Arsenal hit by striker blow

Although the Champions League has once again started to dominate the sporting news, a season-defining moment has potentially slipped under the radar for Arsenal as Robin Van Persie has once again been ruled out for the Gunners because of an injury problem.

Arsene Wenger has suggested that the injury to Van Persie is only a short term one, thus potentially reducing the need to worry, but the fact remains that the Frenchman suggested the exact same thing about Thomas Vermaelen, as well as Tomas Rosicky, and both these players ended up spending a considerably longer period of time on the sidelines than had initially been anticipated by Wenger and the Arsenal medical staff.



With the Gunners an almost entirely different prospect with Van Persie on the field compared to when he is not taking part, Wenger will be well aware that his side will need their star striker to be fit and at his very best.



Despite this, the absence of Van Persie should allow the likes of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas to show once more that they are the real heartbeat of the side and that Arsenal are a team that can more than cope with the absence of a player who has in all honesty been absent more often than not for Arsenal in the last two years, something that has left Wenger forced to defend his decision to continue to employ the injury-prone Dutchman as the main striker in the club's 4-3-3 formation.



As the Gunners seek to make sure that they end the week as both Carling Cup champions and still very much in the Premier League race, the fitness of Van Persie will once again be placed under the spotlight.