Fabregas, Walcott and Denilson must step up after exits

Premier League / Nik Wardle / 30 July 2008 / Leave a Comment

The Gunners meet Stuttgart tonight in a friendly which could reveal much about Arsene Wenger's plans for the new season, says Nik Wardle.

Arsenal continue their pre-season preparations at VFB Stuttgart tonight, where they'll face a reunion with Jens Lehmann, live on Setanta Sports. This will be a big test for Arsenal as the Germans have already been in competitive action in the Intertoto Cup.

On the face of it, Arsenal's squad is slightly weaker than at this point last season. The sale of Gilberto Silva and release of Lehmann were expected but I doubt Arsene Wenger wanted to lose Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini.

Flamini will be a big loss. His partnership with Cesc Fabregas was arguably the best central midfield pairing in the Premier League last season and time will tell whether Wenger seeks a direct replacement for Flamini or gives Vassiriki Diaby or Neves Denilson the chance to partner the Spaniard.

Like their North London rivals Tottenham, Arsenal have been plagued with news stories about star players leaving. Emmanuel Adebayor interests AC Milan but it appears the fee is the sticking point. The Italian's interest may be heightened by Alberto Gilardino going to Fiorentina and Ronaldo being out of action because of a serious knee injury. What must be a relief to the Gunners, though, is it appears Fabregas is happy to stay, for another season at least.

Arriving at Arsenal thus far have been Samir Nasri and Aaron Ramsey. Nasri is certainly first team ready but Ramsey will probably be eased along, as Theo Walcott has been. Nasri played as an attacking central midfielder for Marseille, so he'll be ideal in the 4-4-1-1 formation Arsenal often use away from home but I'm not so sure how he'll be utilised in a 4-4-2.

Despite their summer sales, Arsenal still have plenty of quality within the squad. Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo missed the business part of last season and if they and Robin Van Persie can get fit and stay fit, Arsenal should have few problems getting a top four finish and are at just [1.28] to do so. They currently trade at [6.2] to win the title, third favourites behind Chelsea and Man United.

Stuttgart followed their Bundesliga 1 triumph in 2007 by finishing a disappointing 7th last time out. Along with Lehmann, they've also signed Khalid Boulahrouz, from Chelsea, with the influential Portuguese international defender Fernando Meira leaving to join Galatasaray. Fans of Aston Villa will be familiar with Thomas Hitzlsperger and 'Super' Mario Gomez, once linked with Arsenal, will hope to begin the process of putting a disappointing European Championships behind him. They won 3-0 at the weekend in the Intertoto Cup against FK Saturn Ramenskoje, to progress to the next round. Stuttgart are sixth favourites to win Bundesliga 1 at 30 and are at [3.6] to clinch a Champions League placing.

Stuttgart are at [2.92] to win this friendly, Arsenal at [2.12] with the draw [3.25]. With Stuttgart likely to be slightly sharper, it should be a close game, so betting on the draw might be a good idea. Lehmann, I'm sure, will do all he can to prove he's better than Manuel Almunia.