Another Champions League Night In North London
Oct 22nd, 2007 by 'holic
I’m intrigued by the article on Arsenal.com that informs me ‘Slavia are definitely stronger than Sparta‘. That is pretty much the direct opposite of what we were being told when we met the other club in Prague in qualifying for the group stage.
It would appear that the neighbours of Tomas Rosicky’s former club are now leaders of the Gambrinus (Czech) League.
Having narrowly overcome a Slovak side in the second qualifying round, they claimed a significant scalp by knocking out former European champions Ajax in the third qualifying stage.
In the group stage they have given a good account of themselves, beating Steaua Bucharest 2-1 on match-day one, before being beaten 4-2 by Sevilla. That, and the fact that former Liverpool midfielder Vladimir Smicer is ruled out by injury just about sums up my knowledge of the visitors.
How do I determine the destiny of my infamous pound on that meagre information? Well, it would appear Arsenal have no new injury concerns going into the game. Still Robin van Persie and Philippe Senderos are missing. Slavia should surely be expected to show just a little more ambition than Bolton, which could yield opportunities at both ends.
If we had the Dutch maestro in attack I would be a little more bold, but this time around I’m plumping for 2-1 to the Gunners. Defensively we weren’t tested at the weekend and William Gallas looked far from match fit. Whatever line-up we start with Arsene Wenger (happy birthday boss!) has the depth and options to turn things around if needs be, so I still fancy a couple of goals for us.
Don’t forget, you can win an arseshirts tee by predicting the first scorer. Send your choice to ‘competition@goonerholic.com’ by 6pm UK time on Tuesday to be in the hunt.
A couple of tips are in order as this is a rollover. One reader (you know who you are!) is on the right lines, but may need to enter more than just the defenders! Also, to the entrant who gave his address as ‘PO Box Burger in fatsville’ I should remind you that this shirt is just ‘large’ size! Should your selection be successful I will endeavour to find some extra cotton and heavy duty needle and thread so you can make the necessary adjustments.
To those of you fortunate enough to have tickets I wish you an enjoyable night. European nights have always been a bit special in N5. Forgive me a little chuckle as I hit the ‘publish’ button and fire up Tottenham’s big match this week at Newcastle. I must check if it is on Setanta – or the Disney Channel.
One Response to “Another Champions League Night In North London”
Correction –
Another Champions League Night in the RED HALF Of North London –
Coz those dumb cunts from N17 ain’t got close to playing in dat comp.