Nantes at Highbury

If you are going to Highbury, don't forget to buy a copy of Highbury High. You can buy it from Jim at Arsenal Station or Joel outside Finsbury park, plus plenty of sellers outside the ground.

At last a European tie at Highbury. After the disappointment of crashing out of the Champions League, the UEFA cup seemed scant consolation. Now I can't wait. It is a chance for Arsene to prove he can make a go of it in a European competition. It is also a very rare opportunity to see the best midfield pair in action - Vieira and Petit on the same pitch is a real treat. Despite a few decent results recently, Nantes have struggled this season, and we should be able to do enough to settle the tie at the first time of asking - but the ghosts of Salonika, Borussia Munchengladbach, Lens and Kiev could come back to haunt us. If we can play close to the for on Saturday we may finally lay the ghosts for good

Fiorentina 2 Man Utd 0. Mixed feelings about this one. I hate Batistuta's gamesmanship and diving, and the arrogance of Serie A sides believing they are better grates, but seeing United lose is always fun. Do Italian sides still want keane after conceding a sloppy goal? I couldn't help but smile at the thought of United slipping out of the Champions league and having no cup competition left until next season.

Freddie Ljungberg has lost his appeal at the FA (surprise, surprise) and will get a three match ban. Presumably the FA will also close White Hart Lane for three games after a player was injured by a coin thrown from the crowd! Some hope!

Statistics don't always lie. At present we are flying in the Daily Mail's entertainment league, but when the Times printed the top twenty 'Sharpshooters' based on the best goals/shots ratio, there was not an Arsenal player in sight. We are the erratic entertainers! Even after smashing five past Boro, we were still wondering about the missed opportunities!