http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/feb2009/0/8/Image_1_for_Arsenal_30_Cardiff_gallery_173887226.jpgArsene Wenger’s November curse was going nowhere so here comes the long absence of Arsenal’s most prolific striker over the past 12 months.

More irritating should be where and how Van Persie sustained this frustrating blow but like every year, Arsenal will have to show how best they can fare without one of the squad’s major assets.

Last year, it was Fabregas and Walcott, the year before, Eduardo and Rosicky ended the campaign too soon.

The latter duo have been relatively fit options this campaign and will be a key part of any reshuffling Wenger does to his line-up to compensate the loss of Van Persie.

So that leaves a significant talking point here. How should Van Persie be replaced?

The obvious answer will be to fill the void with an equally capable Eduardo or perhaps Carlos Vela, but we are well aware of how this left-footed, cool-finishing pair have hardly found much action due to niggling injuries here and there.

Eduardo – still healing off the horrific incident of February 2008 – has proved as fragile as Van Persie was prior to last season, while Vela has made less than five appearances in an Arsenal shirt this term.

With Walcott and Bendtner ruled out for a while, it appears Arsenal now lacks a single out-and-out striker who is fully fit and unlikely to be stricken. That is if you exclude Arshavin who is of a mere midfielder’s height and thus, omitted from the club’s list of true strikers in the ‘first team profile’ on the official site.

Diaby – also nursing a wound – may come to mind as the man with enough power to play upfront centrally (but perhaps only as an ’emergency striker’) while the likes of Fabregas, Nasri and Ramsey do have the finishing prowess of a striker but are much suited to a supporting role.

As it stands, granted they are fit, Eduardo and Vela are the main choices of strikers going into next Saturday’s visit to Sunderland, but before January comes, how else can Arsenal deal with this shortened amount of out-and-out strikers?

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