A good start to an important week

So we are on top of the Premiership going into the most important week of our season so far. On Wednesday we take on FK Partizan at home in a tie which will determine our further progress in this year’s Champions League campaign, then on Monday night we travel to Old Trafford for a top of the table clash with Manchester United.

Yesterday’s laboured victory over Fulham was anything but convincing, with the strikers showing the usual profligacy in front of goal and the defenders still looking as shaky as ever. However, Djourou seems to be coming into his own as a key member of the central defence with a more solid performance than before. With Koscielny out for three weeks and Vermaelen still nowhere to be seen, the young Swiss with have the chance of his life against the likes of Man United and Chelsea in the coming weeks.

With our home form still stuttering, we should not take the mid-week game for granted. FK Partizan is the weakest team in the Group but that what we said of West Brom and Newcastle who ended up leaving the Emirates with maximum points. It still remains to be seen if we can continue our goal-scoring home form for European games by hitting six past Partizan.

The match I am more looking forward to is next Monday’s match at Old Trafford. Last year, we dominated the match only to lose again courtesy of two individual mistakes. This year the mistakes have not abated but we seem to perform better on the road so there is reason to be optimistic. Win that match and we would be four points clear of the Red Devils and possibly more from Chelsea (as the Blues take on Spurs).

All in all the victory yesterday was much needed not least to start the month on a high note but also to show that we are capable to going to the top and staying there until the end of the season.