Arsene Wenger has warned that he won’t rush Fabregas and van Persie into action
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Samir Nasri and Nicklas Bendner might be on the injury sidelines, although that doesn’t mean that Arsene Wenger will select Cesc Fabregas or Robin van Persie for the Arsenal starting line-up against Blackpool, with the Frenchman reluctant to field his star duo too early.
"To have a good season you need a good preparation so we want to especially build up Cesc and Van Persie well," Wenger told the Arsenal official website.
"They came back on August 5 and you need three to four weeks preparation if you want to do well in the Premier League."
That might mean the pair occupy a place on the bench, while Alex Song and Johan Djourou have also recovered sufficiently from injury to be in contention for a place in the side. Arsenal are short of cover in central defence due to Laurent Koscielny’s red card and the club still in the hunt for Sebastien Squillaci.
Meanwhile, Brett Pitman will have to wait to make his Blackpool debut after arriving from Bournemouth this week, although defender Dekel Keinan could make his debut for the Tangerines.
Teams:
Arsenal (from): Almunia, Fabianski, Sagna, Vermaelen, Djourou, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Diaby, Arshavin, Walcott, Chamakh, Van Persie, Fabregas, Vela, Gibbs, Eboue, Rosicky.
Blackpool (from): Gilks, Keinan, Cathcart, Coid, Crainey, Eardley, Grandin, Sylvestre, Martin, Basham, Evatt, Ormerod, Harewood, Vaughan, Taylor-Fletcher, Halstead, Baptiste, Edwards, Adam, Husband.
Blackpool are 18/1 with
bet365 to win at the Emirates on Saturday.
