A Very Short Update and Everton Preview

My apologies for the lateness and shortness of the preview.  There has been the last two days problems with accessing the Internet from my home which makes it more inconvenient to read, write and post.  Which is too bad, really, because there's been some stuff to write about.  So, in order to cover the most news in the least amount of time, I've decided to go bullet style.  Here you go:

1) Another youthful player has shown some petulance.  Bendy threatened to quit.  John Cross in the Mirror seemed to have broken this story - translated from an interview Nik gave to a Danish paper.  Basically, he's complaining about not getting enough playing time.  Wenger asnered back by stating he needs to be patient just coming back from a long layoff and having Chamakh in decent form.  Considering Chamakh scored a bookend on Wednesday, replacing him will be no easy task.

2) Wenger is backing our Captain to return to form this game - he stated on Saturday that Cesc was at about 95% and maybe would have that 5% in place by today's match.  Wenger also said that from his experience players who return after playing in the final of a World Cup usually do not return to their top form until November.

3) Arsenal are at the bottom of the "Fair Play" table and therefore are getting guff from the press, managers, and some dirty players for not practicing what they preach.  Actually we're more in the middle, but WAY lower than usual.  We have four red cards and a handful of yellows.  Koz has two out of the four.  Wenger has addressed the issue of discipline.  I shrug my shoulders and say "we're getting tougher and refs give us more cards anyway".  Check out 7amkickoff.com for a great breakdown of this issue on his November 12th post.

Everton away has been good to us in recent years.  Last year's 6-2 opener was delightful.  But remember, Everton themselves traditionally start off slow and pick up the pace.  I like Everton and their manager.  Moyes seems gritty but fair and seems to get the most out of his players.  Tim Cahill  is a threat in the air so we have to cut down on stupid fouls that lead to free kicks and be tight on our marking off of corners.  We can beat them there so I'm predicting a 3-1 victory. 

That's all - a better post-match blog will be on it's way in a few hours..I promise.  Other than that, all I have to say is LET'S GO YOU REDS!!!