Sheffield United 0 Arsenal 3 (Eduardo 7, 50, Denilson 68)

Pat Rice sends the players to applaud the fans, which should go without saying. Good performacne. Playa ratings up later. Thanks for reading.

Full time.

92 mins: Gibbs shot from 30 yards is saved almost in slow motion by their keeper.

91 mins: It’s all been very easy. When you saw a half empty ground you wondered how up for it their players would be, and so it proved. But still, a very professional performance and almost everyone has looked very sharp.

90 mins: Song charges forward but his 30 yard shot was way off target.

89 mins: Diarra loses the ball for once but wins it back imperiously. I like Merida on the ball.

88 mins: Fabianski collects a long bacll and we play it out. Lansbury looks confident on the ball as does Barazite. Merida plays a couple of nice reverse passes. Denilson collects the second one and fires not far wide from 25 yards.

87 mins: And now… we see Merida. He will replace Diaby, who has not been the pick of our players tonight.

85 mins: Lansbury gets his first touch but his passed is blocked. Then he tackles back well.

84 mins: Bendtner has shot blocked and Diaby fires over from the edge of the box. Eduardo is caught by Morgan and goes down. He will be replaced by Nacer Barazite. Eduardo looks ok and trots off.

83 mins: Lansbury for Walcott. Interestingly, no sign of Merida. Were whispers in a couple of papers that he hasn’t come along quite as hoped. We shall see.

81 mins: Apologies for the site having problems for a couple of minutes there. Nothing happened. Lansbury is getting ready to come on.

78 mins: Denilson looks for Bendtner with a long ball but the keeper gathers. Still no subs.

77 mins: Diaby feeds Eduardo on the left but his shot is deflected over. Corner is cleared.

77 mins: Thought: The attendance is poor and by definition the game must have been overpriced. Shame.

76 mins: Great move sees Diarra cross and Bendtner inches away from getting there. Lovely football.

75 mins: Gilberto drops back to head clear. He’s done well. Eduardo finds Bendtner whose shot is blocked.

74 mins: Keith Gillespie will replace Michael Tongue. Song finally puts a foot wrong but then their guy whacks it straight out.

73 mins: Bendtner tries to wriggle through but can’t quite. Has done well.

72 mins: Chelsea 2-2 with leicester.

71 mins: Gibbs comes forward, is encouraged to shoot by the fans behind the goal and fires it over the bar. He’s done well Gibbs.

70 mins: Almost a Sheff U goal. Hoyte only flicks on free-kick, Lucketti turns it towards goal and Gilberto knocks it off the line. Good defending.

69 mins: It indeed deflect off Morgan. How apt. He got it thirty yards out, came forward, hit it and the deflection helped us no doubt.

68 mins: 3-0! Denilson. Looked like it deflected. Subs. Now please.

68 mins: Theo bursts through but Webber gets back to tackle him. Our throw.

67 mins: Cheers for all your comments re the commentary. Song tidies up neatly. Or at least more neatly than he ever has in midfield.

66 mins: You sense that one more goal and Arsene will make a load of subs.

65 mins: That was really close and good work. You just somehow felt he might just miss it. Come on, let’s see Merida!

65 mins: Bendtner releases Theo with a lovely ball. He takes it off his man, does really well, rounds the keeper and then thumps his shot off the near post. So close.

64 mins: Webber and Sharpe nearly link-up but Diarra does well.

63 mins: You missed nothing other than a couple of double subs from their lot.

63 mins: Sorry, site seemed to go down there briefly.

59 mins: We’re just knocking it around quite comfortably. Performance wise so far: Fab 6.5, Hoyte, Song both 7, Gibbs and Diarra 7.5, Gilberto, Denilson, Walcott all 7, Diaby 6, Eduardo 8, Bendtner 7.5.

57 mins: Not a lot happening. Eduardo is penalised for fouling Morgan. Wouldn’t mind seeing Merida get a run-out. That would do nicely.

56 mins: Bendtner loses it and Sheff U break but Sharp’s cross is cut out by Hoyte.

55 mins: Long ball from Gilberto to Eduardo who does very well to keep it in. We’re dominating.

53 mins: Do me a favour if you don’t mind: It’s very hard for me to work out how many different people are reading this. If you are, then please just leave a comment (you don’t need to use your real name or even say anything) in the box below. Please just do it once. Would be much appreciated. Cheers.

52 mins: Montgommery crosses for Stead who tries to get in front of Song. He makes it but our man does well enough to ensure the ball flies well over. Decent defending on balance.

51 mins: Bendtner looks for Eduardo with a nice chip but the keeper gets there first.

50 mins: Gibbs hit it long for Eduardo who was in acres of space. Excellent low finish. We’re looking comfortable now.

49 mins: I didn’t see the previous round so this is my first look of Song at centre-back. He looks very comfortable. 2-0! Eduardo.

49 mins: Gibbs and Diaby link to win a throw. Comes to nothing.

48 mins: Bendtner turns well bit his cross is overhit and goes out for a throw. The ball ends up being booted through to Fab.

47 mins: Diarra as right mid instead of Eboue would certainly be interesting I reckon.

47 mins: Traore is on international duty I believe. Diarra wins a free-kick.

46 mins: Sheff U free-kick. Swung in and chested on straight through to Fabianski.

45 mins: We kick off. No changes. Going from right to left now.Song goes long and it’s headed out and hoofed clear. Then Song defends well again.

And we’re back…

Half time summary: We’re 1-0 up thanks to Eduardo’s rocket. We haven’t so much spurned a load of chances as not made the most of a load of promising positions. You can’t really complain, it’s just that we could have put this to bed by now really. Back for the second half.

45 mins: Denilson dinks it for Walcott and it nearly but doesn’t quite come off. Half time.

45 mins: Marwood reckons we will want to get a second goal here. Gee. Thanks for that.

44 mins: Good covering from Gilberto. Bendtner wins a cheapish free-kick 30 yards out.

43 mins: Good work from Sheff U after poor work from Diaby. Then the cross is way overhit.

42 mins: Diaby goes down but appears to be recovering. Got a knee to his back but nothing much.

40 mins: Great run by Walcott who again stays on his feet when he could have gone down. Snuffed out in the end.

39 mins: Armstrong’s cross is punched out semi convincingly. Then when it comes back in Gilberto clears and Stead fouls him.

38 mins: Which reminds me of what a joke their pitch was in last season’s game. Stead and Armstrong link up and the ball is crossed and cleared for a throw. Then it is crossed back in and Stead hooks it wide.

37 mins: Diaby finds Walcott who makes a complete mess of it and screws his shot wide. It did bounce really badly in fairness.

36 mins: Throw to us in right-back position.

35 mins: The early goes means we seem to lack a little urgency, which you can understand in fairness.

34 mins: The immaculate Diarra looks like he has lost it but does brilliantly to find Bendtner. Is then fouled by Morgan innocuously in fairness. Marwood giving it terrific pro crap.

34 mins: A defensive cock-up lets Walcott in. His low cross is just cut out. Foul was given against Bendtner in any case.

33 mins: It is headed out. Then Walcott loses it and fouls his man.

32 mins: Much better from Diaby. He feeds Gibbs and he wins a corner. Let’s make this count.

32 mins: I’d like to see us be a little more clinical. We’re totally dominating.

31 mins: Eduardo does very well down the wing and crosses low. It is cleared. Good ball and Walcott should probably have been more alert to it.

30 mins: We’re passong it about, Marwood is just talking rubbish.

29 mins: Diarra looks very strong on the ball. Diaby’s cross is overhit and goes out for a goal-kick.

28 mins: Too much passing on the edge of their box. Diaby, who has not yet clicked, loses it.

27 mins: Another home free-kick at their very quiet ground. Lucketti heads it across but Fab is very cool under pressure.

26 mins: Fabianski gathers the free-kick at the second attempt. Formation is 442. Gilberto and Denilson in central midfield.

25 mins: Gilberto and Theo try to link-up but the pass is overhit from the Englishman. Song is penalised for climbing.

24 mins: Carney does well, Gibbs tackles him well, finds Diaby, who loses it poorly. Then Theo wins a throw.

23 mins: Song wins a header. Then Walcott is hacked by Armstrong who is lucky to escape a booking.

