A swift look...

It's back up to Anfield for the third time this season where Liverpool will be looking for revenge for the defeats in the Carling and FA Cups.

Adebayor returns for the Gunners after his four-match ban for his part in the Great Handbags Brawl of Cardiff.

Clichy and Eboue also return to the squad after injury. New additions to the injury list are Gilberto -with a dodgy hip- and Aliadiere - with a foot injury.

John Arne Riise is set to make his 200th league appearance for Liverpool just a day after he was bizarrely declared bankrupt!

Mr.Wenger will select a team from this League of Extraordinary Gentlemen:

Arsenal (from): Lehmann, Eboue, Gallas, Toure,
Clichy, Ljungberg, Fabregas, Rosicky, Baptista, Adebayor,
Almunia, Senderos, Hoyte, Diaby, Hleb, Denilson

I think the starting-eleven will look a little like this:

GK Lehmann
RB Hoyte
LB Clichy
CD Gallas
CD Toure
RM Ljungberg
LM Rosicky
CM Fabregas
CM Diaby
CF Baptista
CF Adebayor

Subs: Almunia; Eboue; Senderos; Denilson; Hleb.

Let's hope the strikers don't pick up any injuries or we might have to get on the phone to somebody like Les Ferdinand or Lee Chapman to plead with them to come out of retirement...

Or hang on.... what's Dennis up to these days???

P.S. Today is the sixth anniversary of the death of David 'Rocky' Rocastle. Head on over to Arseblog to watch a video of the great man in action.

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Cows, Finance, Bullets, Fines; and Jermaine Pennant

Ok, a very swift one today as I have to travel to Ballyhaunis to buy a heifer at a mart... well no, not really... what I have to do is far less interesting.

Today, I shall be using the Lazy Blogger's best friend: Bullet Points!

• Arsenal were fined £100,000 for their part in the Great Handbags Brawl of Cardiff.

• Ex-Gunner Jermaine Pennant will be answering some questions on the Liverpool website. Let's hope he borrows Ashley Cole's car to make that appointment.

• Arseblogger has being doing some snooping on more Arsenal shares transactions.

And that's it really. I suppose you're dying to know where I'm really going. Well, I will be attending the Ireland v Slovakia match in Croke Park.

Yes... it is far less interesting than buying a heifer at some local mart...

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Arsenal for sale?

Just a quick one today as I...eh... have to get a haircut!

The Arsenal for sale rumours rumble on, prompting the The Arsenal Supporters' Trust to make a rare public pronouncements that, while not against a buyout per se, they opposed a 'Malcolm Glazer-style' takeover of their team whose "principle objective is taking profits out of the club".

Whilst a few days ago I thought this was all paper talk, I was concerned to read that apparently, David Dein didn't know about Fiszman's sale of 1% of his shares until two days after the transaction. That 1% might sound small but the sale took Fiszman under the 25% threshold needed to maintain a veto on any changes to the club's statutes. I would have thought that Fiszman would have had the courtesy of informing Dein of such a move - unless he was up to something.

Meanwhile, Arseblogger has this to say:

"I’m told from two well placed sources that ITV have been in discussions with this group regarding the 9.9% of the club they own."

Several bloggers, such as Gunnerblog were calmed by this statement from Kroenke Sports Enterprise (KSE)- who were rumoured to be prospective buyers and already have a link up with Arsenal via their Colorado Rapids 'sawker' club:

"There is no interest from KSE in buying any shares of Arsenal or any Premier League club."

Unfortunately, it doesn't put my mind completely at ease:
A) They could be trying to cool the share price. They don't have to announce their intentions until they have purchased 30% and would want to calm the speculation which is causing the share price to rise: It's unlikely that they would make such a definite statement, however.

B) The statement was made by the KSE organisation ; not by any individual in the family or even any companies that KSE have an interest in. What's to stop them investing?

C) There's plenty of other prospective buyers out there.

What is it about Arsenal? Every summer, there's something that impedes our pre-season planning. Vieira's future; Anelka's future; Reyes' Future; Newsnight did their best to drag the club into controversy over Beveren (but failed). I have a feeling that the club's ownership is going to be the hindrence for next pre-season

Arsenal Ladies & Garforth Town
It's nice to see one Arsenal team doing well: the ladies team trashed their Leeds counterparts 8-1 to remain on top of the Women's Premier League.

Here's an interesting fact, trivia fans: The match was played at Garforth Town AFC, which is the last club the great Socrates played for. The club's owner, Simon Clifford, has a vision of getting Garforth Town into the top flight using modern training methods based on traditional Brazilian skills. You may remember that Clifford was Clive Woodward's assistant when the Rugby World Cup winning coach was the Director of Football at Southampton.

That's all for today. I'll be a much better blogger when I get my hair cut.

Adebayor axed by Togo; Fallout continues from Gallas comments

International football makes for a very poor Arsenal blog, but I'll give it a go.

The major news is that Adebayor has been axed from the Togo national squad along with two of his team mates following a row over bonus payments.

Adebayor revealed on Friday that Togolese internationals, who threatened to boycott last year's World Cup over a bonus row, are still waiting to receive their payments for reaching the finals in Germany.

"The bonus problem is still there. We were given promises but still nothing has been done," said Adebayor.

"We're still waiting to see the management and it's in their interest to meet with us as soon as possible.

"Whatever happens, we're not going to let this go. If they don't pay up, I don't know what will happen."

The players are still waiting to be paid roughly a third of the US$162,000 they were promised for reaching the World Cup finals.

I can only hope that Adebayor is taking this stance on behalf of lesser paid players in the Togo National squad. I may be old-fashioned but I always believe that pros, especially at the level of Adebayor, should not expect to be paid to play for their national team.

Obviously, you don't want the money lining the pockets of administrators but the profits from international football should go back into the national game or to a charitable cause. Perhaps the players could have a say in the matter.

But for players to be concerned about lining their already their already bulging pockets when representing their country leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I must reiterate that I don't know all the circumstances of this dispute; maybe these players were fighting on behalf of players with much lower earnings. Perhaps somebody could fill me in?

William Gallas
Gunnerblog and Arseblog have equally interesting but completely contrasting opinions on Willam Gallas' recent comments to the French Media. If he actually said what he is reported to have said, I'm with Arseblogger on this one. In previous blogs, I stated my concerns about how Gallas' dislike for playing in the left-back role may have effected Wenger's defensive selection for the Everton game.

Roy Keane's constant moaning about his fellow employees and employers -especially in the latter years of his career- caused a bad vibe at club and international level. I just don't think you should air those grievances in public.

We need experienced players in the camp, not moaners, so sort it out Billy!

Share Speculation Continues
And finally, the media are hopping on the bandwagon of the 'Arsenal for Sale' story. Expect this one to run for a few weeks.

Tune in tomorrow for a more inspired blog.