There's a shade more colour in those haggard cheeks, a bit more gleam in the aquiline peepers, an extra degree of pride in the angle of his beak.

The Arsenal manager is clearly savouring the silence of his critics.

When he flogged two of his finest players - Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure - to direct rivals Manchester City during the off-season, and shopped with frustrating caution, Arsenal's top-four credentials were widely questioned. The club's title prospects were not even seriously discussed.

No longer. Wenger's troops are keeping pace with Manchester United in the Premier League race, and today they have a handy opportunity to trim Chelsea's lead to five points and retain a game in hand.

But Chelsea's visit to the Emirates Stadium represents a risk as well as an opportunity. Under the tutelage of Carlo Ancelotti, the Blues have lost none of the slick cohesion they possessed under Guus Hiddink.

Strike duo Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba are both in imperious form - and Arsenal's perennial mid-season defensive crisis has come sooner than usual.

William Gallas is unlikely to play as his eye remains swollen from a clash of heads with Andrei Arshavin in this week's Champions League victory over Standard Liege.

The natural deputy for Gallas would be Johan Djourou, who is crocked. That leaves the rickety Mikael Silvestre, or the somewhat ponderous Philippe Senderos.

Left backs Gael Clichy and Kieran Gibbs are both out injured, so Silvestre may have to fill in as a fullback.

If that is the case and Senderos gets the nod, Drogba would cheer silently: the Swiss centreback has been destroyed by Drogba in three previous encounters.

With the excellent Thomas Vermaelen at his shoulder, Senderos might redefine the relationship, but perhaps retreading Alex Song for the night would be a safer bet.

Another big worry for Wenger is up front, where he lacks the services of Nicklas Bendtner and Robin van Persie, who has matured into a wonderfully efficient centre forward.

The Gunners drew their first blank of the season in the Dutchman's absence, with Eduardo da Silva looking anaemic when asked to lead the line.

So Wenger faces the scenario that all the doubters predicted: a critical game amid an injury crisis that exposes the iffy pedigree at the fringes of his squad.

It's all very well having 11 exceptional players, but titles are won by 16 stars. The grave risks of persistent under-investment will be on display earlier this afternoon in the Merseyside derby - a clash between a fading giant and another struggling to reawaken.

Everton and Liverpool share an inescapable inability to compete financially with Chelsea and Man United. While Wenger's budgets are similarly modest, he seems to have the talent-spotting vision to defy financial gravity.

But only a title triumph will prove that conclusively.