Many are labelling this weekend's game as a grudge match with Spurs seeking revenge for the beating they received at White Hart Lane earlier in the season. According to a recent poll by Sky Sports, Spurs are also the favourites to win the league, no doubt partly due to the new-found hatred that City has acquired.

The second half of this player review now, looking at our players who were decent, but not great this season so far, for several reason. We also look at our younger players who made their debuts this term.

Santos' 2nd most meaningful contribution this season (after his goal at Chelsea, of course.

The Carlos Tevez saga continues to overshadow all potential transfer dealings of Manchester City in the transfer window. City have rejected a loan offer from Milan for the want away striker while there are rumors that Spurs might make an audacious bid for the Argentinian.
The issue of course is not the size of the transfer fee; Tottenham can afford that, but rather Tevez's wage packet, which would break the salary structure at White Hart Lane.

Player-Manager sideshows are interesting to say the least and it seems like Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has gotten himself involved in another spat with an unhappy player.

The dust from the Tevez debacle is yet to settle and already the Italian tactician is involved in a war of words with defender Wayne Bridge.

The Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, recently accosted the Manchester City player Wayne Bridge for, apparently, seeming to be happy and content at being nothing more than a paid squad member at the Manchester club. Wayne Bridge never features, is rarely even on the bench, and is not highly valued by his coach.

So here we are, nearly halfway through the 2011-12 season. Arsenal have play 17 league matches with Wolves coming up next on Tuesday. It was originally scheduled for Monday on Boxing Day, but due to the London Tub Strike, it has been rescheduled. The halfway mark of the season has QPR coming to the Emirates and but this time we hope to have completed the mid-season review.

When Arsenal sold Gael Clichy to Manchester City in the summer, many Arsenal fans were very worried that the injury-prone left-back Kieran Gibbs was a dangerous substitute due to his unending visits to the treatment table. These fears proved to be well-founded as the 22 year-old made just 8 starts for the Gunners this season [.

Having a footballer that thinks more about money more than playing seems to irritate Manchester City's manager, Roberto Mancini, who publicly suggested those who didn't have a place in his team to accept playing at other teams, despite having lower payment.

The player that Mancini refer to is Wayne Bridge, who have been rejecting several offers in the summer and continue staying at City despite not being considered as part of the first team member.

Thanks to the Siberian oligarch's team conceding a late equaliser at the DW stadium last night the Arsenal travel to Rowsley Street, hoping to go level third on points as long as the Sunderland revival continues at the Looters habitat in the swamplands of N17.

The Etihad stadium is east of central Manchester and is a stadium leased from Manchester Municipal council, the irony of the world's wealthiest club occupying a council property is not lost on the majority of clubs in football struggling to make ends meet.

Thanks to the Siberian oligarch's team conceding a late equaliser at the DW stadium last night the Arsenal travel to Rowsley Street, hoping to go level third on points as long as the Sunderland revival continues at the Looters habitat in the swamplands of N17.

The Etihad stadium is east of central Manchester and is a stadium leased from Manchester Municipal council, the irony of the world's wealthiest club occupying a council property is not lost on the majority of clubs in football struggling to make ends meet.

Ducky's Note: Guest Writer Sagar Arora has this to say about himself Amateur Blogger. Has nothing to do but watch Arsenal's Invincible Season again n again and shed a tear or two. Firmly believes that he was born to follow Arsenal. Equally respects other English clubs barring Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.

Will Koscielny pocket another multi million pound striker?

When I say horror city, I don't mean Manchester City the team (although I won't be far off with that). It is of course a return to the City of Manchester where our last visit there for a match was one to be forgotten. Had this match be immediately after that one, I would be very worried.

Andre Villas-Boas hailed his side's patience in coming from behind to defeat previously unbeaten Premier League leaders Manchester City 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

A terribly shaky defensive start from the Blues allowed City's controversial striker Mario Balotelli to round Petr Cech and open the scoring for the visitors right after the first minute of play.

Chelsea have pretty much assured football fans that they have finally picked up their form again, after hitting a slight drop in several matches ago, by successfully ending Manchester City's unbeaten record at Stamford Bridge.

Substitute veteran, Franck Lampard, acted as the protagonist for the Blues after scoring the winning goal, which arrived from the penalty spot in the second half, providing all imprtant three points that would obviously get Andre Villas-Boas team's back in the title challenge.

Manchester City are reduced to 10 men after Gael Clichy receives his second yellow card 12 minutes after his first yellow when taking down Chelsea's Ramires.

Raul Meirelers grabs an equaliser for Chelsea against Manchester City after wonderful foot work from Daniel Sturridge leave Gael Clichy for dead.

Berbatron's Note: Long-time Blues fan Ratna Prashanth tells us what to expect from the big money battle between the two Blues of the premier league.

Stamford bridge is going to be the venue for a great showdown tomorrow. Its Chelsea vs Man City, otherwise titled the battle of the 2 BLUE spenders.

In the years gone by, the left-back position at Arsenal was one of least bother. But after the departure of Gael Clichy to Man City, the left side of defence has become something of a weak link for the Gunners. Andre Santos is our only fit left-back at the moment. While the Brazilian's attacking instincts [.

His numbers speak for themselves: 69 completed passes on 75 attempts for a 92% success rate, 13 out of 16 challenges won on the ground, four out of four headers won, seven successful tackles on seven attempts, and seven interceptions.

Gael Clichy had 7 interceptions; Joleon Lescott had five successful tackles; Gareth Barry completed 69 passes but misplaced three more of his attempts for an 88% passing rate; and Yaya Toure managed the unlikely feat of also completing 69 passes on 75 attempts—though his three successful challenges to go along with a single header and tackle won pales in comparison to Lucas' numbers.

