Everton 1 (Cahill 19) Arsenal 4 (Eduardo 47, 58, Adebayor 78, Rosicky 90)

Chelsea at home, Spurs at home, Portsmouth away and now Everton away. Ten points gained from twelve, whereas just five were achieved in the corresponding fixtures last season.

Someone forgot to tell these players they were supposed to be in a blip.

Three seasons ago, Arsenal entered the season off the back of the unprecedented Invincibles achievement. Opening the campaign with a 4-1 away hammering of Everton, it seemed the follow up season would be as impressive. It wasn't to be, but that day marked just how good the side was.

Yesterday saw the same result achieved against another very decent Everton team, but the match could not have contrasted more starkly. In fact, the first half was insipid - rarely has an Arsenal team showed so little creativity, and while Bendtner and Eduardo up front was an unfamiliar pairing, the truth was that they received little support. Cahill's opener was just rewards for an Everton side that played much the better football in the opening 45.

One failing of some Wenger sides is that when they have played superbly in the first half, they can come out poorly in the second. Fortunately, the reverse is also true, and within two minutes of the restart, Eduardo had levelled with his first Premiership goal, beautifully tucking away Clichy's long ball. Ten minutes later, the Croatian showed his class (after controlling with his hand, admittedly), pulling the ball inside the defender after another long ball, and slotting effortlessly past Howard.

All of a sudden it became apparent what is so good about the man. Absent for most of the first half, is there a player is the club who finishes a chance so clinically? His efficiency in front of goal is frightening, and goes a long way to explaining how, despite seemingly not making any impression since the summer, he still has nine goals. Yes, nine.

With a win now looking likely, Bendtner proceeded to hand Everton hope. Already on a booking, he went in recklessly high on Johnson, raking his studs down his shin, and earning himself a second yellow. In truth, he was lucky not to be shown a straight red, and as a result will still be eligible for next weekend's FA Cup tie with Burnley, a match he may have been penned to start. Hopefully the Dane will learn from this day - all young players have setbacks.

But soon after the red card, a horrible mix up in the Everton defence made the game safe. Yobo and Howard left an Almunia clearance to each other, and Adebayor raced in to round the keeper and smash the ball home from all of half a yard. Arteta was soon sent off for elbowing Cesc, and while some may say it was harsh as there was likely very little intent, he was flailing his arm stupidly high, and a man of his experience should know what happens in that event. Before the end, Rosicky then put a very flattering spin on the match by wrong footing Howard at his near post to make it four.

And if that wasn't good enough, results elsewhere made this a superb weekend. United lost 2-1 at West Ham after missing a penalty that would've put them two up, Chelsea beat Newcastle with a blatently offside goal but lost Lampard to injury, while Liverpool drew at City to send them further back in the race.

Three days ago some people were writing us off after a draw at Portsmouth. But we've taken four points from our Christmas games, both tough away ones at that, while United gained only three, Chelsea four from two home games, and Liverpool a lucky four after only just scraping past Derby. We enter 2008 leading the pack by two points.

And they call this a blip. True, some of our players are not firing on all cylinders at the moment. But instead of bemoaning that, how about imagining how frightening we'll be when they do?

The festive period is always a busy one in English football even though the rest of the continent shuts down, and with the Boxing Day tradition of high scoring games upheld, not least with Chelsea's 4-4 draw with Villa, it proved to be an entertaining day.

Except at Fratton Park.

The festivities meant that I only caught the final five minutes of the goalless draw, seeing both Gallas and Rosicky miss decent chances, but by the sound of things, I missed little as that was about the sum total of the entire match, with a less than impressive attacking performance nullified by an organised Portsmouth defence.

There has been some sensible reflection, understanding the fact that although the result was disappointing, that is only because our standards have been raised so high by a remarkable first half to the season. If you'd said in the summer that we'd be unhappy with away draws to European challengers then you'd take it as a sign of a good year to come.

