There are 3 mouth watering Premier League games to get stuck into tomorrow, and I intend on being very hungover to watch them. They run in order of salivation which is useful, with Wolves v Birmingham at midday. I can't remember if this is the black country derby, or the east midlands derby, or the midlands derby, but whatever it's named it's a big game for Wolves. They're struggling right now in the relegation zone and haven't won since September, a 2-1 win at home to Fulham. Since then they've been beaten at Molineux by Pompey and then hammered by Sunderland, Arsenal and Chelsea, and in December have to play away at Man Utd, Tottenham and Liverpool. Ouch. All that means that tomorrow really is must win for them or they'll soon see themselves cut adrift at the bottom. The Mersyside derby at Goodison follows and it it's a strange scenario to have both teams struggling for form right now. Everton's small squad is being highlighted at the moment, they desperately need the likes of Jagielka, Neville, Arteta and Osman back involved sooner rather than later. And as for Liverpool the big questions surround Torres and Aquilani. Is Torres going to be fit? My hunch is yes, maybe just for the bench, and will we ever see Aquilani start a game? My hunch is yes, but not tomorrow. It surprised me a little last week when I realised that already a third of the season has gone and we still haven't seen the 'little prince' start for the Reds. If he's fit, play him, that's the only way he'll get sharp and get 100%, if he's not then why is he on the bench? Does giving him 10 mins at the end of every game really help him settle in? I'll go for a draw.
Then the big one. Oh yes, Arsenal v Chelsea is a truly massive game particularly for Arsenal, and a game that we have to win if we're going to win the league. A draw would keep everyone quiet enough but it'll be a matter of time until we drop points again in a silly away game and that gap will once again increase. The only way we can have an effect on the title race is a win tomorrow. The psychological boost it would give all the players would be massive and would really put Chelsea under some genuine pressure - if the Gunners win their extra game in hand the gap would only be 2 points. Team news is indicating that Gallas is 50-50, which means he will play and I suspect the team will be the one I picked Thursday. We're going to need a big defensive performance from Song and the back 5, and then we know up top we have the quality to get a goal or 2. As for Chelsea, it looks like Lampard will be back and they are massively strong all over the pitch. Who of the Chelsea boys would get in the Arsenal team? Quite a few. The other way round? Not many. This would be mine: Cech - Sagna, Gallas, Terry, A.Cole - J.Cole, Cesc, Lampard, Arshavin - Van Persie, Drogba which is 5 outfield players each. Great team that but you're missing Essien, Anelka, Ballack...whoops those are only stupid fucking Chelsea players, Clichy, Nasri, Eboue....come on the Arsenal.
This time next week we'll know the 8 groups for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. I've got to admit that I love draw day whether it's this or Champions League or FA Cup - jesus, just remembered the 3rd round draw is on Sunday, YEAAAH! - and with England in with a real shout next summer it should be an exciting 15 hours of video montages, shit football guests and interminable rule reading from some FIFA twat. that link will take you to Goal.com which has kindly drawn up what it thinks might be the 4 seeding pots, taking into account world ranking, qualification results, the last 2 World Cups, federation separation and all the things that apparently matter. If these are on target then England will be a top seed, and could face a real rape of a group like; Holland, USA and Ivory Coast, or a real 3 course meal of a group like; Slov/enia/akia, Honduras and Algeria. There's naturally a million combinations and it's fun to play 'what if' for 20 minutes but we'll see what comes out next Friday.
Finally, it's good to hear that Kieron Dyer is close to a return for West Ham following more injury problems. Dyer's West Ham career got off to a horrible start when he double broke his leg in a cup match and missed something like 18 months of football. Dyer will be 31(!) in December and I'm reliably informed by Wikipedia that he has made a paltry 297 club appearances in his career, one blighted by injury. He's got a mountain of talent and has turned out for England 33 times already, all we can hope is that in the latter years of his career, we can see some of that ability once again. Take her easy.
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