Everton Match Preview

First off, the BBC appears to be behind the times with their recent article on Lauren being out until January at the earliest. I mentioned this back on the 21st, so the BBC must be out of news for for us Gunners.

We’ve got Everton Saturday morning. Here’s how you can catch the game in the States:

Sat Oct 28 06:55AM Pacific
Setanta Xtra (DirecTV Channel 670)

Sat Oct 28 12:00PM Pacific
Setanta Sports USA

Sat Oct 28 08:00PM Pacific
Setanta Sports USA

Mon Oct 30 01:00PM Pacific
GolTV (US)
Arsenal TV – English Premier League

I’ll be catching the match at The Lion and Rose in San Antonio.

I suspect that we’ll see TH14 and VP11 starting up front with Adebayor out. Cesc, Hleb, Gilberto, and Rosicky should fill out the midfield as they have been doing a bang-up job at controlling play and creating chances. Senderos just played in mid-week, so I suspect he’ll still need to wait for a start in the Prem. I’d love to see Toure, Gallas, Djourou, and Hoyte. Why mess with success? This team should be pretty well rested from last week’s thrashing of Reading.

Theo Walcott deserves some time on the pitch as well. Right now we have a fantastic problem… too many good options on the bench. It’s a problem we’ve not had in awhile, but right now I feel like Arsene could just throw darts at a dart board and be fine for the match. Not really, that could be a bad idea.

The Blues thrashed Luton on Tuesday with what was pretty much their first squad. One could venture to guess that they might not be completely match-fit yet. I’ll be keeping one eye on Tim Cahill, the Australian International who played well during the World Cup and has been a real asset for Everton. The other non-Arsenal eye will be sharply focused on Tim Howard, the American Goalkeeper ousted from Manchester United who has since been a ball-magnet for Everton.

The match will be played at Emirates, which was just officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh. Apparently the Queen pulled her back in a nasty tackle with Stephen Hunt so she had to cancel. Coming off of such a great win, having such excellent recent form, and playing at home, I think this one is safe to call a win. Depending on how the rest of the matches go, we’ll end up somewhere between 3rd and 7th. Bolton, in 3rd, is playing Manchester at the Reebok Stadium. For once I’ll be rooting for the Reds. With a win they’d end up further in front, but I think that getting into the 3rd spot is what we need right now. United will drop points down the road. Oh yes, they will.

Make sure you check out Arseblog today. Download the arsecast and enjoy a delightful aural treat that includes a fine discussion with East Lower.

Also, for the first time since inception, I won’t be posting on Gunnerrific on Friday. I’m flying late to San Antonio to see Ms. Gunnerrific, so I’ll be all tuckered out from the flight. Expect a doozy of a match-recap on Saturday though!