22 METROSPORT Friday, October 30, 2009 D ArsenAl youngster Fran Merida wants to stay at the club and secure a new contract but admits he is un- sure about his future while his cur- rent deal runs down. The 19-year-old spaniard im- pressed with a fine goal as liver- pool were beaten 2-1 on Wednesday in the Carling Cup. Merida, a close friend of compa- triot and Gunners team-mate Cesc Fabregas, has attracted interest from the likes of Atletico Madrid and will become a free agent at the end of the season. He said: At the moment I am talking to the club so I dont know what is going to happen. Hopefully, everything is going to be alright but we are going to sit down and talk about it. I am really happy here and things are going okay. I am really happy in london too, so we will see what happens. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is confident of securing the future of Merida, who has been tipped to make as big an impact as fellow former Barcelona youth-team play- er Fabregas in the Gunners first team. Wenger added: We are close to signing a new contract. Merida will step down again to- morrow when the senior players are restored for the north london derby against Tottenham at the emirates stadium. Wenger was dealt a blow yester- day with the news that goalkeeper lukasz Fabianski has been ruled out of action for three weeks after suffering a thigh injury against liv- erpool. Wednesdays Carling Cup tie was the Poland internationals first of the season after knee surgery. He lasted the full 90 minutes and later expressed his delight at being back in the side before it transpired he will again be sidelined. Wenger will today choose be- tween Vito Mannone and Manuel Almunia while Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Denilson and Tomas ros- icky are also ruled out. Fran states his case for new Arsenal dealBy mark curtis cHELsEa winger Florent malouda is delighted carlo ancelottis new system has transformed the Blues into a goal-scoring machine. ancelottis side rattled home another four goals in their demolition of Bolton in the fourth round of the carling cup on Wednesday. they have now netted 13 times in their last three home games and have not conceded at stamford Bridge since the opening day of the season. their last 16 games have seen 37 goals scored by ten different players and malouda insists strength in depth will make the Blues even harder to beat in their quest for silverware on four fronts. the threat comes from everywhere in our team and thats going to be our strength this season, he said. We dont have to depend on one player. Obviously in a season you can have moments when someone is not in form or has the capacity to score. as you can see, we have quality throughout the squad. its important every player shows it when he has an opportunity to do so. that is our strength at the moment because people are doing just that. Everyone can score with the movement we have and the quality of our passing game. We have improved a lot with [ancelottis] system. Carlos system a net gain for Blues SOCCER prEmiEr LEaguE SPORTDigest Whos the daddy? Button Button looking forward to being champion father FORMULA ONE: Jenson Button is looking forward to the day when he can tell his children that he was world champion. The Brawn driver claimed the title at Brazil last week and was still coming to terms with his success when he arrived at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a brief vacation in Dubai with Argentine- Japanese lingerie model girlfriend Jessica Michibata. And he said he was not the only one still walking on air. My engineer Shov [Andrew Shovlin] was very excited over the weekend in Brazil but he sent me a text message two days later, saying Ive just realised what weve achieved, Button said. Obviously he had a couple of shandies, and he said, I am home with my lovely family, and Ive just realised what weve achieved: we are the best in the world at the moment, the best at what we do. And I cannot wait for my kids to be old enough to be able to tell them what we have achieved. Rally good deal for Kimi FOrmuLa ONE: kimi raikkonen is determined to maintain his rallying activities after leaving Ferrari at the end of the season. the 30-year- old Finn competed in his countrys round of the World rally championship in a Fiat after also entering three non-championship rallies. sundays abu Dhabi grand prix will be his last for Ferrari after three years with the italian marque. the 2007 world champion has been linked with a return to former team mcLaren, although toyota are also said to have made him an offer. But he insisted: if i do F1, its going to be in the contract that im allowed to do it [rallying]. its worked well this year so i dont see it as a big issue. Serena progress in Doha tENNis: World No.1 serena Williams marched into the semi-finals of the Wta championships in Doha yesterday with a comfortable win over Elena Dementieva. Her 6-2, 6-4 victory completed a 100 per cent record for the american in maroon group. teenager caroline Wozniacki is also undefeated on her debut at the event after defying the pain to beat russian Vera Zvonareva. the 19- year-old Dane won 6-0, 6-7, 6-4 but played the last four points virtually on one leg after cramps. i have absolutely no idea how i pulled it through, but im very happy about it, said Wozniacki. Chase is on for Yankees BASEBALL: Chase Utley hit two solo home runs as the Philadelphia Phillies took an early lead against the New York Yankees in the World Series. The second baseman (pictured) hit the ball out of the park in the third and sixth innings and gave Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee the room to come out on top against former Cleveland Indians team-mate CC Sabathia. Lee threw a superb complete game, striking out ten and allowing just six hits with the sole run coming after a Jimmy Rollins error. Game two was due to take place last night in New York. Kuyt: Alberto will be big hit To keep up to date with all the latest results and tables, plus upcoming fixtures, go to metro.co.uk/footystats Belated appearance: aquilani DIrK KUYT has backed Alberto Aquilani to become a success in the Premier league after finally making his liverpool debut on Wednesday night. The Italy midfielder had been sidelined by a long-term knee injury after signing for the reds in the summer but made a cameo appearance his first-team debut as a substitute in the Carling Cup defeat at Arsenal. And Holland forward Kuyt, expected to play in tomorrows Premier league game at Fulham, said: every player who comes to liverpool is his own personality. He has to do it by himself with the rest of us giving him all the support. We will help him on his way. Weve known Alberto already for a while. This was his first game and Im very happy for him he made his debut for liverpool and hopefully there is a lot more to see from him. Hes desperate to play and wants to show england how good he is. Kuyt revealed Aquilani has been an instant hit with his team- mates off the pitch. The former roma player could feature at Craven Cottage tomorrow and Kuyt added: He played cards with us before the Arsenal match and tried to pick up the language. Picture: AFP/Getty points win prizes: malouda is enjoying chelseas rich vein of form in front of goal index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html