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1:29	Here we go ... This is pretty exciting isn't it? Arsenal and United. Let's get it on!

1:31

First up, United:

Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson, Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney.
Subs: Foster, Berbatov, Giggs, Park, Scholes, Rafael Da Silva, Evans.

Not too many surprises there. No Berbatov, as I'm guessing Jintao doesn't envision "languid" as a good way to approach this match.

1:33	And now, Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Silvestre, Gibbs, Song Billong, Diaby, Walcott, Fabregas, Nasri, Adebayor. Subs: Fabianski, Eduardo, Denilson, Ramsey, Djourou, Bendtner, Eboue. Injury-ravaged Gunners, to be sure. It's a shame Arshavin is cup-tied and unavailable.

1:38

There's some interesting names here facing suspension for the second leg if they get booked tonight:

Evra, Rooney, Diaby, Nasri, Song

You never know with Shrek, do you?

By the way, tonight's referee is Claus Bo Larsen, who you might remember from the Liverpool v. Chelsea 1st leg in the last round at Anfield. He came into that with a reputation for not booking many players – and then promptly booked John Terry, causing Ingur-land's captain to miss the 2nd leg at Stamford Bridge, which helped bring about the 4-4 cornucopia of goals. Hmmm ...

1:39

Here's the WorldReferee.com summary of Claus Bo Larsen, nicked right from the live blog of the aforementioned match:

Claus Bo Larsen does not like showing red (nor yellow) and does not like awarding penalties. In over 50 matches (see the palmares section) he sent off only six players. 4 of them were in the same match: 2004 Olympic games group match Paraguay-Italy. Of the (only) 9 penalties, 4 were also in that match.
It's been hinted that in order to make a chance to get in on a big tournament he should send some more players off.

So, there's your Claus Bo Larsen reminder.

1:40	OK, as always, fire away in the comments. Passions are running high, hard and hot for this one. What's on your mind?

1:42	One more on the referee: Claus Bo Larsen doesn't like to give penalties, Jintao demands his players be awarded penalties when playing at Old Trafford. The irresistible force meets the unmovable object. Will the Danish referee withstand the fury?

1:44	Just to make it perfectly clear: C'mon Arsenal!!!!! I'm doing yeoman's work here in Colin's place as cheering on Arsenal while being a Liverpool fan, but (I might regret this) I would *love it* if Wenger walked out tonight with at least a one-goal advantage!

1:45	1 min – Let's rock. Arsenal kicks off and longballs it down to Vidic and Co.

1:46	1 min – Hmm ... two Arsenal possessions have wrought two Arsenal longballs. That's it. It's over.

1:47	2 min – Fletcher crosses from the right and Rooney rises at the far post to head across. Almunia tips away, just, and Arsenal avoid an early disaster.

1:48	2 min – Arsenal give it away in midfield and look shaky. Then Silvestre slips and it falls to Ronaldo on the right edge of the box. He absolutely lasers one across goal but no one's there to finish. A zigging start here .

1:49	5 min – Arsenal cannot get on the ball at all in midfield and are being swarmed by multiple United players with every touch.

1:51	6 min – Well, the pace here is frantic, to say the least. If they somehow keep this up for 90 minutes, six or seven players very well could be dead by the end.

1:52	7 min – United slows it down a bit at the back and tries a more measured buildup, which doesn't work. Meanwhile, Almunia's restart ends with another longball. What's going on here Arsenal?

1:54	9 min – Old Trafford is making my ears bleed with the Ronaldo song, and he responds by trying to cut in from the right. Song tackles excellently nad it ends up an Arsenal throw in. But the Gunners cannot keep the ball at all. This is a very odd Arsenal so far.

1:56	11 min – United slowing it down and holding onto the ball in midfield.

1:56	11 min – Fletcher and Tevez play 1-2 on the right and then Tevez gives it to Ronaldo on the top edge of the box. His shot is low and soft. Almunia easily collects.

1:57	12 min – That's better from Arsenal. Cesc gets on teh ball a bi and plays Walcott into space down the right. His centering pass is cleared out by Vidic. Arsenal tries to build again but Adebayor kicks it out, thinking he was offside.

1:59	14 min – All you need to know at this point is the midfield is being owned by United. Arsenal struggling to hold for more than a few seconds. They've had no luck trying to pick out Cesc and get things going.

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