Arsene Wenger’s men face Bolton Wanderers for the second time in four days as they attempt to close the gap on rivals Manchester United and Chelsea. Arsenal toppled the Trotters on Sunday at The Reebok, and now face the easier task of playing Bolton on home turf. The Gunners ran out 2-0 victors on the weekend, and a repeat of that result this evening will send the Gunners to the top of the table, ahead of Manchester United on points and Chelsea on goals scored, however the Blues will have a game in hand.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has plenty more injury woes to deal with ahead of tomorrow’s fixture. Nicklas Bendtner, Kieran Gibbs, Philippe Senderos, Johan Djourou and Robin van Persie are yet to recover from their respective injuries, while doubts hang over the fitness of youngsters Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere. Emmanuel Eboue and Alex Song are busy at the African Cup of Nations. There is some good news on the injury front though, with Theo Walcott and Denilson declared fit to play.

That leaves the starting line-up looking something like this:

Eduardo – Arshavin – Rosicky
Diaby – Denilson – Fabregas
Clichy – Vermaelen – Gallas – Sagna
Almunia

BENCH: Fabianski, Silvestre, Traore, Eastmond, Merida, Walcott, Vela.

With Gael Clichy having some match fitness under his belt after a lengthy period on the sidelines, Denilson returning from injury and Cesc Fabregas back and firing, we are in far better shape than we were on the weekend. It was a confident performance then and there is no reason why we cannot replicate this evening. Especially when you consider we’re on home turf this time.

Having netted a whopping fifty-five goals this season and conceding just twenty three (only nine of those at home), the Gunners have an overall goal difference of +32, two behind Chelsea but, a win by two clear goals tonight will send us to the summit of the Premiership ladder by virtue of having scored more goals. While a win at any cost should be the number one priority, the side should also be aiming to be on top of the League by the end of tonight’s game.

Gaining that top spot will be a huge morale boost to the players, and something they will not want to let go of. I think we will win by the two goals required tonight, and possibly more. Bolton have won only one league game since the end of October and have not kept a clean sheet all season. That says all you need to know about the Trotters this season, and I doubt even Owen Coyle will be able to save them from relegation. I’m tipping a 3-0 win tonight, with Andrey Arshavin getting himself on the scoresheet.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 1:08 PM and is filed under Arsenal, Match Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.