Think Djourou has recovered.

I'd rest Song. Would like to give Kos a breather too since he's started more games than anyone else this season, but Djourou has to come first if he's got a back problem.

I'd rest song. Need him for Stoke.

I'd play Denilson. Rosicky for Wilshere, Nasri for Cesc.

Yep makes sense to me big klaus

I'd play Eboue, too, instead of Sagna. Don't want Backary anything less than 100% when he lines up for us a week on Sunday. The same for the rest of the big boys. Our best XI will have to play 2 games in 4 days as it is, and the second game is for a big fat trophy, so just get through this game with as little risk as possible.

Nasri should be resting up.

He looked fine against Barca. He's just had two and a half week's rest too. It makes sense to at least give him an hour against Leyton.

Why risk it? Samir will get plenty of game time over the next week. I want him as fresh as a daisy for Wembley.

BTW - they're "Orient" for short. Just thought you might like to know.

Right. You have to compromise somewhere though, and right now I'd rather have Cesc and Wilshere well-rested against Stoke than Nasri. I don't want Song to run out of steam either. We rely heavily on him and overexposed him last year. Along with Jack he's started the second most amount of games this season too. If he doesn't get a breather on sunday he won't get one against Stoke and Birmingham either.

Surely we could do with Aaron back right now? Would be ideal for this game, we only have 6 cm's and with Diaby out it means one of our starters will be playing in a game he really doesn't need.

Leyton

bless ya klaus

apparently, kos was knackered after barca. i'd consider:

----------chesney
sagna-song-squillaci-gibbs
----------denilson
------fabregas-rosicky
bendtner-chamakh-arshavin

almunia, eboue, koscielny, djourou, nasri, walcott, van persie

i see no reason to play almunia, especially with that backline. chesney needs the experience and don't need to risk any f*ups from the spaniard.

In 2 minds about who to play. Think maybe one or 2 first teamers could be an idea but then maybe rest those players on Wednesday. Its a tricky time of season now in terms of selection and rotation. You really don't want to break up the first team but we don't need any of them picking up injuries from being over played either.

it's tricky, and nasri was a warning sign. djourou has a history of leg injuries as we all know, and back injuries are often caused by something not being right in the legs or feet - i'd be tempted to rest him, too. wilshere's young, so he obviously needs to be held back in order not to burn out.

honestly, the team i put up should deal with orient easily. of course, the matches aren't played on paper.

True enough Kami--United prob thought same when facing Crawley but were actually hanging on there at the end

can't disagree with any of that, asa, but orient is shit. if kos is knackered, i'd be wary of playing him, and we know about djourou. if that lineup loses, then we deserve to go out, anyway. 9 internationals.

I think we need to rest as many first teamers as possible. Those who are likely to come in though give me heart palpitations, and i really don't want to see us slip up.

Still in two minds as to travelling down tomorrow. Ricky, would you say your method of bus from Walth' central, or the one Arsenal suggest is better?

An alternative route to Brisbane Rd follows;
Take the Victoria Line to Blackhorse Rd and change for the London Overground Gospel Oak to Barking service, alighting at Leyton Midland Rd which is a 15 minute walk away.

Our second string can look quite disjointed on their travels.
Squillaci's inclusion is always a worry but if Song plays in MF it would be less so.
Hoping Bendtner has a big performance as I think we may need to score a couple to be secure and it would be preferable to avoid having to bring Cesc or RvP on at any stage.

James wrote:

I think we need to rest as many first teamers as possible. Those who are likely to come in though give me heart palpitations, and i really don't want to see us slip up.

Still in two minds as to travelling down tomorrow. Ricky, would you say your method of bus from Walth' central, or the one Arsenal suggest is better?

An alternative route to Brisbane Rd follows;
Take the Victoria Line to Blackhorse Rd and change for the London Overground Gospel Oak to Barking service, alighting at Leyton Midland Rd which is a 15 minute walk away.

Go my way mate. I'll show you how easy it is. Give me two minutes.

Anything could happen tomorrow--look at how close Crowley Town came today at OT. Aren't Orient on a massive unbeaten run as well?

And James, don't take the overground. It only runs every twenty minutes, and I'm assuming it'll be absolutely rammed if the central line is down.

Don't think Squillaci deserves to be as much-maligned as he is; I supported Silvestre's squad place and Seb is surely better than him?

In an ideal world, I think you'd rest both of JD and Kos but we don't have the luxury of a youth defender with experience in that area. Physioroom have Vermaelen down as coming back next weekend, so there's hope (fingers crossed that one of the aforementioned starters can be rested at some point soon.