22 mins: Long throw is easily caught by Fabianski. Bendtner controls his throw brilliantly but eschews the chance to shoot and his ball for Walcott was over hit. Should have shot.

21 mins: Other scores: Chelsea 1 Leicester 1, Pompey 0 Blackburn 1. Spurs 0-0.

21 mins: It is Eduardo and it’s poor - straight into the ball. Gibbs’ cross is caught.

20 mins: Walcott runs towards the box and is fouled a yard outside. Eduardo you would imagine.

19 mins: Diaby is playing very infield and with Gibbs finding his feet, most stuff is coming down our right.

18 mins: Gibbs left-back and Diarra right-back. Bendtner finds Walcott down the wing. Throw.

17 mins: To sum up: We look very comfortable and very dangerous. And despite most of our defenders being played out of position, the defence look ok too.

16 mins: Denilson feeds Walcott who again is inches from getting in.

15 mins: Dave Carney takes a low pot shot from 25 yards that goes wide. Eduardo does well initially but his cross is poor.

14 mins: The excellent Diarra feeds Bendtner who plays in Walcott who nicks it past the keeper and very honestly stays on his feet when he could have gone down.

13 mins: Tongue does well and Fabianski makes a weird punch from the cross. Was weird but worked. Passenal - when did Gilberto say he did not want to be a vice-captain?

12 mins: Bendtner, who looks very sharp, plays in Walcott who is shut out. Then Diarra finds the Dane whose low cross is cut out. We’re dominating.

11 mins: Denilson plays in Walcott who doesn’t make the most of it. Then Bendtner feeds the Brazilian who skies well over when decently placed.

10 mins: Denilson is cool as a slightly over the top challenge comes in in our right back position. We have an excellent traveling following, it should be said. Loud too.

9 mins: Diarra looks neat. Song is on the right of the defence and Hoyte on the left by the way.

8 mins: Shut up Marwood. Lovely goal by the way. An eight pass build up Ian Darke tells us.

7 mins: Bendtner dropped short to collect a Song pass. He sprays it to Eduardo who hits a hammer on his left leg from 20 yards.

7 mins: 1-0! What a goal. Eduardo.

6 mins: Walcott dribbles and does fairly well before being tackled. Song wins a throw.

6 mins: Was a good save from Fabianski a couple of minutes ago.

5 mins: Corner is headed out.

4 mins: Brian Marwood is commentating, which pains me. Denilson and Diaby link-up to win a corner. Marwood is already talking crap.

3 mins: Close shave. Ball into the box and Sharp (whoever he is) gets an effort in and Fabianski saves. Long throw is headed out but comes back and eventually Denilson breaks.

2 mins: Walcott breaks out from defence, takes on a couple and is tackled. Meanwhile I have trick or treaters. No chance.

1 mins: They cause trouble in the box. Nothing too serious. Gilberto clears.

0 min: Fabianski, rather than Gilberto, is captain. Which makes those who dismissed the talk of a rift as nothing more than tabloid tittle tattle look rather foolish.

0 min: And we’re off. For what it’s worth, we’re going left to right.

Welcome to live text commentary of Sheffield United v Arsenal. If case you haven’t realised, this is an Arsenal blog, so I make no apologies for the commentary having a serious Arsenal slant towards it.

On which note, our team is: Fabianski, Hoyte, Song, Diarra, Gibbs, Diaby, Denilson, Gilberto, Walcott, Bendtner, Eduardo.
Subs: Mannone, Lansbury, G Hoyte, Merida, Barazite.

So it looks like Gibbs left-back, Hoyte centre-back, Diarra right-back and Gilberto in his favoured midfield.

The teams are out and we’re all in white. Bramall Lane is clearly not full.

IT’S Sheffield United away tonight and unless I’ve forgotten anything, we can pretty much assume it will be something along the lines of: Bendtner and Eduardo up front, Walcott on the wing, Diarra central midfield, Traore and Hoyte full-back, Song centre-back and Fabianski in goal.

That leaves one wide midfield position, one central midfield position and one central defender position. Player wise it leaves Diaby, Denilson and Gilberto. The solution is obvious, though it’s also one that place Gilberto behind Cesc, Flamini, Diarra, Denilson (and possibly Diaby) in the central midfield pecking order and you can’t imagine the Brazilian would be mighty pleased with that.

