What a great day. John Terry sent off as Chelsea lose, and Wenger goes crazy and attacks Pardew. I love it.

Arsenal v Liverpool next week. If it were at fortress Anfield, I'd be predicting the gunners to get a right spanking, but looking at our away form this season, looks like me and The Captain could be in for some stick from all the Arsenal fans, ie 90% of EoFF, give or take a few. Mind you, it's been a pretty nasty opening fixture list, with Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal and local rivals, Everton, away, so things should pick up. I think the Gunners' poor streak can't last forever, and we're building up momentum, so it could be quite the clash. If we win, I'd say we can still consider ourselves dark horses for the title if rotation pays off after Christmas and we make an enormous push, like Benitez's Valencia did, if not, well, I think 3rd is a good aim.

The way to beat Arsenal is rather easy, 4-5-1, long ball, and kick lumps out of them. I think the 5 should be Riise, Gerrard, Alonso, Sissoko and Pennant. Arsenal are quite narrow, and they lack real wide men (Ljungberg, Hleb and Rosicky's best positions would have to be in the hole) other than Van Persie, who they like to play up front anyway, and I'd like to see their silky passing skills get past the central roadblock of Gerrard, Alonso and Sissoko. Pennant will hopefully be fired up as he feels he has something to prove, and Riise is more defensive than Garcia. Kuyt would be the lone front man, and at corners and set pieces, we should pack the box with the likes of Kuyt, Hyypia and Carragher, and I imagine we could nick a goal or two. It's ugly football, yes, but Arsenal really do have no idea how to deal with it.

Knowing Rafa, he'll probably play something bizarre like a 3-5-2 featuring the likes of Aurelio, Zenden and Bellamy and we'll be thumped. :laugh: