Title race? We were never out of it were we?

So we're travelling to visiting les spuds tonight then, at least it's not a long journey, just got to get from the good part of North London to the sh*t part. This is it then, regardless of the result this is where we see whether or not the team want it. Manure didn't pick up the win yesterday, it's a North London derby and questions have been asked about your mentality. If you ever wanted to prove you could perform on the big stage, tonight is bloody well the night. Cesc Fabregas has been speaking as well, saying that the club is at a 'crossroads' and must decide whether to become a bit more ambitious in the transfer market and be champions or become also-rans.

The boss has been urging the side to kick on and prove they have what it takes this evening, you'd think this isn't necessary ahead of a match of this importance, but never mind that, let's focus on the match. In the build up, the boss spoke about the difference STD and Monkey-man have made to Spuds. Let's move on to the good team though, with Song and Sagna both fit to start against the anti-Arsenal Tottensh*t. We should pretty much have a full team then with only Fabianski and Vermaelen still not involved so will probably line up with something like:

------------------Szczesny------------------

--Sagna---Djourou--Koscielny---Clichy--

-------------Song------Wilshere------------

--Walcott-------Fabregas---------Nasri---

---------------------RVP--------------------

As always an Arshavin could creep into the line-up, Nasri played the full 90 minutes on Sunday while Tottertott rested last weekend, but that's a decent shout for the line-up I reckon.

One other thing, speculation about a centre-back in the summer seems to have unsettled Kyle Bartley, make your own mind up about this one but personally I'd rather keep him than buy someone else. As always, videos galore so here's the boss pre-match. Enjoy and let's hope for three points tonight. :)

A footballing feast in store for us?

It's the big one this evening, as we all know my hometown team Crewe Alexandra will be taking on local rivals Macclesfield Town in the South Cheshire derby; but perhaps just as importantly it's the second leg of our champions league tie against Barcelona. Where to begin?

I suppose team news would be the best place to start with uncertainty in Barcelona's defence and our attack. With Pique suspended and Puyol set to miss out as well, it looks like Busquets and Abidal are set to deputise in central defence, although both are good players, they're not Puyol and Pique. As excpected Maxwell should feature at left-back and Mascherano as the holding midfielder. On to the good team now, Szczesny should feature in goal, with the Clichy-Djourou-Koscielny-Sagna defence basically first choice. Hopefully Koscielny has got the Wembley horrors out of his system and will be more than ready for Barcelona. In midfield Fabregas looks set to feature, declaring himself ready not only physically, but mentally as well.

Alongside him, we can obviously expect to see Jack Wilshere in his usual role, alongside either Diaby or Denilson. This is the first contentious point. Diaby offers a greater threat and is able to surge forward with his runs from deep, but he's also more of a liability as Denilson usually plays the safer pass and slots into the defence better. I think Denilson will get the nod to fill in for Song here, but I could easily be wrong. In attack, we can obviously expect to see Nasri and Arshavin on the flanks. Up front is a real tricky one. We know that Robin Van Persie's return is a major boost for the club, as reiterated by the captain, but is he really fit enough to start?

If so then problem solved, if not then it's a toss-up between Marouane Chamakh and Nicklas Bendtner. Take your pick again really; Bendtner is a more varied player and definitely looks to have more goals about him, but Chamakh holds up play and links up better than Bendtner, important if we look to play on the counter. I'll probably go out on a limb and say the Great Dane will start, but once again I wouldn't put money on it. We're yet to see who will be trimmed from the 19-man squad. Van Persie will be included provided he passes his fitness test which I've been led to believe he has. Someone along the lines of Rosicky or Gibbs will probably find themselves axed then.

Other kind build-up stuff: Arsenal icon Nigel Winterburn has been speaking to TalkShiteSport about just how important the return of RVP could be; the Mirror on how much Cesc wants to shut people up and just wants to win and also the Mirror again with some less than less than polite words from Pep Guardiola about Jack Wilshere.

Loads of news as well, Wenger says that 'Fabregas is a winner' and that winning is going to be the only thing in his mind tonight. As with quite a few other players, Gael Clichy's contract talks will be sorted in the summer. Two stories from the Metro, I don't believe this one and don't care about this one. This is from caught offside, I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted him given his brilliant performances in the Dutch league, but they'll most likely have to keep their grubby hands to themselves as I'm sure this is one Wenger will look to hold onto. Former Gunner Mathieu Flamini has been talking about how he likes beating Spurs to help Arsenal, that's nice of him, let's hope Spurs get humiliated in midweek then. Also, another ex-Arsenal man in the form of Jeremie Aliadiere has been training with the club, which is nice for him. He never really had the ability to make it at Arsenal and injuries were a problem for him as well, but I hope that he finds himself a decent club for next season, he's certainly good enough for most teams.

Remember people, Macclesfield - Crewe tonight. It just doesn't get bigger than this.