Van Persie or Pires? Vieira or Fabregas?

Big game tonight.. Big big game..

Will Arsene play the 4-5-1 that worked so well in Madrid and gave us a 0-0 thriller at Highbury? Or will he go for the fluent 4-4-2 that we played against Liverpool and have been coming back to form with in the Premiership?

Essentially that means either Pires in a 5 man midfield or Van Persie up front with Henry.

The thing to remember is that in the 4-4-2 we have been playing Adebayor does a lot of hard work and is very much a central striker which means Henry is under less pressure to lead the line, can get on the ball more and probably be more effective.

Can Van Persie play that role? I think he is a different type of player, not a natural out and out centre forward. He isn't scared to work hard but isn't a natural target man, he has better feet, looks to play people in as well and doesn't play in the box like Adebayor likes to.

That is why I think Wenger will play Pires and 4-5-1. He can always bring on Van Persie, who hasn't played in a while and is likely to be lacking a little match practice. Van Persie is an ideal substitute for tonight, he is versatile, can play in the midfield or up front and when people are tiring he can exploit that extra yard with clinical shooting from outside or inside the box.

That is the decision Wenger faces tonight, he faced a crucial one in the summer as well.

Vieira or Fabregas?

He chose Fabregas. Vieira had 2 years left on his contract. He would have been 31 when it was up for renewal, Wenger was never going to offer him anything other than a 1 year rolling contract, look at the Pires situation. Vieira's body is unlikely to last until he is 34 or 35. Wenger had Fabregas waiting and maturing all the time, he stepped in last season when Vieira / Edu / Gilberto got injured or suspended and he excelled. It was only a matter of time before Vieira got too old and Fabregas took his place. Vieira could conceivably have been sitting on £80,000 per week and not playing.

Therefore ultimately, selling him for £14m was good business.

He still remains a Highbury and Arsenal legend. He was captain of the best ever side to play in the Premiership. He will receive a very warm welcome to his footballing home.

Fabregas has a chance to show his master what he has learned, however tonight is not about individuals, we need the same team work ethic as we had against Madrid. We can do it, we need a bit of luck and belief.

It's exciting stuff and I'm as excited as a schoolboy in a porn shop.

Come on you gooners!