Fenerbache Preview: It's Not Gonna Be Easy!

Well, tomorrow night we're off to face Fanerbache in Istanbul in the Champions League. A win here is really vital to our progression to through the group stage, as it will prove that we can win away this year. Fenerbache away is one of the most daunting fixtures on the European calender, and contrary to what Arsene Wenger said today, I think the atmosphere there will affect the players, and probably not positively.

All three points tomorrow night are definitely attainable, but the team will really have to work hard for it. I've seen many a team go to Istanbul and be disheartened and fragmented by the crowd. They have lost their rhythm and their composure and allowed Fenerbache to split them apart. But with some good heard work and ignoring (or perhaps actually drawing off) the crowd, we can win it.

As for our squad, Djourou and Bendtner were declared fit for Tuesday, which will definitely relieve the team of some pressure. I'm fairly confident we'll see Djourou and Silvestre at the back, and this really excited me. I think Toure and Gallas's injuries were actually blessings in disguise. We all saw how good Djourou was playing before he was abruptly dropped because his name wasn't Toure. And Silvestre was excellent at the weekend, showing himself to be a tough, no nonsense defender. You can see experience oozing out of him in everything he does, and he makes Gallas look like a fresh-faced 20-year old defender. He and Djourou should be excellent together.

As for Bendtner, I'd like to see him slot in alongside Van Persie, but I think it's more likely that Le Boss will play the usual RVP-Ade combination up top. Hopefully though, if Bendtner doesn't start, he will come in early in the second half and make a difference. Adebayor was frankly awful against Everton, and I can't fathom why we're paying this man so much money to be so useless. I don't think he's learned what the offside rule is, and he seems to have reverted back to the days where he couldn't hit the target to save his life. Bendtner on the other hand has been scoring almost every time he plays, and he hasn't been afraid to drop back and pick up the ball in midfield when required, or to stay up in attack waiting for the cross when necessary. I'll tall you, this lad's been impressing lately, and he deserves a run-out.

Everyone else should probably start who did so at the weekend, but I can see possibly Walcott dropping to the bench. The problem then is who will replace him? Eboue must play at right-back because if he is deployed in midfield Song might have to play at right-back again, and all credit to him, but he was dreadful there. We'll see how it plays out, but I do hope that Eboue is played in his natural position tomorrow, that of right-back.

So that sums it up then. If we get a good lineup out there and the lads play with determination and remember to play the football they're best at then we will win without a problem. I don't really want to predict a result because there are so many variables involved tomorrow, but for the sake of it, I'm thinking we will win 3-1, possibly having to make another comeback from behind. But I'm not betting on a big scoreline tomorrow (actually I'm not betting at all); it'll be a tough one, but I think we can do it and leave with all three points, leaving us just three from safely progressing to the Round of 16.

Fab 4