Arsenal win big games without key players - the proof

It has emerged that Thomas Vermaelen hasn't fractured his leg, although Wenger says "there is still a good chance he will not play on Sunday".

It won't help matters if he can't play against United, but it's great news that he's not seriously injured. If Arsenal are to challenge for honours this year, we could probably do with two centre-backs who have arguably formed the best pairing in the Premiership this season staying fit. After seeing Wayne Rooney rampaging around Old Trafford recently like a distressed mother rhinoceros separated from its calf, Wenger will know the defence has to be airtight this weekend, and like the rest of us will be praying to the Injury Gods to stop picking on Arsenal for a few days and let us off just this once.

But even if Vermaelen can't make it back in time, there is plenty to be optimistic about. Judging from Campbell's solid performance against Villa last night, I think we might just manage without the wild-eyed Belgian; in fact, Big Sol's monstrous strength could give us the extra dimension needed to sort out Rooney's potent muscle/manboob combination. Plus there is more good news - Wenger reckons Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue are ready to come back into the squad:

"They are both in good shape. Tired but in good shape. Both of them are available for Sunday."

Anyway, in light of yet another Arsenal injury with all the impeccable timing of a Paul Scholes challenge, I started to think about the times when we have gone into a big match with a half first-choice, half creche starting XI. Casting an eye over some of our most historic victories in the Noughties, I realised that we have toppled some of the best teams in the world without important first-choice players - and in some cases, replacing them with back-ups either young enough to assume that Chelsea might have some history (19-year-old Johan Djourou helping to keep a clean sheet at Old Trafford) or just downright dreadful (Pascal Cygan). And look how many times Manchester United come up...

Arsenal 2 Manchester United 1 (8th November 08):
Emmanuel Adebayor out, Theo Walcott in
Robin van Persie out, Abou Diaby in
Kolo Toure out (on bench after injury), Mikael Silvestre in

AC Milan 0 Arsenal 2 (4th March 08):
Kolo Toure out, Philippe Senderos in
Robin van Persie out (on bench after injury), Emmanuel Eboue in
Tomas Rosicky out, Abou Diaby in

Manchester United 0 Arsenal 1 (17th November 06):
Thierry Henry out, Emmanuel Adebayor in
Robin van Persie out, Fredrik Ljungberg in
Gael Clichy out, Johan Djourou in

Arsenal 2 Juventus 0 (28th March 06):
Sol Campbell out, Philippe Senderos in
Ashley Cole out, Mathieu Flamini in
Lauren out, Emmanuel Eboue in

Real Madrid 0 Arsenal 1 (21st February 06):
Sol Campbell out, Philippe Senderos in
Ashley Cole out, Mathieu Flamini in
Lauren out, Emmanuel Eboue in 

Inter Milan 1 Arsenal 5 (25th November 03):
Patrick Vieira out, Ray Parlour in
Lauren out, Pascal Cygan in
Dennis Bergkamp out, Kanu in

Roma 1 Arsenal 3 (27th November 02):
David Seaman out, Rami Shaaban in
Dennis Bergkamp out, Sylvain Wiltord in
Lauren out, Oleg Luzhny in
Martin Keown out, Pascal Cygan in

Manchester United 0 Arsenal 1 (8th May 02):
Robert Pires out, Edu in
Thierry Henry out, Kanu in

Arsenal 3 Manchester United 1 (25th November 01):
David Seaman out, Stuart Taylor in
Martin Keown out, Matthew Upson in

Of course, this is hardly to say that we could turn up at the Nou Camp with Mark Randall running the midfield and come away with an emphatic win - things can go wrong when the team's missing the big guns, which was how we learned more about Pascal Cygan. But it does show that we can get big results with a line-up about as incongruously mixed as Harry Redknapp's facial features.

As for last night, a point was probably what we deserved. We had some luck at our end; Stewart Downing missed a header which Verne Troyer could have put away, while Agbonlahor's pace was causing all sorts of problems. We can thank Manuel Almunia for a couple of impressive saves and a fairly solid performance, without which we might have left Villa Park completely empty-handed.

Sol Campbell put in a classic centre-back's performance, dealing with crosses and generally using his bulk to quell Villa's creativity down the middle. William Gallas played well yet again, showing plenty of authority and handling Agbonlahor much better than he did in their last meeting at the Emirates - I don't think too many would disagree with me when I say that he's been the best centre-back out of any in the top four this season, and certainly a contender for the best in the league. Gael Clichy, on the other hand, won't exactly be delighted with his contribution, having spent much of the first half frantically dragging himself through Ashley Young's muddy wake; however, he upped his game after the break and showed signs that he can get back to form on Sunday.

Tomas Rosicky was causing Villa plenty of problems, and seems to be improving with each game. His composure and decision-making can be vital when other Arsenal forwards are struggling - ie. receiving the ball on the edge of the area, screaming "you do it" and passing it back to a weary Fabregas. He has a great understanding with the captain, and the way they combine in passing movements just goes to show how the team can benefit from two best friends playing together. Oh, to be back in the heady days of that inseparable pair, Adebayor and Bendtner...

Bendtner himself looked fairly sharp considering how long he's been out, but this might be something to do with his postponed return. He had expected to be back in time for the first Bolton game, but had to wait an extra ten days after Wenger figured out that much of our problem with injuries comes down to rushing players back when they are, in fact, still injured. I can only imagine what he was planning before he realised this - maybe next month we were to be treated to a wincing, sobbing van Persie tottering about the penalty area on crutches in a hopelessly offside position, pleading for a substitution while his manager watched on with pride.

Speaking of injury returns, Samir Nasri looked deadly when he came on and I found myself wishing he had been introduced even just a couple of minutes earlier. He was the catalyst in our late, desperate surge, and I hope he starts the next match if he's going to play like that.

Anyway, with Robin van Persie the only first-choice player certain to miss out on Sunday, and Vermaelen possibly still available, we shouldn't be panicking about our chances against United. If Rami Shaaban and Pascal Cygan could handle one of the greatest attacking teams around in 2002, anything is possible.