London, Nov 21: Arsenal and their players have already shelled out a grand total of 265,000 pounds in fines as a result of the ugly fracas that erupted at the end of an ill-tempered draw with Manchester United in September. Tomorrow, the premiership leaders will start to discover whether they will pay an even greater price for their indiscipline in the hard currency of points. Bans imposed in tandem with the fines mean manager Arsene Wenger will have to do without Captain Patrick Vieira, fellow midfielder Ray Parlour and defenders Martin Keown and Lauren for an awkward trip to fifth-placed Birmingham. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed arsenal got off lightly as part of a deal with the football association chiefs.
The likelihood of such connivance however is diminished by the fact that Vieira and Parlour will be absent for a match that a third central midfielder, Gilberto, will also be missing.

After playing for his country in Wednesday's world cup qualifier against Uruguay, the Brazilian will not have sufficient time to recover from the combined effects of the match, a 12-hour flight to London and his jet-lag.
With the gunners facing a must-win champions league encounter next week, Wenger has decided in advance that Gilberto, who scored an own goal in Brazil's 3-3 draw, will have the weekend off.
"Gilberto will come back Friday afternoon and we have had bad experiences with players coming back," the Frenchman told Arsenal.com.
Bureau Report