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After a less than
convincing performance against United at Old Trafford on Monday, the
Gunners will be boosted by the return of influential captain, Cesc
Fabregas, as they host Stoke City on Saturday.

Victory over Stoke
will see Arsenal get back to the top of the table, at least until
Sunday. There is an undercurrent of simmering tension in this tie with
Arsene Wenger accusing Stoke City players of being over the top in
their tackles on his players. Aaron Ramsey had his leg broken last
season by a Stoke player – Ryan Shawcross, who now captains the City
side. Wenger had criticised Stoke’s overtly physical approach when the
Gunners were beaten 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium in November, 2008. But
Stoke Chairman, Peter Coates, has come out to say that the Potters bear
no ill feeling towards Arsenal. Though Stoke City are still rankled
that Arsene Wenger has failed to apologise for again accusing Shawcross
of kicking Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes earlier this season. On the eve
of another tempestuous encounter at the Emirates, Coates has come out
to douse tensions that are apparently building up. “We like Arsenal
Football Club. I know the chairman well, he is a good man, there is no
problem with him,” he said on thisisstaffordshire.co.uk.

No ill feelings

Though Coates
admitted a running battle of words with Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger,
he said: “Yes, we have had a few little spats with Mr. Wenger, but that
is all water under the bridge. However, it would be nice for us to do
something against them at the Emirates. They are a good, strong team,
but you always hope we can give them a game. However, we will be up
against one of the top teams in Europe, so it is going to be tough.”
Stoke were on a high of an unbeaten run of five matches before
Blackpool came to the Brittania Stadium and left with the spoils last
weekend. But Tony Pulis has refined their play from the typical British
kick and rush style, and in Matthew Etherington and Kenwyne Jones, they
have fine ball players who can mix it with the best. And expect Stoke
to mirror the five-man midfield of Manchester United to water down the
crisp passing of the Gunners.

One of the Arsenal
players that has grossly disappointed this season is the Russian
captain, Andrei Arshavin, and he has come out to say that the players
and fans should get over the loss to United quickly and focus on their
remaining matches. “There is no time to be melancholy or sad,” he said.
“We need to forget this defeat and start thinking about the next match.
We need to prepare properly for each opponent. The championship is very
interesting this year and nothing has been lost yet.” Arshavin and his
coach, Wenger, will definitely have no complaints about the pitch at
the Emirates Stadium after blaming the Old Trafford pitch for the 1-0
defeat against United.

Hodgson faces former team

Liverpool FC were
lifeless in their Wednesday Europa Cup tie, but the three points at
stake are very important in this one. New Fulham boss, Mark Hughes,
knows that he is flirting with relegation and sack, but new Liverpool
boss, Roy Hodgson is fighting for more than that. Hodgson was labelled
as the ideal Liverpool coach when he was named in the summer, but in
four months, he is still struggling to get the respect of the Kop.
Liverpool will have all their big guns back for this one except Steven
Gerrard and Jaime Carragher.

The derby of Catalonia

There is nothing
like a local derby to negate present form. Though Barcelona have been
firing in the goals with relish in the past five league matches, a
match against their city rivals, Espanyol, will have to be treated
differently. The Nou Campers have scored 18 goals in their last five
matches without conceding any, including the hammering given to Real
Madrid. Right now, they look quite unstoppable but Espanyol are also on
a good run – standing fourth on the La Liga table. Lionel Messi has
been in scintillating form and has already got 17 goals in the league,
compared to just five goals by Pablo Daniel of Espanyol. But on
Saturday, at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, Barcelona will need a desire
for a win against their neighbours. In the last eight matches between
both sides, the best result for Barcelona has been a 2-1 victory in the
2008/09 season, but that match was played at the old ground, Estadi
Olímpic Lluís Companys, which hosted the 1992 Olympics. There may be a
lack of goals in this tie but there won’t be any lack of desire.