Mwenza.....The reason why our Midfielders are scoring more goals than the strikers is because of the formation used not the strikers conversion rate. From last season Arsenal have been playing with one striker at the front because of the injury situation at the club....4-5-1 is the most diffcult formation for a forward player.

Chamakh is a very good player but only as a second striker and same goes for Bendtner. The only players we need at the moment are Fabregas, Van Persie, Walcott & Vermaelen...right now we seem to be using the subs more than the first team players.

The Birmingham game will not be tough, as for Man City they are not there yet. I know they beat Chelsea but to me these two teams play the same kind of football the only difference is that the blues have very good defensive players.

@mwenza...got that. Just thought you were throwing a jibe at arsenal.

@smano...Agreed. My fears for arsenal are definately amplified by this De Jong fellow after "Ben Arfa suffered fractures to the tibia and fibula of his left leg in a challenge by Nigel de Jong in Sunday's 2-1 Barclays Premier League defeat at Manchester City" ...even before we forget his world cup.

I applaude the Dutch Coach for dropping De Jong...i agree with the coach it was an unnecessary tackle. Thats what the EPL is all about nowadays, tackles and physical ability...skill is no longer important.

Did anyone see the Essien tackle on Diaby...i was so convinced he would be out for at least six weeks. His ankle twisted really badly!

Totally agree with @Njunge'e and @TAZ...The Dutch Coach deserves a pat on the back. Even as Mancini remains rather quiet on it. Shame on him. And the referee didnt as much as give a foul for it. Shame on him too.

While football is a contact sport it is not a war.

Now that the international break is over...lets swing back to the EPL.

Again Man-u 'seem' to have an easy home tie with West brom. Three points in the bag if one Rooney decides to wake-up. But after the arsenal suffering at the hands of West Brom...SAF should not send out that Owen-macheda-bebe-chicarito forward line-up!

Arsenal also welcome another 'physical' team - Birmingham. With Cesc, Bendtner expected to return. On the back of the De Jong tackle, the referee may not want to let the game get physical. Arsenal may well pick up the points.

Chelsea travel to Aston Villa. A side they thrashed 7-1, 3-0 last term. But also lost 2-1 same fixture last term and were also held to a 4-4 draw the previous term. Villa will have agbonlahor and heskey to terrorise the chelsea defence. Chelsea are hoping alex and terry recover from their injuries. If they dont then the defence will be in for a battering. Chelsea nonetheless should take the points.

And ofcourse the liverpool fans will hope their derby with everton doesnt reflect their takeover fiasco. Hard to see liverpool taking all the points from this one.

Winston....West Brom are level on points with Arsenal and Spurs. They seem to be on a good run having also beaten Man City in the Carling Cup....Man Utd fans should not underestimate this team.

Arsenal will have Fabregas, Bendtner and Walcott back for the Birmingham game....the Cesc& Wilshere combination in the midfield is superb.

Usione simba amenyeshewa ukadhani ni paka

Anyway, i feel nothing for England

@TAZ...west brom have shown they can play. And that should alert the other teams to plot against them really well. And agreed, SAF has some thinking to do.

I hope Wilshere 'avoids' picking up an injury to 'pick-up' more midfield secrets from Cesc. Given the nature of Birmingham game and wilshere's age and weight will Wenger start with him or prefer a taller stronger player (Abou diaby?)

Walcott's return, with his sterling start to the season will be super news. But am not sure walcott, chamakh, bendtner can be as lethal as R V Persie.

Winston....Wilshere plays more of a defensive role in the midfield than attacking. If there's anything that has impressed me so far about him is his ability to go into tackles against the "big guys". He played against Blackburn & Bolton so i don't think Birmingham will be an issue. Abou Diaby usually comes in for either Cesc or Nasri.

What really disappoints me about V Persie is that he has a very weak right foot...he probably can't even pass with it. Another thing is that he is not that good in getting away from careless tackles. With the introduction of walcott, Nasri will be able to play in a more central position where he's quite good.

The game of the weekend will surely be the Merseyside derby...let's see how the Kop react to today's verdict,while I feel for Hicks and Gillet, they only have themselves to blame, saddling as great a club as Liverpool with all that debt.

I fear too that in a few years that might be where Man Utd are headed with the Glazers, record revenues for the season ended but a 521M pound debt and that's not counting the 120M pound or so interest on loans despite being the club with the biggest cash reserves...