Think Bendtner is worth a start in this game, ahead of VP (and Chamakh). I'd also consider resting Clichy, Ches, Theo and Jack. So team would look like this:

Our pal Al

Sagna
Squillaci
Koscielny
Gibbs

Song
Denilson/Rosicky
Fabregas

Nasri
Shavva

Bendtner

Subs: Ches, Clichy, Miquel, Denilson/Rosicky, Aneke (that's right, I've gone all AM on your ass), Walcott, Van Persie

Orient have lost once in 20 games or something. According to The Tuesday Club, anyway. I know they're in form at the moment, either way.

Okay mate. As much as i know about London, i'm actually pretty useless when it comes to public transport. Used to driving to most grounds, or just jumping on the tube.

The Blue Square is obviously Brisbane Road, the red line is the route of the 97.

Paint job's a little crude but you can see 1. Is Walthamstow Central, 2. Is the station Arsenal are advising supporters to go to, and 3. Is the stadium itself.

It's quite a walk from the station to the ground, whereas the bus takes you right there. The only reason I can think as to why Arsenal have advised supporters to go this way is to avoid complicating things for supporters who don't know where they're going with buses.

Go to Walthamstow Central, exit to Selborne Road (there are a couple of different exits). The bus station is directly opposite, Bus stop C is the one you want, hop on the 97, and it takes about 10 minutes to get to Leyton High Road. Get off at the corner of Osborne Road, and you'll see the stadium at the end of the road. Simples.

You're a star Ricky. Appreciate it. No doubt i shall be referring to that at some point tomorrow.

If I remember rightly, there is a really distinctive barber shop on the corner of Osborne road. It's bright yellow, so when you see it, the next stop is yours, and the stadium is at the end of that road.

What the fuck are you, some kind of extra off Eastenders or something?

I'm sure there'll be plenty of fans around Ricky, so i should know when the stop is. Cheers anyway mate. Just hope i don't get there too early and have to wonder around all on my todd.

Should be a real cracker though. Been hoping to see the Arsenal at Orient for years now. I haven't been there since being a wee lad.

Asa, I've just been there loads of times down the years. It's 2 minutes up the road from me.

You're going completely on your own, mate?

I'm going but it's gonna be awkward for me on Sunday. I'm going with my cousins, and a few other friends. Playing football in Lloyds Park (you might remember it?) midday-ish. Then I've gone and volunteered to cook dinner for everyone after the football round my sisters house. Drop me your number mate, and if I can get to the ground early on Sunday, I'll buy you a pint.

I am, yeah. Don't know anyone else with a ticket unfortunately, and had no means to get another due to the high number of credits. I just couldn't miss this one.

Don't worry too much fella if you're busy. You in the home end? I'll drop you my number shortly anyway mate just incase you do get a spare bit of time.

No, wish i was in with our boys

I'm in the disabled section, which is where my cousin and uncle have a season ticket. Well, I say season ticket, but my uncle is worse than Del Boy, and he just blags free tickets every week for himself, my two cousins, my cousin's carer, and anyone else who fancies a ticket. He blagged 6 free tickets for this one, and they're like frikkin gold dust. I'm not sure what he says at the ticket office, but it works!

The only good thing about sitting with the Orient fans is I'm literally a couple of feet from the dugout and the tunnel area, so I should be able to hear what Wenger is saying, and shake most of the player's hands as they come in and out for the warm-up. Will be weird watching them so close-up.

I'll definitely try and get there mate, but with my cousin, because he's disabled, it takes ages to do anything.

You're really not playing down this stereotype everyone has of you, huh Ricky?

Sounds like it's going to be a special one for you guys anyway. I'll keep an eye out for the lad going nuts in the disabled section then when the second coming does the business. He wears number 52 for the record.

If you see a fella in a wheelchair attempting to punch a handsome, if somewhat portly, fella, because said fella is jumping up and down like a nutjob at an Arsenal goal - then do wave hello.

Just in case there was any doubt in anybody's mind as to what Leyton Orient's game plan would be, Steven Dawson makes it clear:

"I don't think it will be like the Emirates, it's not the flattest you'll ever see,"

."It will help us. They've got the Carling Cup final next week and Barcelona at the Camp Nou [in the Champions League next month], they don't want to be doing a 50-50 challenge at Brisbane Road.

"We're not just going to stand around and admire how they play. Whether it involves a tackle or not, that's part of football isn't it?"

Against Ipswich [in the Carling Cup] and Huddersfield and Leeds [in the FA Cup] Arsenal got put under pressure and I don't think they really liked it. It's not about kicking them around, it's about getting in their faces – we're going to be right on top of them."

In brief it appears that they plan to kick lumps out of us on a bumpy pitch.
I doubly hope now that we do not have to call upon Cesc or RvP

http://tinyurl.com/6gzdnrh

I really don't care for that kind of talk. From what I've read about Orient (<- are you watching, Dules and Ricky? ) they're able to move the ball well enough without resorting to stuff like that. Implying that Arsenal would be better off not getting into challenges is something that should be punished by The FA. It's an indirect threat. Our players should be able to step on the field tomorrow without feeling that they risk getting injured if they're trying to play football.