Home against the Boro: team selection

Now the FA Cup horse has bolted, the harsh lessons of team selection will have been hopefully learned. I am still bewildered by Arsene's decision to leave Nasri, Arshavin and Song on the bench against Chelsea, but still, I'm confident he will rest key players today.

It is a no brainer. Man U on wednesday, Everton and Villa both dropped points yesterday, we should coast into the Champions League places. He does keep going on about getting third place which would mean automatic qualification into the Champions League, but I think that will be a bonus rather than a realistic expectation.

So, as for today, the one area sadly he cannot rest players is in defence. Djourou has resumed full training but I suspect he will at the least get a sub appearance, we can't afford to lose any more defenders before wednesday. He may well rest Sagna as well.

So I am guessing Fabianski, Gibbs, Silvestre, Toure, Sagna/Eboue

In midfield, I wouldn't be surprised in Fabregas, or Nasri and/or Theo are rested, Arshavin will definitely start. So dont be surprised to see Arshavin, Diaby/Denilson/Song/Ramsey even Vela and if not playing in defence, Eboue might start on the right wing.

Up front, you might see Eduardo and Bendtner but expect Adebayor to feature as a substitute at some stage.

I really hope Arsene doesn't risk some of the big names to guarantee victory in this game. A draw, whilst annoying, is perfectly acceptable in the grand scheme of things. We cannot leave Old Trafford with the tie being out of sight. It is imperative that we are still in the tie approaching the second leg at the Emirates. More on the Champions league game later.

My prediction for today's game: 2-1 Arsenal.

Enjoy the sunshine...