Right then. The league games return after the two week gap that almost felt like eternity. Arsenal will be able to get in 7 games before the next international break a month away. The next seven games kick-off with a three game road trip starting on Saturday against Blackburn followed by trips to Kiev and Bolton before home fixtures against Sheff Utd (Carling Cup), Hull and Porto (Champs League) and an away game to Sunderland on Oct 4.

The good: Mark Hughes is no longer at Blackburn so there is some hope that Ewood Park might not be the kicking fields that it once was. Theo’s hat-trick on Wed night should give him much needed confidence and would bode well for his upcoming games.

The bad: There wasn’t enough resting time for some Arsenal players who were away on international duty, so fatigue might play a part especially in the later stages of the game.

The testing phase

Each game this season will be a test for this Arsenal team but the upcoming week will be the first real hurdle given the timing of these games after the international fixtures. In a way, it is good to see the team face such a challenge this early on in the season because that would give them a taste of things to come later on, especially during the fixture congested December timeline.

Injuries, etc

As it stands, it is unclear if Nasri will feature on Saturday or how long he will be out for. Vela will probably be rested given he returned late from Mexico’s 2-1 win late Wed night. Silvestre and Diaby are still injured.

For Blackburn, Robbie Fowler should be available on the bench but given the presence of Roque Santa Cruz and Jason Roberts, Fowler’s services might not be needed. Santa Cruz, who was injured during Blackburn’s 4-1 loss away to West Ham, returns after he had a good week for Paraguay as they top the table in the South American qualifying group.

That other game

The early game on Saturday has Liverpool hosting Man Utd. Will Rafa’s Liverpool ever beat Man Utd in a league game?

When Saturday Comes…

Prediction, analysis & discussion..over to you guys