There seems little point in doing a usual chalkboard review. I'd end up focusing on Lucas Leiva's marvelous performance, and you can just as easily head to the Guardian or Stats Zone app and see them for yourself. Each is a beautiful, unique snowflake worthy of admiration, and I recommend doing so.
I thought I'd display his statistics somewhat differently.

'Liverpool will struggle to score if Manchester City control Luis Suarez' Steve McManaman picks his key battles ahead of Anfield clash

Ex-midfielder also backs Mario Balotelli to score on Sunday but thinks Glen Johnson could get the better of Gael Clichy while Lucas will have his hands full with David Silva

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-26 09:23:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

'Liverpool will struggle to score if Manchester City control Luis Suarez' Steve McManaman picks his key battles ahead of Anfield clash

Ex-midfielder also backs Mario Balotelli to score on Sunday but thinks Glen Johnson could get the better of Gael Clichy while Lucas will have his hands full with David Silva

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-26 09:23:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

'Liverpool will struggle to score if Manchester City control Luis Suarez' Steve McManaman picks his key battles ahead of Anfield clash

Ex-midfielder also backs Mario Balotelli to score on Sunday but thinks Glen Johnson could get the better of Gael Clichy while Lucas will have his hands full with David Silva

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-26 09:23:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

'Liverpool will struggle to score if Manchester City control Luis Suarez' Steve McManaman picks his key battles ahead of Anfield clash

Ex-midfielder also backs Mario Balotelli to score on Sunday but thinks Glen Johnson could get the better of Gael Clichy while Lucas will have his hands full with David Silva

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-26 09:23:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

'Liverpool will struggle to score if Manchester City control Luis Suarez' Steve McManaman picks his key battles ahead of Anfield clash

Ex-midfielder also backs Mario Balotelli to score on Sunday but thinks Glen Johnson could get the better of Gael Clichy while Lucas will have his hands full with David Silva

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-26 09:23:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

It's generally agreed in the Kickette office that these two poppets could wear buckets on their heads and still be hot as hell. Image: REUTERS/Phil Noble, Alex Livesey/Getty Images.

If you live outside of the UK, you may not be able to comprehend how the country is experiencing a record-breaking autumn.

When Arsene Wenger sold Gael Clichy to Manchester City in the summer, did he really think that Kieran Gibbs would suddenly shake off his never-ending injuries enough to become the regular left-back? Gibbs record with Arsenal has been abysmal, and in his sixth season at the club the most league appearances he has made in [.

When Ashley Cole controversially left the Gunners to join Chelsea in 2006, substitute left-back Gael Clichy was given the chance to prove his capabilities on a permanent basis and didn't let Wenger down. Now the Frenchman has himself left the club – in this case to Manchester City – one would have assumed that his [.

I am far from the best person to write a scouting report on Olympique de Marseille, but no one else is volunteering. (Add comments if you have any thoughts.)

Match: Champions League Group Phase Away to the Arsenal

Result: 0-0

Standings after this 4th match
1.

By Chris Wright

You may have missed it, but earlier today what seemed like a normal Man City training session soon spiralled into an epic battle for the future of all human kind...

"Sweet Jesus Christi I'm a bit cold around the ear regions...hang on.

There's not much more that needs to be said about Arsenal's memorable 5-3 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge yesterday. I could repeat what everyone else has said about the entertainment and sheer brilliance of Robin van Persie, but that would render me somewhat pointless.

So instead I'm going to focus on the performance of the player that interested me the most Andre Santos, our new left-back.

Well, this is strange. This poor blog has been so neglected in recent weeks that even sitting down to write feels a little alien. What have I missed? Well, in the time that I have been away, we lost to Spurs, had a two week international break in which I barely looked at Arsenal news (why would you, when everyone is so damn negative?

This must be welcome news to all Arsenal fans. Being one of the richest clubs in the world, many people cannot understand why they are never aggressive in the transfer market, especially when it comes to buying high profile players.

Over the past 5 years, the club has gained a reputation for being a good breeding ground for budding talent at the expense of creating a formidable side that can consistently challenge for trophies.

Not the scoreline we hoped for, but certainly one we feared. Not a great deal to discuss really, we were soundly beaten by a side who are clearly superior in every single position.

Mario Balotelli opened the scoring by leaping on the opportunity to pull a bicycle kick out of his toolbox, scoring from six yards.

For some it was the sort of day where one points to the end result—a victory at Goodison—as being enough, as being the only thing that really matters after a far from convincing performance. There was Luis Suarez, who scored a goal in the end though his touch often seemed heavy and his play a step off the pace.

Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has insisted Gunners boss Arsene Wenger will not be sacked from his post, saying the Frenchman will decide when it is time to go.

Wenger has come under pressure in recent months after ending last season trophy-less for the 6th time in a row, while the loss of key players Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri over the summer have contributed to a poor start to the new campaign which included a humiliating 8-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United.

I don't know about anyone else, but it kinda frustrates me when I watch football matches in the Premier League and I hear commentators and the like praising a player or stating how important he is... yet in my opinion that said player is actually massively over-rated, and rarely contributes much to a game at all.

Former Arsenal left-back Gael Clichy still thinks that Arsenal will be fighting for the title until the very end despite the slight setback from the start of the season, but he is happy that he now plays for Manchester City instead, who are challenging at the top of the table. Clichy deserted Arsenal this season [.

Former Arsenal left-back Gael Clichy still thinks that Arsenal will be fighting for the title until the very end despite the slight setback from the start of the season, but he is happy that he now plays for Manchester City instead, who are challenging at the top of the table. Clichy deserted Arsenal this season [.

Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs was full of praise for former colleague Gael Clichy who left the Gunners in the summer to join Manchester City. Speaking to Arsenal Player, the Englishman agreed that the 26-year old was ...