There has also been some less than intelligent reactions, by people who now write the club off, almost chomping at the bit to slam the team down again at the earliest opportunity. Oddly, this comes from a section of our own fans. Sky were at it too - at the end of the game they were going on about a 'sticky patch', which is at interesting way to describe a run in which we've just beaten Chelsea and a resurgent Spurs.

Everton away is a hugely difficult game at the weekend, and once again a draw would not be a bad result. Eight points from Chelsea, Spurs, Pompey and Everton would be a very good return, ten would be outstanding. Where's the big issue?

After another few days of being unable to access to admin pages for this site, my New Year's Resolution is the easiest I've ever had to make:

Get the new site running asap

The hosting is sorted, the site is sorted, I just need to work on the theme and republish each of the articles. With every passing day, that task gets bigger as I keep writing, but sooner or later you'll see a whole new site, and believe me, it'll be a step up from this slow ugly thing you see before you today.

Anyway, its a Happy Christmas for Arsenal who sit on top of the tree for the first time in four years, after a somewhat fortunate win over Spurs.

Arsenal 2 (Adebayor 47, Bendtner 76) Spurs 1 (Berbatov 66)

There is so little to say about the first half that I will barely bother, other than to mention that my early prediction of Van Persie shining was ruined by a thigh strain in training, so it was the same eleven that faced Chelsea. And in the opening 45 minutes, practically nothing happened, with lunchtime kickoffs looking forlorn once again.

But two minutes into the second half, Cesc sprang to life, and showing more energy than he had in the whole first half, burst forward, played a clever one two with Rosicky, before backheeling into Adebayor's path. The Togo frontman then scored his sixth in five against Spurs in clinical style.

He could've had a second moments later, but slowly the play regressed, and Keane hit the bar when unmarked at the back post - Sagna had drifted in and Eboue had failed to track back.

A minute later the game was level, Berbatov lashing a shot that was going across the face of goal until it struck an Arsenal heel and flew over Almunia. There was nothing the keeper could do despite every analyst blaming him.

When Toure lunged in and brought Berbatov down with fifteen to play, I feared that this would be the day our unbeaten record against them came to an end. Toure had won the ball, but the tackle was clumsy and a 2-1 deficit looked inevitable. But Almunia superbly saved the penalty, and minutes later, we were back in front.

Bendtner, on seconds earlier, went in for a corner, making a clever run past Gallas from the back of the area. Huddlestone tried to follow him, but couldn't get his enormous frame around Gallas and Bendtner jumped well to power home.

So there we have it - a poor performance, but a win regardless. The sign of champions?

Merry Christmas!

The Champions League draw has been made, and the holders Milan will be coming to town in February, the first meeting of the two sides in a competitive match.

There were meetings back in 1994, Milan winning over two legs in the Super Cup, but that was never a particularly valued competition, so this tie is an entirely new experience for both clubs, a quite remarkable statistic given their ever-present nature in the tournament.

I have to be honest and say I'm delighted with the draw. Porto were the obvious preference as the smallest of the the sides we could've played, but Milan are an aging side who like to play football and won't harry our players. In other words, their style plays perfectly into our hands. Plus they're struggling in Serie A this season, so all in all it isn't a bad draw.

That said, it won't be easy - they are the reigning champions after all and in Kaka they have a genius who can unlock any defence in an instant. And Maldini, in his final season, would love nothing better than another Champions League medal before he retires. But the draw could've been much worse - their city rivals Inter were the team I wanted to avoid, and Liverpool have a job on their hands to beat them.

We're nearly at Christmas now, and any Gooner would've snapped your hand off if you offered the position we're currently in, across all competitions. Long may it continue.

So it's another North London derby tomorrow, the first of a trio of matches against Spurs in the next month after we were predictably paired with them in the Carling Cup semi final.

