With the Interlull successfully navigated, we can return to the task at hand-Arsenal qualifying for the Champions League next season.

Based on recent results that doesn’t look too difficult, but international breaks do have a lovely habit of ruining momentum.

There haven’t been too many injuries, so we’ll likely see a similar squad as that travelled to Swansea.

Careful

It would be very easy to assume that Reading will be a pushover. In terrible form, and having just appointed no great shakes of a new manager in Nigel Adkins. Unfortunately, it never works that way.

Walcott is out, as is Wilshere, so I’d guess Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will start on the right, with Cazorla back in the middle. Gervinho could be in contention to start as a false 9, but that’s a long shot purely based on the fact he isn’t totally hopeless at the moment.

With no Abou Diaby (more on that later), either Ramsey or Coquelin (likely the former) will occupy the second midfield berth beside Mikel Arteta. The back 4 will hopefully remain the same-no sense in ruining a winning formula, though I’ve got a sneaking suspicion Fabianski is due a calamitous error and could be replaced by Sczceszny between the sticks.

With that in mind, my predicted starting 11 is:

Sczceszny; Monreal, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Jenkinson; Arteta, Ramsey; Podolski, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Giroud

Hashtag Pray For Abou

Poor bugger. Seriously. Who can be angry with Abou Diaby? A consummate pro and talented individual who was broken at the age of 19 and has never been able to get the game time he needs to become a consistent performer. He had an excellent 2009/10, but then his injury demons resurfaced and he’s facing another lengthy spell on the sidelines.

9 months with a cruciate ligament injury is difficult for anyone to come back from, let alone Diaby, and he’ll be missed. He made a difference many times he played this season, and any abuse he got was unwarranted. People complaining about how much he’ll earn while injured are missing the point. Diaby seems the kind of player who’d play for free, and he doesn’t choose to be injured. Talk of offloading him is pointless, because who’d sign an injured player?

Abou will be back in 2014, I’m sure, and make a fist of things, until he’s injured again. It’s sad, but unless he retires that will be how his career will turn out. And I think he loves playing too much to retire.

How to cope?

With nine games remaining, Arsenal have to take each one as it comes, with the same focus and preparation as the Swansea game. It doesn’t have to be pretty, but we have the quality to beat almost every team we’ve got left to play, starting with Reading.

If we can get anything against United that would be a bonus, but really the focus should be winning winnable games and just getting to the end of the season so we can regroup. Again. It’s really boring having to say this again, but what can you do?

So, I’ll be back tomorrow. Either defiantly positive or normally positive, depending if we lose or win. If we draw? I’ll probably have a drink.

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