Has Carlos Vela earned a start at Sunderland?

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Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
18 Sep	3:00 PM	P	Sunderland (A)	1	1	Draw

You can't exactly argue with the statistics: three goals in little over forty minutes of football this season - has Carlos Vela's clinical finishing earned him a place in Arsenal's starting lineup for the weekend?

Of course it is important to remember that scoring at 3-0 or 4-0 at home is a lot easier than it is at 0-0, or 1-0 down away from home.

Sunderland won't be an easy game, especially as the fixtures are now coming thick and fast, and Arsène Wenger has hinted he will be rotating once again this week, following the Bolton and Braga games in quick succession.

He said: "It's important for our season as well that we're capable of going from Champions League to the Premier League. From Wednesday night to Saturday afternoon is short but we can rotate a little bit."

The issue at the moment is, where would Vela fit in? Chamakh, if he maintains his current form, has made himself undroppable, and these days we only play with one striker. If anyone from the Braga game could be dropped it would be Nasri, but you wouldn't want to see Wenger playing Vela out wide. Like playing Eduardo there, it's just wishful thinking; just because they're fast and left footed, doesn't mean they're left wingers. Vela needs to be taking up the kind of positions he has been in the last two games, where he has scored true striker's goals.

To be honest, it's nice and unexpected that with both van Persie and Bendtner out we still feel spoilt for choice upfront. Whoever out of Chamakh and Vela starts at the Stadium of Light can score or make a decisive impact. And from what he's shown so far this season, Vela could even do that in ten or fifteen minutes of playing time.

The 6-0 win on Wednesday has got everyone (even me) buzzing, but it's a completely different challenge on Saturday, and if it's one we still haven't learned to deal with then it'll feel like we're back to square one.

Chelsea are flying - it's crucial to keep up the pace. United look poor and have just lost assist-machine Antonio Valencia for possibly the rest of the season - it's crucial to make the most of their slip-ups.

It's more likely to be a repeat of the Blackburn win rather than Braga in terms of style, but with prolific strikers you've always got a chance of nicking a goal. And two tricky away wins in a row would show real progress.

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