Remarkably, Eboue is fit again after sustaining what looked to be a genuinely bad injury at Chelsea last weekend, so if he makes it, and Walcott shrugs off his flu, we'll be looking at a fully fit squad for the first time in a long while.

And with the reserves so impressively beating Blackburn the other night, there is an unprecendented battle for places in the side, a terrific problem for Wenger to have.

Some have reacted better than others to that competition. Lassana Diarra was panned last weekend for indicating he wanted to leave, citing an inability to break into the side so soon after arriving. The reasons for him struggling have been abundantly clear, and they come down to one man - Flamini, who has stepped up to the plate spectacularly this season.

But Diarra was outstanding on Tuesday night, a performance which should push him beyond the struggling Gilberto in the pecking order, and may well confirm the Brazilian's departure. It is a shame that he has had such a fall from grace, but Wenger is no stranger to brutally cutting players from his side.

Lehmann has not reacted as well, once again suggesting that Almunia is not in his class and that Wenger is being unfair is sticking with him. Much as the German has had a superb career at Arsenal, I think it's time to call it a day - he is nothing but disruptive and cannot possibly be recalled now. Thanks Jens, but if you left in January I wouldn't be unhappy.

Djourou will return to the defence in the New Year, which comes as no surprise with Toure playing in the African Nations. I must admit I'm a little concerned - I haven't been overly impressed with some of his performances at Birmingham, and with Senderos struggling the loss of our rock in central defence will be a big blow. Much of our season may rest on how we cope without him.

But back to tomorrow, I'll stick my neck out and predict a narrow victory - Spurs are looking tighter at the back but they've got injuries and suspensions in that department now. Van Persie is looking for his first goal against them and I reckon he might just get it.

Blackburn 2 (Santa Cruz 42, 60) Arsenal 3 (Diaby 6, Eduardo 29, 104)
(Carling Cup Quarter Final)

What a fantastic cup tie that was. The match was always going to be a stiff challenge for the Arsenal kids - not only were Blackburn fielding a first choice team, but the full league side had failed to win at Ewood Park earlier in the year, and with Blackburn consistently able to frustrate flowing Arsenal sides with the physical and determined play, it remained to be seen what a shadow side would achieve.

And make no mistake - this truly was a shadow side. It was unusual even for a Carling Cup team - normally Wenger throws the likes of Toure, Adebayor, Gilberto and co into the mix to provide some experience, but this time, mindful of the game being sandwiched in between matches with Chelsea and a recovering Spurs, he made eleven changes, also resting most of the bench from Sunday.

And how they responded. With Walcott ill, Mark Randall started on the right wing, and impressed early, being involved in the opening goal by playing a clever reverse pass to Bendtner, who once again supplied an excellent delivery, calmly placed home by Diaby with his left foot. When the big Frenchman scores with a leg designed only for standing on, you know its going to be an unusual night.

For the first half an hour it was truly men against boys, but the wrong way around - the boys were dominating and Blackburn couldn't even play their trademark crunching game because they were unable to get near the ball.

Bendtner hit the bar with a curling shot, before the inevitable second arrived, Eduardo steering home Denilson's through ball after Samba had made a hash of the interception. It looked to be an absolute cruise.

But shortly before half time, Blackburn got a lifeline, Santa Cruz turning home Derbyshire cross after a decent counter attack. Derbyshire was fractionally offside, but regular readers of this site will know that I won't be complaining about that - it was close enough that the linesman could be unsure, and if that's the case he had to keep his flag down.

But it completely turned the game. Instead of going in deflated, Blackburn smelt blood, and came out in the second half with all guns blazing. Senderos was making errors, being rescued by Fabianski and Song, while their midfield had finally got into the game. The equaliser was inevitable, and it duly arrived when Bentley's free kick was headed in by Santa Cruz, for his fifth goal in two games.

