Benjani, Lomana LuaLua and Andy Cole are all certain to miss the game with injury meaning Kanu is the only one who could be available for the game but the former Gunner will face a late fitness test so might not make it.
If he doesn't, we may be forced to play a 5-5-0 or a 4-6-0 formation as although Sol Campbell was once a striker, he has ruled himself out of playing in that role and I believe that away to Arsenal, defence has to be your first priority and we cannot afford to lose our best man at the back for such a difficult match.
The match will be made slightly easier with the news that Theirry Henry will definately miss out and that William Gallas is also unlikely to be fit in time to play. Henry's absense will be significant as out of the 11 goals we have conceded to Arsenal in the league, 7 have been scored by the Frenchman. 2 have been scored by Jose Antonio Reyes who is currently with Real Madrid, another by Dennis Bergkamp who is now retired and can you remember who got the other one?
That's right, it was ironically a screamer scored by our very own Sol Campbell! So none of Arsenal's previous scorers will be featuring for them tommorow. However that still leaves the likes of van Persie, Adebayor, Fabregas, Gilberto, Rosicky, Hleb, Walcott and Ljungberg to deal with. Then there's still the task of scoring past Lehmann with the likes of Kolo Toure in front of him who has been an absolute rock this season.
Apart from our striker problems, we don't have any new injuries anywhere else to contend with. Pedro Mendes is back from suspension to pack a midfield contained of Sean Davis, Gary O'Neil and Manuel Fernandes with either Matthew Taylor or Niko Kranjcar playing on the left. Taylor might be forced to play up front should Kanu be absent.
I think even if we did have a fully fit squad to choose from we would go to Arsenal and pack the midfield in an attempt to frustrate the home side. The only way I can see us scoring is via a set piece as Arsene Wenger's side have already conceded a few goals from corners this season whilst we have scored 5 from corners, which is higher than any other team in the league.
The match will pit 3rd against 4th in the league. An unlikely win would see us leap above our opponents back into a third although I'd take a draw as we'd be likely to stay in the top 6 despite other results. However if we get heavily beaten we could drop to 8th by the end of the weekend if results really go against us.
I feel we are capable of a draw. We managed it at Anfield which is arguably a tougher place to go and the Gunners' home form has been very inconsistant.
Arsenal's league results at the Emirates have followed a pattern so far this season. If they score first, it could be a long afternoon for us as they have gone on to win 3-0 in every game in which they have done so. However if Arsenal concede first, the result has always ended up as 1-1 until now.
So it would be great if we could score first, if only we had some strikers....
Premiership Past: Arsenal vs Pompey
03/04: Arsenal 1 Pompey 1
A very controversial game in which Arsenal could consider themselves very lucky to have got something to preserve an unbeaten run that would last an entire season. Arsenal fans' favourite player; Teddy Sheringham had put us a goal up but then a blatant dive by Robert Pires gave the hosts a penalty that Theirry Henry had to take twice to score. On the face of it, a draw was a good result to keep our own unbeaten run going but it could have been so much more if it wasn't for a clear act of cheating.
04/05: Arsenal 3 Pompey 0
Theirry Henry showed just how much of a Pompey fan he was as he scored a hat-trick to easily dispose of the visitors. The pick of the bunch was a free kick that was pushed into the net acrobatically by Kostas Chalkias.
05/06: Arsenal 4 Pompey 0
Portsmouth reserves were torn apart in the first half on a freezing cold night at Highbury. Reyes, Bergkamp and two from Henry (one a penalty) ensured it would be a miserable last ever visit to the famous old stadium as Harry clearly had the home game against Fulham as priority.
Pundit Watch
Lawro: Home Win (2-0)
Sky Sports: Home Win (2-0)
SoccerNet: Home Win