The boys are headed into some historically hostile territory for their match against Fenerbahçe tomorrow night. I just read Goonerholic’s lovely little preview where he mentions the sides having not met since 1979, and he was there as a visiting supporter. Ah, what a trip that must have been. Check it out.

It looks like our injury list for this one isn’t quite as bad as I thought it was going to be. Gallas and Sagna are still out along with all the usuals, and we will miss Kolo as he’s suffered a ligament injury in his right shoulder. But on the plus side, Samir Nasri, Niklas Bendtner and Johann Djourou should all be available. Johann will most likely start along with Silvestre in the middle of the back four, flanked by Eboue and Clichy. I’m hoping to see Nasri start on the left, with Theo on the right and Cesc & Song in the middle. We will probably see Adebayor & RvP start up front, although I’d like to see Bendtner there with RvP and save Adebayor for the weekend. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if we go with a 4-5-1 instead with Nik on the bench to start. Blech…

I honestly  don’t know what to make of the Turkish side. All indications are that this could be a pretty tough place to go, but that the team themselves “ain’t what they used to be“. That can be argued for us as well, I suppose… although you won’t get that particular argument from me. But I like our chances, and coming off the Everton match has to have filled our men with belief. So, the Scurvy Prognostication of The Match is:

Fenerbahçe 0-1 Arsenal

That one goal will come from Emmanuel Adebayor on excellent service from Theo charging up the right, through a pelt storm of Lira. Robin van Persie will head over the bar six or seven times and Cesc Fabregas will put another few into the stands wide of the net. Tomas Rosicky will sigh… and then change the channel.

Nasri 48, Van Persie 70, Walcott 90 – Divers: Adebayor, Eboue

I did mention something about the team being bipolar recently, did I not? This time we got to see both halves within the same match. I don’t know if it was Theo coming on for Kolo, or Arsene giving the lads a proper French reaming in the locker room at the half… but the side we watched for the first 45 couldn’t hold a candle to the side that came storming out of the tunnel for the second 45. From the moment they stepped back onto the pitch, it was all Arsenal, and you could just feel that Everton were going home yet again, with nothing.

9 minutes in to the first half, Pienaar came up the left and squared to Osman, who slid it easily past a sluggish Manuel Almunia. I have to tell you, I am not feeling that we have a “Big 4” keeper these days. We’ve seen some shots from the opposition go in our net that I’m certain his counterparts would’ve swatted away as mere irritants. Of course, there’s no excusing the shit defending that let that play get anywhere near our box, but that’s another issue. About eight minutes from the half, Almunia was caught napping again when Lescott nearly headed in an Arteta corner. If Gael Clichy hadn’t been playing at keeper again, we’d have gone into the locker room down two.

Our defense was rearranged, with Gallas out, Silvestre made his debut, Alex Song came in for Bacary Sagna at right back, and then Kolo went out at the half with what appeared to be a separated shoulder. Theo came on, and Eboue and Song swapped spots. It proved to be the spark we needed. Mikael Silvestre set up Samir Nasri at 48′ who found the bottom left corner to equalize. I’m loving Samir so far. He’s the Bacary Sagna of this season, such a pleasant surprise.

There was a bit of a dust up after Hibbert came in two-footed behind Denilson at around 60′. Clichy got booked for getting in his face over it, but so did Hibbert. At this point, Everton had all but Yakubu crowding the box, seemingly happy to go away with a draw. It was not to be. At 70, Adebayor set up Fabregas for a shot, which Tim Howard swatted out, but Robin van Persie was there to head it in and give us the lead. You have to feel good about the progress Robin is making since last season. Slowly, but surely. Although, if he were a bit more on target, he could have had himself a hat trick. Nonetheless, I was out of my chair for the remainder at this point.

We kept up the pressure throughout, and then at 90′ Theo Walcott, the man who turned the whole thing about for us, stepped up and put the game completely to bed by firing one home past Howard. It was a tightly angled shot from the right, but Theo threaded the needle. A fitting end.

So, we’re still at 4th in the league. I fully expected Hull to blow it against West Ham, but they squeaked out another win. They are proving to be the antithesis of last year’s Derby County promotional effort. Not satisfied with simply staying up, they’re looking to get into Europe next season at the least, or perhaps… become part of the big four? It’s a long, long season, I think. We’ll see.

