Seems strange to say that a weekend in which Arsenal won away from home and extended their league to 6 six points over the second placed team (at the time of writing – before Sunderland’s game v Everton) is very good, but not great, yet this it’s left me feeling right now.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the win at Burnley was very important, as I’m sure plenty of teams will drop points there and in this run up until the international break it is absolutely vital that we keep winning. The big downsides were the two worrying injuries and the form of our perceived main title rivals.
Let’s look at the injuries first. Viktor Gyokeres played, what was seen by many, his best half of football in an Arsenal shirt (following a much needed rest in midweek, it should be noted) only to not appear for the second period. Martin Zubimendi was then withdrawn around the 70 minute mark due to another issue that he had picked up during the game. Mikel Arteta gave very little away in his post-match press conference as he likes to play the injuries close to his chest to leave rivals in the dark. This is a completely understandable tactic as the margins in top level football are so small these days, that no one wants to give away any details to rivals. The flip side of keeping the media in the dark on issues like this, is it also keeps the fans in the dark and I for one, are fretting over the injuries and what it could mean to our title challenge quite a lot and could really do with a bit of extra information to allay the fears I have over these two massive players.
I have read the odd piece online from people, who are supposedly in the know, that implied that Gyokeres withdrawal was precautionary, so there is some hope for good news. I’ve yet to hear or read anything regarding Martin Zubimendi though. This squad has been built to withstand the sort of injury curse we appear to be under however, I don’t think we can lose too many more and continue to be competitive. I still think Martin Zubimendi is the one player that we really struggle to replace and with some many forwards out, Gyokeres is another that we can’t do without right now. We really need the injury Gods to smile on us for once right now so fingers crossed neither player is out for the game at Sunderland on Saturday.
The other cause of concern from the weekend was the apparent resurrection of our proposed title rivals’ form. Maybe it was all of the hype and media praise that had somehow entered my subconscious, but I really thought that Liverpool and Manchester City might struggle this weekend, or at least one of them would! Both teams have been written off by some of the clueless British press and although I never truly bought into the hysteria surrounding their recent defeats, their two games, albeit at home, had lucked tricky on paper. Aston Villa, fresh from beating Manchester City and Bournemouth flying high in the Premier League had given me hope of an upset and although Villa threatened early on at Anfield, in truth, an upset in either game was never on the cards. Bournemouth really gave themselves no chance as they bizarrely played such a high line against Eirling Haaland and were deservedly beaten with relative ease. Attention now turns to the next weekend where City and Liverpool face off against each other in what is sure to be an interesting contest. A draw would be perfect or failing that, a Liverpool win. I personally believe that Manchester City are the biggest threat, especially with Haaland in the sort of form he is right now, so seeing them drop more points at home would be a massive boost. In any case, we’re still in the box set so just need to do our bit and keep winning!
On a more positive note, Tottenham lost again and although that meant Chelsea won, it still brought a smile to my face, which was made even broader by the booing that followed. I am a bit worried about the job that Thomas Frank is doing down the road, as he is a really top Manager and could turn them into a decent team if given the chance. Therefore anything that slows down that process can only be good news for us Gooners! Manchester United also dropped a couple of points, which will hopefully stem the tide of their recent resistance under Ruben Amorim. United were a lot more fun when they were losing every game! They’re starting to look like a bit more of an organised outfit lately and it does worry me a bit, so hopefully the United of last season will return shortly.
From an Arsenal point of view, attention now switches to Champions League action and Mikel Arteta’s press conference in the hope that he has some good news regarding Gyokeres and Zubimendi. I’ll put out a prematch preview tomorrow morning on that one so that’s it for now.
Overall, another good weekend, although we could do without the injuries, as Arsenal march on with another clean sheet and another win.