At that point, the players were up against it. But just when you would expect kids to fold, they dug in and turned the match around once again. Despite their youth, they found reserves of spirit and once the match got back to 2-2, they once again took control. Diarra was immense in the centre, while Song was repelling all that came towards him. That said, the best chance in normal time fell to Santa Cruz, who fluffed his chance of consecutive hattricks with a miskicked volley in front of goal.

Just as extra time was looming though, the match took a turn for the more difficult. Denilson, already on a yellow card, lunged in two footed on Dunn, and although there was minimal contact, the tackle was ugly and deserved the red card it duly got. Savage got booked for his predictable histrionics.

But in extra time, you couldn't tell we were a man down, and when Song made a burst from the back, he fed Eduardo, who ignored his exhausted legs to fire a superb shot beyond the reach of Friedel. Blackburn could've levelled, Samba hitting the post, but in the end the win was well deserved, and yet another chapter in the incredible history of this young side.

Fabianski was solid in goal, and although he flapped at a couple of crosses he had no chance for either goal and made some decent saves. A couple of times he impressively caught shots others would've parried.

Hoyte at right back was assured, and made a superb late double block to ensure the win. Traore was Clichyesque, and I mean that as a supreme compliment.

The two centre backs could not have been more different. Senderos, the senior partner, had a poor game, losing out in the air and regularly misjudging the flight of the ball. He looks painfully short of confidence. Song, on the other hand, had his best game for Arsenal, and mopped up with comfort. Not only that, but he looked impressive bursting out from the back - maybe he has finally found his place.

In midfield, Diarra was an absolute monster, perfectly backing up his pleas for first team football. He was a terrier all over the park, and gave the side a bite that it requires in these fixtures. Diaby was skilled, strong and balanced, and took his goal well. Randall was decent on the right and encouragingly wanted the ball all the time, while Denilson looked intelligent on the ball until his rash red card. He will learn from this.

Bendtner may not have scored, but once again he impressed up front, delivering cunning passes and flicks, and always choosing the right option. It is easy to tell just how confident he is in his own ability, and while that might make him seem brash in interviews, it can only be a good thing. Eduardo was mixed - two fantastic finishes, his coolness even more impressive given his supposed lack of confidence, but otherwise he was quiet. Perhaps that is his game - quiet for an hour, and then kills you.

It was a truly stunning performance. Ewood Park is a difficult place to go for anyone, even though Blackburn are on poor form, but to win with a complete shadow side is nothing short of incredible.

The semi will be against Spurs, Everton, or the winner of tonight's other tie between Liverpool and Chelsea. Spurs again is just the feeling I get, and on last night's display our rivals will be quaking in their boots once again.

Arsenal 1 (Gallas 45) Chelsea 0

For a game with only one goal, it was gripping from first minute to last. Frank Lampard admitted before the game that there was a contrast of styles, and in a feisty and at times vicious game Arsenal were once again proved to have the bottle for the fight this season.

The team news was encouraging, with Flamini, Hleb and Cesc returning, and Van Persie on the bench to make an impact late on. I figured at least one of the quartet would be benched as they wouldn't be able to last the full ninety, but as it turned out two of the three returning midfielders lasted the length of an intense game, with Hleb only coming off late.

The first ten minutes were hugely impressive, Arsenal controlling the midfield despite Chelsea packing five men in there. Alex nearly scored his second own goal for us in a year, heading a routine return over Cech's head, the ball dropping just wide. Chances were rare in the first half, with Rosicky firing wide, and Almunia saving well from Wright-Phillips.

The real talking points of the opening 44 minutes were the ugly tackles flying in. Lampard got away with an early one on Eboue, while Adebayor was somewhat harshly carded for a late challenge on Ashley Cole that wasn't as bad. But Lampard's luck ran out, when, in a rare piece of decent refereeing, Alan Wiley proved he had a memory.

How often do you see a late challenge go in, advantage played, and the referee forget to go back and book the offender afterwards? That seemed even more likely to be the case as a full minute passed after Lampard's second wild hack, and when play stopped, it was due to an appalling challenge by John Terry on a prone Fabregas on the edge of the box. I figured Terry would get booked, with Lampard getting away again. To the referee's credit, he booked both. Unfortunately, his performance was only to get worse.