Next up, Fenerbache. In Istanbul. I hope the travel doesn’t put much of a damper on our boys performance.

Is it me, or did that international break seem to take months? I like the World Cup as much as anyone, but these interminable qualifying rounds are a bit much. Thankfully, we won’t have to suffer another until February or March of next year.

So, we’ve got the blue half of Merseyside coming for a visit this weekend. Everton is not off to the happiest of starts this year. With just 8 of 21 points, they sit at 15th in the table. Last year, we did the double on them, beating them 1-4 at Goodison and 1-0 at home. There was a bit of tension between Cesc and Arteta. If Mikel takes a swing at him, we may hear Cesc scream like a girl “Not in the face!” Since he’s gone and broken his beak on international duty… or from a punch in the snoot from AW after he heard Cesc’s criticism during the week of his reliance on a young squad.

The good news is that r-r-r-r-r-r-Robin vannnnnn PERvesieeeeeeee looks set to play, despite taking a knock while away, and Abou Diaby is back. You read that correctly… Abou Diaby is back. Get out there and kick some ass, Abou. But… we lost William Gallas, Bacary Sagna and Niklas Bendtner. I’m the most upset about Sagna, though. He’s far too valuable at rightback, and we miss him sorely when he’s not playing. I’m not sure who Everton will be lining up against that position, but they’ll probably have Eboue to face there. Gallas, well… I think he needs a break anyway. A bit of introspection, if you will. So, who will be our Capi? *cough* I mean, Captain? My money is on Kolo Toure our current vice-captain, but it would be nice if Cesc got a shot at it. Which, should be pretty funny if he has to wear one of those plexi-glass face holders. Captain Windowpane to the rescue! We’ll see… I’m guessing AW won’t have the stones to do it. But, let’ get to it… the Scurvy Prognostication of The Match for this week is:

Arsenal 2-1 Everton

One for Adebayor, one for Captain Windowpane and an own goal for Eboue. Also, Mikel Arteta will be heard to say something snarky to Phil Jagielka about Cesc’s nose. Phil will respond with something to the effect of “English, mate! Fucking English!”

Leadbitter 83, Fabregas 90+3 – Divers: none

5 points dropped in the past two games. Not a good sign. I’m not losing hope, and I think we can rise above it, but it certainly doesn’t feel good. And we’re not playing that poorly, either… things just don’t seem to be going our way.

I’m not so sure the klugy 4-5-1 or 4-4-1-1 they were running yesterday was the best approach. Far be it for me to question Le Boss, but I don’t think we’re cut out for it, even with all the talent we have. I also think Nasri should have started the match. I honestly think that one change could have had massive impact on the match. But we started Song, who is not a bad choice when you need a defensive midfielder. At 83′ Song lost the ball outside the area and Leadbitter took a tap and a whack at it… Almunia could do nothing. It rattle the crossbar and bounced in. I took foul language to a whole other level and dimension for the next ten minutes or so. But then, we won a corner from the right. Robin van Persie placed it perfectly and of all people, the 5′8″ Cesc Fabregas rises above the mob and heads it home. Beautiful shot, Cesc! And it saved us one point where it looked we would get none.

I’m not sure what to make of Sunderland after this. They laid back and clogged the box pretty hard for a home team. I can’t iamgine what they’ll try at the Grove when they visit.

So, we’re headed up north to the Stadium of Tighty-Whiteys again. It’s where we ended last years campaign. Will it be cold way up there? I’ve never been to Sunderland, or anywhere in Tyne and Wear for that matter. I hear it’s somewhere just north of Finland. But you know us Americans, can’t even find our own dicks without a map.

As I think I may have mentioned last season, there’s something about Roy Keane that I like as a manager. He seems overly intense during a match, as if it were forced. But in the few post-match interviews I’ve seen him give, he’s one of the more down-to-earth managers I’ve ever heard reflect on the match, win or lose. Of course, none of this means I don’t want each of our strikers and their subs to score a hat trick this weekend. While we’re at it, let’s just get this out of the way then, shall we? The Scurvy Prognostication of The Match is:

Sunderland 2-11 Arsenal

With three from Adebayor, three from van Persie, three from Vela and two from Bendtner who will show up with a slight hangover. We’ll leak two goals from the corner when William Gallas loses his marker and then does a bit of yelling and screaming. Again.