We were horrific at Bramall Lane last season and deservedly lost. Blades captain Chris Morgan (who was banned for three games for punching RVP) has been dredging up the game and bemoaning Senderos (or more likely Van Persie) asking just how much the Sheffield United players earned after the game.

I imagine this was particularly hurtful for Morgan, who you may not be aware moonlighted on the overnight shift at ASDA last December just to ensure there was food on the Morgan family’s plates come the 25th.

Seriously, the sound of someone paid just a few thousand pounds a week for kicking a ball around bemoaning the comments of someone paid a few tens of thousands a week for kicking a ball around fills me with about as much sympathy I had for Ashley when he almost crashed his car.

WITH no game until tomorrow, I thought I’d explain the whole way playa ratings are awarded because I’ve had a few people taking issue not so much with my judgment, but with the very idea of what should constitute a 3 out of 10, what should constitute a 7 out of 10 etc etc.

A major criticism is that I never give anything less than a 5 or higher than an 8. Let me explain: I am a product of the Championship Manager computer game generation where 7 was the standard rating and anything outside of the 5 to 8 bracket seriously made you blink.

For those of you too young to know what Championship Manager was, ask your older brother/cousin. And for those of you who fear you are too old to know what it is, it should probably take most of the blame for how little you saw your children when they were teenagers.

Either way, I like their ratings. Most players do not vary wildly in their performances game-by-game (to suggest they do is to over-analyse), so there is no reason to award a 3 one week and an 8 the next. Furthermore, if the very low and very high awards are banded about willy-nilly, it’s impossible to distinguish real class or true wretchedness when it does happen.

I always remember when we beat Villa 3-1 quite magnificently in the final game of our 49 game unbeaten run. The Times gave something like eight players in the whole of the Premiership 8 out of 10 (and none 9 or 10) for their performances that week. Six of those 8s went to Cesc, Vieira, Reyes, Pires, Bergkamp and Henry. Which says it all really.

Anyway, without further ado, here is proof that at the right moment I will reward the very good and the very bad:

0: Given once to Arsene after our appalling performance on Valentine’s Day 2006 at Anfield.
1: Can’t remember giving a one.
2: Pires at Anfield that night.
3: Jens against Fulham this season, Henry at Anfield that night.
4: Jens against Blackburn this season.
…I think we can agree 5, 6, 7 and 8 have all been spotted, taking us to:
9: Cesc against Derby this season.
10: Jens against Liverpool that awful night.

So there you have it. The vast majority of the time, players play reasonably well. If they are plain fine, they get a 7. If they are noticeably good a 7.5, if they are very good an 8, if they are exceptionally good an 8.5, if they are truly outstanding 9, verging on genius a 9.5, and genius 10.

Going the other way, 6.5 means there was nothing hugely wrong but it was hardly uninspiring, 6 means below par, 5.5 noticeably below par, 5 very poor, 4.5 abnormally poor, 4 even more abnormally poor, 3.5 fairly shocking, 3 shocking full stop, 2.5 a career low point, 2 inexcusable, 1.5 so bad they should not be at the club, 1 so bad they should leave now, 0.5 the low point of a career and 0 not a single crumb of comfort to be had.

PLAYA RATINGS

ALMUNIA
Blameless on the goal and a couple of decent saves you would probably expect him to make.7

SAGNA
Solid as ever and got forward to help when he could.7

TOURE
Granted, Liverpool caused us trouble in the air. But the partnership with Gallas certainly looked more solid than last season. Pushed us forward too.7

GALLAS
Ditto for Toure above and one fantastic late block - probably the first piece of truly world class, match deciding play we have seen from the former Chelsea man.7.5

CLICHY
Really fantastic energy - continually nipping in, pressuring Liverpool and largely very cool when passing the ball out of defence.7.5

CESC
One bad miss and there was the odd occasion where you didn’t feel he was 100 per cent at his swashbuckling best. And yet we’re talking about an Arsenal side who largely outplayed (or at least outpassed) Liverpool at Anfield. By definition Cesc must be a big part of that. Got goal and so unlucky to hit post.7.5