Terry's game didn't last much longer, Eboue catching his foot as he tried to block a clearance. Jamie 'Chelsea fan' Redknapp claimed it was a shocking challenge at half time, but in truth it was simply late, and deserved the yellow it got. But Terry went off injured, and suddenly with he and Carvalho missing at the heart of their defence, Arsenal smelt weakness.

But when the breakthrough came, its method was surprising. On the stroke of half time, Fabregas' corner looked to be a routine catch for Cech but he flapped, missed, and Gallas, coming in behind him, headed into the empty net. The captain must've been tempted to celebrate wildly, but perhaps wisely chose to stay muted, while the Emirates went crazy around him.

With Chelsea forced to come out in the second half, it became a more open game, and after a sloppy start by both teams Wright-Phillips had the perfect chance to equalise, but smashed wide from six yards out. It was to be the best chance they'd get, as most of the gilt edged opportunities then fell to Arsenal on the break.

First Van Persie blazed over when set up by Adebayor and Hleb from a flowing counter attack, then he had a goal wrongly disallowed when Rosicky was flagged offside despite being level. Cech then made a tremendous double save from Van Persie and Fabregas, before Adebayor had another one chalked off for the softest of pushes on the turn.

With goals being scored and wiped out, there was always the worry that we would be punished with another late Chelsea goal, but Almunia made a couple of cracking saves to retain a clean sheet. Lehmann's claim that the Spaniard has never won a big game with Arsenal has now been blown out of the water.

Elsewhere, the left side of the team was magnificent. Clichy ran up and down all day long, alternating between crunching into tackles and making tremendous bursts down the wing. Ahead of him, Rosicky worked his socks off, and tracked back more than I've ever seen him do before.

But in truth, there were excellent performances all over the park. One moment, with ten minutes to go, Cesc gave the ball away, and Flamini ran half the length of the pitch to win it back. Eighty minutes into his comeback match from injury. For me, that summed it all up.

All we need now is for Cole to get a suspension for lashing out at Cesc at the final whistle, an altercation which sparked the amusing scenes of Cesc celebrating while being booked, as Wiley indicated the match was over. Cesc is a true Gooner.

Enjoy your Monday.

So this is Grand Slam Sunday, as Sky get their dream afternoon while the BBC count their measly Saturday night Match of the Day viewing figures.

The main focus of the build up has been on the players missing from both sides. I can't be alone in being delighted by the absence of Drogba and Essien, the two major thorns in our side from the last couple of seasons, and although Carvalho is a doubt, I imagine he'll make it back for this one.

On our side, it seems any of Van Persie, Flamini, Fabregas and Hleb could comfortably play an hour, but struggle to make it through the full ninety. As a result, I'd be very surprised to see all four start, with Hleb perhaps the one to make an impact from the bench. Cesc is the other possibility, while I'd definitely expect Flamini and RVP to start.

Of course today may well mark the return of the delightful Ashley Cole, with Wenger towing the official line by calling for calm from the fans:

"I want our fans to be behind our team and not to especially have resentment with Ashley Cole because he has done well for the club as long as he has been here."

I particularly love the use of the word 'especially' in this sentence, as if it is fine to have resentment with the whole Chelsea team but not Cole in particular. But Wenger clearly knows what will happen, as he alludes to:

"Ideally, you want everybody who has played for you to be respected."

Ideally, yes. But in an ideal world players that play for you don't turn into greedy, lying, egotistical, arrogant, selfish characters who embody absolutely everything that is wrong with a lot of English footballers, where so many believe they deserve special treatment over and above everyone else. So, yes, ideally this situation wouldn't arise. But we don't live in that world.

I have to agree with Wenger's final words though:

"Overall we want him to get a fair reception."

