Premier League title challenge back on for Arsenal by Sam P.
Arsenal are not all that far behind the Premier League pace setters, after winning our last game before the international break away to Watford. At the same time though, we cannot really afford to get any further behind the top three of Man City, Chelsea and Man United.
A draw in the Manchester derby will help and we could really do with Chelsea dropping points away to Swansea City but all that is out of our hands and all Arsene Wenger and the players can do is to come back from the international break with a bang and go on a nice long run of winning games and gathering points.
That looks a lot more likely after the two signings in the last days of the transfer window. Perhaps even more important than this is the growing fitness of the Arsenal squad and one of those new signings Shkodran Mustafi has given us a big boost on that front.
He was involved in a heavy tackle in the Germany v Finland match that had raised questions about his inclusion in our next EPL match at home to Southampton, but Sky Sports have reported that he is going to be fine.
Even better news being reported by the Evening Standard is that Arsene Wenger reckons Mustafi will not need an extended period of time to get ready for English football and that sounds like the boss is happy to start him against the Saints and confident that he will hit the ground running.
With Giroud playing and scoring for France this week and Mustafi to bolster the back line, will Arsenal now go on a run that will lead to a proper assault on the Premier League summit?