Morning all.
Well that wasn’t a bad weekend for Arsenal was it?
* Utd – 1 point gained.
* Liverpool – 2 points dropped.
* Totts – 2 points dropped.
* Chelsea – 1 point gained.
* Man City – 2 points dropped.
* Arsenal – 3 points won against a very good Bournemouth and a club which beat us twice last season.
What made the dropped points at Craven Cottage and The Etihad more enjoyable for me was the timing of Chelsea and Fulham’s equaliser as both were in the dying seconds of additional time. Totts too conceded very late. It matters not how those goals were scored but my goodness, Fulham’s was a cracker.
Six points clear at the top of the table is a good place for Arsenal to be in January but there is a long way to go in this season yet.
The next challenge for Mikel Arteta’s players is to beat Liverpool on Thursday night at The Emirates.
The night before we play our game though, Man City play Brighton at The Etihad, Bournemouth face Totts and Aston Villa take on Crystal Palace at Villa Park. Fulham play too, at home against Chelsea and Man Utd go up against Burnley at Turf Moor. By the time we kick off on Thursday, our six point lead could be cut to three, which is why my chickens aren’t for counting.
The conundrum for Mikel Arteta on Thursday is who starts. Does he go for pace up front from the start or does he go back to what seems to be his preferred starting eleven? Ask him and he’d probably say he doesn’t have a preferred starting eleven because he values all of his players but I think he’d be fibbing. Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Trossard, Saka and Gyokeres would in my opinion be his preferred lineup although if Havertz had been fit, I’m not convinced he wouldn’t get the nod over our Swedish striker. I personally don’t think there’s much between our left backs although I’ve really enjoyed watching Hincapie of late as his mindset seems to be defend first, attack second. I’ve certainly yet to see him pop up in the centre or right of midfield.
Even if Arteta goes with the above eleven, our remaining squad is going to be very strong. Eze, Madueke, Martinelli, Norgaard, White, Nwaneri, Jesus, Lewis-Skelly, Merino and Kepa. Maybe even Havertz too. Arteta will be free to use any five of those players, all of whom would walk into many other Premier League clubs first team.
Hopefully the players who featured at the weekend will be enjoying 2/3 days of rest or gentle training so they are in tip top form for Thursday because as poor as Liverpool’s results have been, they will come to The Emirates with only one thing in mind. To beat us.
Catch up in the comments.