And a fair reception he will receive. Only in this case fair is abuse like you've never heard before. What price Sagna avoiding a booking for 70 minutes, and then taking an opportunity to send Cole up in the air? Immediately followed by Clichy setting up the winner?

The match itself comes at an interesting time, with neither side playing particularly well. We say this is a good time to play Chelsea, they say its a good time to play us. Make no mistake, this will be a tough tough game, and I'm sure Chelsea would take a draw, so prepare yourself for a team sitting back and trying to hit us on the break. An early goal would be the perfect way to set this one up.

Come on you reds.

Arsenal 2 (Diaby 8, Bendtner 42) Steaua Bucharest 1 (Zaharia 69)
(Champions League Group H, Matchday 6)Final Group Position: 2nd, 13 points

The Champions League group stages came to an end last night with a routine victory over a poor Steaua side, but the win mattered little as Sevilla's comfortable triumph in Prague meant that they qualified as group winners.

I wasn't able to see the whole match last night, so can't comment in detail, but from what I've seen, Van Persie made an impressive comeback, appearing sharp enough to be involved against Chelsea on Sunday, although I suspect he'll come off the bench.

Diaby and Walcott impressed on the flanks, although the former's final ball and the latter's finishing still need work. There's plenty of time to improve that.

Elsewhere, Bendtner took his goal very well, and looks to be growing as a player. Confidence has never been a problem for him, and he is getting to the stage that if he got thrown in at the deep end, it would probably have a better effect than the laughable duo we had up front at the end of last season. He would retain the side's sharpness.

That said, Van Persie has been sorely missed, so his return is extremely welcome ahead of a busy Christmas period. I wouldn't imagine he'd play in the Carling Cup, but with matches against Chelsea and Spurs coming up before Christmas, he comes back at an important time.

The media continue to talk about potential new signings, and this time it is the turn of Bulgarian left winger Nikolay Dimitrov, a 20 year old playing for Levski Sofia.

This story appears to have more substance to it than most, being carried with the quotes of Levski's executive director, Nasko Sirakov:

"We have known about Arsenal interest from about two weeks ago. The only thing now left is for Nikolay to travel to London."

While Levski coach Stanimir Stoilov added:

"I am very happy for him. He is young and very talented. The invitation from Wenger is quite a tribute, not only for the player but for the club also"

The youngster appears to be heading to the Emirates for a trial, and following in the footsteps of Tresor Mputu, Wenger appears to be trying a few options out.

Watch this space.

After the fallout from the weekend, which saw many people make the instant switch from lauding Arsenal as the modern day equivalent of the Dutch total football team, to predicting a swift drop down the league into oblivion, we take a little step back into reality.

The Champions League group concludes this evening, with Arsenal requiring a win and Sevilla to slip up in Prague to finish top of the group, else draw one of Real, Inter, Milan, Barcelona or Porto. I'll have Porto thanks.

With a win not guaranteeing an advantage of any kind, injuries in the squad, fatigue in those that remain, and Chelsea looming on Sunday, Wenger is wisely rotating, although he claims there is no such thing as a Carling Cup side anymore as they are all part of his first team squad. I beg to differ, but can understand why he is saying it - he doesn't want tonight's players to think they are merely filling in.

The interesting team news is twofold. Other than the squad players getting a go, Lehmann will start for the first time since August, and Van Persie will be back in the squad, possibly to come off the bench.

It's difficult to know what's going on with Jens. Is Wenger showing potential suitors that he is still a good keeper, while talking about how he is 'totally professional' despite every comment the German makes being contrary to this? Or is Lehmann in with a realistic shout of getting his place back?

Honestly, I think its the former. He's 38 now, and would probably move on at the end of the season anyway. Bringing him back now would destroy Almunia, and I'm not sure what it gains.

Let's hope the match isn't as dull as some group ending matches are. See our tie with Porto last year for evidence of that one.