Arsenal have named a strong squad for the game. New signings Marouane Chamakh and Laurent Koscielny are both in there, as are the likes of Andrei Arshavin, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Thomas Vermaelen, Theo Walcott, and Jack Wilshere.
If we were playing Barnet in a League Cup or FA Cup game, I'd expect Arsenal to wipe the floor with them no matter what squad we put out, but friendlies can be strange games and odd results are actually pretty normal. This fixture has thrown up a couple of draws, narrow Arsenal victories, as well as complete pastings.
The one thing it hasn't thrown up so far is a Barnet victory, but I'm sure it will one of these years. I remember a couple of years ago Barnet took the lead and Arsenal didn't equalise until well into the second half when we'd taken off all the first team players, and that's as close as they've come.
Arsenal losing this game would, I guess, be quite annoying but nothing more than that. Obviously as fans we want Arsenal to win every game but for the team the result is not the important factor today, it's an exercise in fitness and getting back in the groove after their time off.
For Barnet, this game is pretty important —not in terms of the result, but financially it's a big boost for them. Supporting a team like Arsenal, you forget the struggles some clubs have just to keep their heads above water.
A full house of fans (something Arsenal take for granted) paying £15 or so a head is not a small matter for Barnet, neither is Arsenal's continued affiliation with them, using Underhill for reserve fixtures and so on.
Given that Arsenal are a very multi-national club, with strong ties to France and Europe in general, there's no reason we couldn't have a connection like this with a club in Austria (for instance) where we do our preseason training camp. We certainly have the resources to host our own reserve games as well, but I think it's a good thing that the club chooses to maintain this relationship with a local club, even if it's not strictly necessary.
Personally, I think the Premier League should be doing more to help clubs further down the English league structure, to raise the level of the whole English club game, not just the top division.
Relationships like the one Arsenal and Barnet (and many other Premier League clubs have with local lower league teams) have are a step in that direction, and I hope it's maintained for many years to come.
Even though it's a friendly, even though it's meaningless and likely to be a slow and fairly dull game, I can't help but be excited. Football, real football, not the dross we had in the World Cup, is back!
In a quick round-up of the news this morning, there's only the one story, and it's Barcelona president Sandro Rosell admitting that he and his club have irritated Arsenal to the point that their resolve not to sell Cesc Fabregas is very strong indeed. He then goes on to say that if they don't buy Cesc this year, they'll buy him next year. So the lesson's clearly been lost on him.
Not finished there, Rosell says Barcelona would not pay 60 or 70 million euros for Fabregas, they'd only pay his market value. Unfortunately for Rosell and Barcelona, 60 or 70 million euros probably is Cesc's market value, and the passing of a year will do little to change that as he will still have three or four years left on his contract next summer.
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