When at attacking team is at home to a defensive team it tends to be a game of high tension, rather than spectacular.
If Arsenal score early it might be spectacular. However, given the way CSKA play, if Arsenal score early it might finish 1-0.
Matchday 4 should provide some really good games. A win will put Arsenal in the last 16 but that doesn’t mean Wednesday night is a must-win game. But you always want as many points as can get as soon as you can get them.You never assume that you’ll beat Hamburg on November 21.
Thierry Henry will be fired up by the injustice of his disallowed goal in Moscow. He will also be fired up because the crowd gave him the bird in the Everton game.He will want to deliver in this match.
In Henry’s defence, many of the punters who scream, ” Shoot ! Shoot!” don’t really know the game and don’t understand what they’re watching and might have come into the game since Sky’s relentless Premiership hype started in 1992
This is only Arsenal’s second Emirates game in the Champions League and I’m a bit apprehesive because CSKA might prove to be the best side Arsenal have played this season. A good pitch might suit them. Vagner Love will love the pitch and see it as a stage for his skills, and so will left-footed playmaker Daniel Carvaldo and the speedy Zhirkov. They’ll enjoy the pitch and the mild weather.
On Wednesday we expect Arsenal, AC Milan, Lyon, and Real Madrid to win. Manchester United will beat Copenhagen 2-0 again if they really want to. And Porto might win in Hamburg, even without the bouncy Anderson, who got a nasty calf injury in the 3-2 win over Benfica. He needed surgery.
Tuesday night looks less straightforward.
RONALDINHO has found a bit of form in time for the visit of Chelsea, who could beat the European Champions and put them out.
Jose Mourinho, typically, got his retaliation in first by calling Eidur Gudohnsen a diver.He said he knows how often Barcelona play against ten men.Having said that, Gudjohnsen’s dive against Recreativo WAS a disgrace, the worst I’ve seen this season. Never a penalty ! Barca went on to win 3-0.
Werder Bremen are prolific goalscorers who can win in Bulgaria against Levski Sofia.
More tomorrow.
And I’ll comment on your emails towards the end of the week.
A lot of readers make assumptions about me that are incorrect.