - Birmingham City Preview: Cesc Fabregas not yet ready to return as Gunners look to get back on track

Posted Friday, October 15, 2010 by Goal.com

Arsenal - Birmingham City Preview: Cesc Fabregas not yet ready to return as Gunners look to get back on track
Arsene Wenger,Arsenal vs West Bromwich Albion

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Arsenal

Arsenal - Birmingham City Preview: Cesc Fabregas not yet ready to return as Gunners look to get back on track The north London club's fans will be disappointed to learn Cesc Fabregas is not quite ready to get back in action, after his recent absence has been keenly felt — especially in the last home game against West Bromwich Albion, where they slumped to a 3-2 defeat.

"Cesc is very, very short and unlikely to be involved on Saturday," Arsene Wenger revealed on Thursday. "He has a little chance for Tuesday [against Shakhtar]." There is good news elsewhere, however, with both Nicklas Bendtner and Aaron Ramsey nearing a return to full fitness after long-term injury problems. The Dane may well be fit for the Birmingham game, although Ramsey is still some weeks from a proper return after resuming light training.

Left-back Kieran Gibbs will also be at Arsene Wenger's disposal, good news for both the club and England. Manuel Almunia should also be available (although whether that is good news will be for the club's fans to decide) and, with the rest of the squad returning from international duty unscathed, Wenger will be able to name a strong side as the club resume their Premier League push.

Possible starting XI: Almunia; Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy; Song, Wilshere, Denilson; Arshavin, Chamakh, Nasri.

Birmingham City

Arsenal - Birmingham City Preview: Cesc Fabregas not yet ready to return as Gunners look to get back on track Striker Cameron Jerome is the major injury doubt for the Blues, after suffering a leg injury in training. But manager Alex McLeish is still hopeful the former Cardiff City forward will be available: "There's nothing broken or anything like that and it's just a ligament strain or something like that," he said.

Elsewhere, former Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb will make his return to the Emirates as a Premier League player.

Striker Garry O'Connor is also back from his loan spell at Barnsley, although he is unlikely to be called upon unless Jerome fails to make the game.

Possible starting XI: Foster; Carr, Dann, Johnson, Ridgewell; Larsson, Ferguson, Gardner, Bowyer; Hleb; Zigic.

Getting back in the swing of it

It might not feel like it, but Saturday will be something of a special occasion for Arsenal, as Arsene Wenger celebrates his 800th game as the club's manager. But the Frenchman is unlikely to spend too much time reflecting on or even celebrating such a milestone, especially after successive Premier League defeats — at home to West Brom and then away to Chelsea — to keep his mind on the job in hand.

It's still early in the season, but the club's title challenge is already looking somewhat frail, and fans are getting increasingly irritated as the same old faults continue to cause problems. Against West Brom it was again goalkeeping errors that led to a surprise defeat, while the 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge had the horrible stench of deja vu, as the team again failed to make any headway against a dominant side.

Arsenal sit fourth in the table, but are already seven points adrift of the reigning champions. the time has come for a good run, starting on Saturday.

The continued absence of Fabregas is a blow, especially after being rated as '50-50' for the Chelsea game a fortnight ago, as the Spaniard would have been hoped to re-take the reigns of a side that looked a little disjointed at times in his absence. Nicklas Bendtner's return will offer a different option in attack, but Wenger will hope Marouane Chamakh can make the most of his latest opportunity to impress in attack.

Defensively, the summer signings of Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci have been somewhat erratic in the club's two latest games, but with Thomas Vermaelen still some way from match fitness, they will want to make the most of the return from the international break to put in a solid display.

If that all comes together, then it might yet be a day to savour for Arsene Wenger after all.

Looking to shake off an illness

How soon can you diagnose second season syndrome? Alex McLeish might not be concerning himself too much with such a question, but the club's fans could perhaps be forgiven for a bit of nervous wondering.

After all, just one win in the opening seven games of the season is not the return of a club that finished in the top ten on its return to the Premier League last season, and a 16th place in the table — early as it is — will be cause for some concern.

The home form, which was the foundation of last term's successful campaign, already seems to have waned this season, with Everton snatching all three points at St Andrew's while Wigan Athletic and even the maligned Liverpool coming away with a deserved share of the spoils.

The club could do with a morale-boosting result away at a big side, but Arsenal will not be an easy task. Nevertheless, the club might fancy their chances. Beanpole forward Nikola Zigic, is an obvious potential threat against the likes of Koscielny and Squillaci, but the team is built on the solid foundation of Scott Dann and Roger Johnson that will not give the opposition many chances.

With a hard-working midfield with the likes of Barry Ferguson screening the defence, it is certain that Arsenal will have to be better than they have been in recent times if they are to get the three points many expect of them.