In retrospect, Arsene must’ve wished he’d kept quiet when declaring November a terrible month for injuries. Arsenal have been an attacking Premiership whirlwind up till now, with Robin Van Persie being as integral as Cesc Fabregas in cutting defences across the country to pieces. Holland’s friendly game with Italy on Saturday, however, has unfortunately proved Wenger right, with Van Persie leaving the field less than fifteen minutes into the match, following a challenge by Giorgio Chiellini.
The Dutch FA have this afternoon confirmed the injury as torn ankle ligaments, which will mean a lengthy lay-off of at least three months on the sidelines for the striker, although some reports fear he may now miss the rest of the season. One thing, however, is for certain; Robin’s on his way out for all us FPL managers who currently have him in their squads. Being Arsenal’s main set-piece taker as well as the figurehead of Wenger’s new 4-2-3-1 system has saw the Dutchman grab 85pts already in FPL this season, the third highest total in the game, behind only Cesc and Didier Drogba respectively.
Nicklas Bendtner, currently ruled out until mid December following an operation to resolve a groin problem, will certainly come into the equation and there’s every chance, once recovered, the big Dane’s wish for a centre forward role will be granted by the Arsenal boss. At present, though, the Gunner’s choices for centre-forwards are pretty much whittled down to one man in particular; Eduardo.
Coming in at 7.7m in FPL, the Croatian hitman could be an absolute steal if Wenger’s boys continue to score as freely as they have been doing this campaign, and with the new system proving so effective, it seems natural that Arsene will continue to employ the formation in spite of this enforced change in personnel.
With regards to availability, Eduardo seems to be coming back to full fitness following “that tackle” and has failed to play a part in only three league games so far this season. The forward seems set for a decent run of consecutive starts, and a look at Arsenal’s fixture list shows that he’ll surely be leading the line against Sunderland, Chelsea, Man City and Stoke before Bendtner is available for selection again, possibly at Anfield on December 13. Pleasing for Arsenal fans will be the fact their number nine showed good form by scoring twice at the weekend in his adopted country Croatia’s 5-0 destruction of Liechtenstein.
Thirty-six goals from eleven games sees Arsenal as the Premiership’s top scorers and playing in front of an on-form Cesc Fabregas has helped Van Persie plunder seven goals already this league campaign. If Eduardo can replicate that sort of return, he could well be the best value-for-money forward over the coming FPL months.