EBOUE
Usual infuriating mix of the excellent, the incompetent and the downright embarrassing. Brilliant on the ball at times, dangerously sloppy at others. And nobody doubts Carragher connected - but for once could one of these things not just bounce straight off you, Emmanuel?.6.5

FLAMINI
Caught out for the first goal twice, I thought he actually did OK and as a central defender must have been doing something right for us to enjoy all that possession.6.5

HLEB
Splendid. Anyone who says they never knew Hleb could play like this simply hadn’t watched enough of him. The problem in the past was that the effect was fleeting and all too rare. Great pass for goal and made life difficult for Liverpool all game.8

ROSICKY
A couple of moments where he looked dangerous but is still failing to take the stranglehold on games that we really want from him.6.5

ADEBAYOR
You get what it says on the tin: Not one of his best days, but worked hard, made life difficult for the Liverpool defence and well, that’s about all you can ask for from the man when he’s a little off song.6.5

SUB: WALCOTT
Continued his good form with penetrative running. Increasingly confident.7

SUB: GILBERTO
Bringing him on seemed to work. Offered an extra defensive shield in the final stages.7

SUB: BENDTNER
Missed an excellent chance after Cesc hit the post but otherwise did very well - generally causing havoc in a way our other players struggle to do so.6.5

Liverpool 1 Arsenal 1

YET again they combined.

Fabregas and Hleb had won the games against Fulham and Manchester City, smashed Slavia and yesterday won us the point we merited at Anfield.

Nothing really illustrates how improved we have been this season compared to last than the sight of those two combining to create and score goals for each other. And inevitably it’s great to watch because the pair are the two most supple players we have.

As I thought he would, Arsene started with just Adebayor up front. But instead of Gilberto or Diaby coming in, Eboue kept his place and Rosicky returned to the side. It looked okish early on, but no better.

I thought the opening goal was very cheap. Not so much how the free-kick came about because these things happen and it was just about the first foot Matthieu Flamini has put wrong all season. What annoyed me was the shot from Gerrard.

Sure, it was powerful. But it should have winded somebody in the wall - not burst our net.

Superb last minute tackle

1-0 down at Anfield is a horrible place to be in and it’s to our immense credit that we battled back. A draw was fair - this was one of those games where whatever you got was really what you deserved. Had we not scored, we could not have claimed to have done enough. Had we got two, Liverpool could hardly have complained.

Regarding Liverpool, I don’t follow that they were quite as bad as some of the more ebullient reports I read last night claimed. Sure, they don’t play football like we do - but who does? Equally though, they created very few clear cut chances after the goal.

Unless my memory fails me, all I saw until the last minute was a few long range efforts (that you expected Almunia to save) and a Crouch shot that dragged harmlessly wide. Then when Gerrard had a real shot on goal that was destined for the back of the net, Gallas blocked it magnificently.

As for us, Adebayor fluffed that one-on-one in the first half after a lovely first touch and Cesc should have had the most second blatant penalty of the season after being hauled down by Carragher. The most blatant penalty of the season was when the same player dragged down Lescott last week.

Excellent as Hleb was, I’m actually using this image to stretch the main match report so that it finishes in line with the playa ratings.

And of course we had those two woodwork hits and subsequently screwed follow-ups. I tell you - it’s come to something when we’re left criticising the players for NOT taking a chance first time.

So, on balance, we certainly deserved and made our point. That said, you sense this was the first real test before the real test.

LATE October.
TOP of the league.
Played nine, won eight, drawn one.
Confidence soaring.
A potentially tough 4pm Sunday assignment up north.
But many people think Arsenal can win.
And Myles Palmer is nearly certain about it.

Yep, things were good in October 2004.

Sadly, as we all know, they went rapidly downhill after that. Of course, many of the parallels drawn above are coincidences.

But it remains true that historically we are out our worse when a feeling of: “I actually quite fancy us” emerges. See that United game. See Zaragoza in 1995.

And whatever happens, it must not affect us like that defeat three years ago at Old Trafford did. After all, we learned last season that flying breezing through the top four games was not enough to make us.

So stumbling through them this time need not break us.