Team news v bindippers and other gossip

So, Liverpool v Arsenal round three for the season, and although the official squad has not yet been announced, Diaby has been named as definitely being in the squad for tonight's game.

I can't stress how pleased I am, both for the lad himself and for the team. In the back half of last season, and noticeably in the Champions League when he got the opportunity, Diaby was showing just how far he'd come on since joining us in the January transfer window. He offers a more accomplished, technically able player in the Gilberto position, or a more physical presence in the Fabregas position, but either way he is a big player coming back into the squad who will only make us stronger.

As far as other team news goes I'm really not too sure what to expect. After going through to the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday, Arsene might be tempted to play a weaker team than he might have, although after losing on Saturday the scousers are more likely to put out a stronger team than they might have, so it's a bit hard to predict. I think we can expect to see Almunia, Djourou, YTW, Aliadiere and Adebayor (if fit) to start.

News that Lauren will not be in the squad tonight due to a toe injury is tempered by rumours that he's actually subject to a bid from West Ham. I would be very, very worried about Wenger's judgement if we sold him to the Hammers after waiting for him to get fit and add some much needed stability to our right hand side. Eboue patently isn't good enough defensively and is petulant and a bit of a cheat to boot. Hoyte I don't think is going to make the grade in the long run, and isn't better than Lauren. I think we'd be crazy to let Ralph go without an adequate replacement, plus of course we'd be losing the hardest bastard in the league.

Speaking of West Ham rubbing their greasy little jellied eel gripping mitts in anticipation over our players, Freddie is reportedly the target of another bid from the East End wideboys. Various news sources are quoting a price of £7m, which you would have to say is good business for a player on the cusp of 30, and who's performances have waned in the past couple of years. Whilst I would be sorry to see him go (and my mum would be positively suicidal) you'd have to accept that it's a figure that's hard for the club to turn down. I'd certainly be happier with that than selling Ralph, even though you could argue we're deeper at right back.

Others are arguing that we wouldn't need to replace Freddie right away, certainly not until the summer. I have to say that I disagree with that. At present we only have four legitimate wide players, and two of those, Rosicky and Hleb, don't stay all that wide, tending to creep inside and end up leaving us with a very narrow midfield four. With Freddie having lost a yard or two in recent times, our only real winger is Theo, and with him not playing anything like regularly, it's something that's been worrying me for some time. The automatic Ribery to Arsenal stories have already begun, but I don't think there's any truth in that.

Good news for Nicklas Bendtner, as his reported broken ankle turns out only to be a bad sprain, and he'll only miss the next four weeks, rather than the rest of the season. Fantastic news for a promising youngster who I think everyone has high hopes for. Personally I'm not sure whether it would do him more good to have another year on loan somewhere, maybe at Birmingham if they get promoted, or if he'd be better served as our fourth striker for next season. I'm sure Arsene's got some thoughts on the subject, I'll give him a call later.

So, a win tonight to set up a semi final tie with the scum.

Come on you Gunners.