Arsenal Well Set To Win The League This Season by Patrick
Before the start of last season, no one tipped Arsenal to even be anywhere close to competing for the title. Actually very few thought they would finish in the top 4. As the season wore on, though, Arsenal had everyone change their mind about them. They came out of the blocks, swept almost everyone aside and stormed to the top of the league, a position they kept for a jaw-dropping 248 days before relinquishing the leadership to eventual winners Man City.
That title charge, despite ending in nothing last year, served Mikel Arteta and his men a world of good. First, hardly any of Arteta’s players had had the feel of fighting for the title, an experience they now have first hand, and the same can be said of their manager as well. Secondly, the way they imploded in the end clearly showed Arteta and Edu what exactly was needed to make the squad better. An injury to William Saliba greatly weakened Arsenal’s grip. The drop in form by Thomas Partey was another injuring blow as the Ghanaian struggled badly and was another major reason Arsenal dropped precious points at Anfield, but especially against West Ham and Southampton.
Then came the summer. Arteta, like he had said in one of the interviews he did with Sky Sports, ‘nailed it’ in the market! In came Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and David Raya. The signing of Rice and Havertz have added serious physicality and more height to Arsenal that many continually claimed had a soft centre. Today, Arsenal have answers to almost all physical questions asked of them.
There are still question marks about Raya who has looked fragile at times since his move to Arsenal from Brentford last summer. There’s no doubt that David Raya is a very good goalkeeper. Whether the fragility is a result of the pressure from Aaron Ramsdale he replaced an No.1 or from the pressure that comes from playing for team competing at the top, we don’t know yet. But it remains a fact that if Raya is to remain Arsenal’s No.1, he and his coaches have to do all there is to cut out those mistakes as teams have looked to target him as a point of weakness. The loss of Jurrien Timber on his debut to such a big injury was a piece of very bad luck. His and Tomiyasu’s absence makes Arsenal vulnerable to ferocious attacks from dangerous wide men as we all saw in the games against Liverpool and Aston Villa
Overall though, Arsenal have become a better, steelier, defensively stronger unit than last season. They allow fewer shots at their goal than any other team in the top flight this season. Yes, they score fewer goals than last season averaging 2.00 goals per game to last season’s 2:32. Factor in the prospect of the return of long term injury absentees Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber in the new year, as well as the January transfer window, where it’s rumoured Arsenal are looking to strengthen upfront and in midfield, and we could in for a treat.
There’s a thought that Man City could come back stronger and make a run of 14/15 wins on the spin especially with the return of Kevin de Bruyne. It’s not easy to go against that as they’ve done it a number of times before, but at the same time, it’s not something I can see happening this time around.
City have been way below their usual standards, going into the festive season outside of the top 4 for the first time in many years and its difficult to think they’ll flip it to make such a run. Besides, there’s a reason that no club has managed to win it four times on the spin. This Man City team looks blasé following their treble last season and Pep has not done enough to enliven his men for the new challenge. I don’t see them being crowned champions come May.
As for Liverpool, the prospect of losing Mo Salah to the AFCON for potentially a full month is one that those at Anfield gravely dread. The Egyptian has scored 12 goals, contributing 32.4% of Liverpool’s goals this season. By the time he returns, Arsenal could be out of sight!
So, everything points at Arsenal going all the way to the title this season.
Ssekatawa Patrick
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We are not set to win the league, it’s not like it’s on a platter.
We need key players to stay fit along with the world class Partey return.
The January window could provide the final peice to the jig saw puzzle, but no doubt we are ahead of schedule.
Appreciate the time and effort you put into writing the article. Even though I have much different viewpoints on too many of your opinions to want to express in one comment here or any full article of my own, I hope you’re right about the title winner.
If we don’t sign a stronger CF in January, I don’t think we’ll win EPL
And what if Saliba gets a long-term injury? We were inconsistent in the end of last season because of his absence
Is it Ivan Toney and Solanke you have in mind? remember when City sign Haaland though he was scoring the Citizens weren’t winning.
Maybe the striker situation could be a little too delicate to gamble on, no preseason, the chemistry could take a little time to develop.
If we look at the big German as an example, a champions league winner and German international it took him over a dozen games to get his feet properly wet.
I liked Toney’s strength and aerial ability, but I guess Arsenal would prefer to sign a younger CF like Solanke or Sesko
The new CF doesn’t have to score many goals, but he should keep the ball and make scoring chances for his teammates
CF that doesn’t score many goals but make chances for his team mates – hmmm, sounds like Jesus to me!
no point spending north of £80m, probably more than our whole January transfer kitty, for more of the same
the huge money strikers cost does not guarantee goals let alone titles, e.g. Nunez and Holjund
go on, say Haarland
Jesus’ tricks won us plenty of free-kicks. But he often got dominated physically by CBs of big EPL teams, as just happened at Anfield
I’d prefer to have another CF type who can offer different ways to create chances, at least on the bench
I think Arteta focusses on different aspects every season. Two seasons ago when we finished fifth, he focused on defensive aspect. That’s why we didn’t score as much that season. Last season, he bought the right offensive players to unleash the team’s attacking potential thus almost winning the title. This season, he bought Timber, Rice, Havertz and Raya where it’s mostly for defensive aspects. I’m excited to see how the team progresses with new offensive players next season.
It’s a three horse race which will be won by a nose. If we had a goal scorer we could win it by a length. Unless someone seriously comes in for Nketiah, we will not be buying a striker IMO.
It would be foolhardy to imagine that one individual goal scorer would win the trophy alone. Football is team sport where every single player should perform their roles efficiently. Instead of dreaming for an ‘effective’ goal scorer, whatever that means, we should pray for our injured prayers to recover in time for the busy February-May period. If we got all our players back nothing can stop us winning EPL. It is not impossible to have a fully fit squad. Imagine we had Timber, Tomiyasu and Partey back. What would prevent us overrunning teams? Tomiyasu and Timber can play both central defence and full back. Ben White can also do the same. We would then have a big pool of players to select from. So as we hope for new signings let us hope for our injured players to recover quickly.
Well said David…I also share your view…but I still believe we will win the league regardless
“foolhardy to imagine one individual goal scorer would win the the trophy alone” – agreed, but unfortunately that is the currency of too many fans on here
Injured players not prayers.
Very well written article, positivity from fans spread to the team from all sources.
I don’t think we will sign a big money striker, or any big signings. Perhaps a long term younger talent. Might be back in Brazil again.
This league looks set to be won on fine margins and yes we are struggling upfront which may cost us.
Getting a quality C.F in January will be tricky for us but it has to be our priority. In the mean time, Using Havertz as C.F in the EPl is a better option than say Nketiah.I also think G.Jesus with the shift he puts in matches should be played on the left wing ahead of Martinelli.
A forward line of Saka Havertz and G.Jesus will make us less predictable. Havertz stature will always make life difficult for defenders and allow others like Odegaard, saka,G.j,Martinelli &Trossard to score more.
We have enough numbers to cover the midfield and will not miss Havertz.We need him more in our attacking department.Let Arteta give it a try and see if we can get back to scoring enough goals.
If only Sean Dyche can hold on for the next 45 minutes more at Merseyside
First Gunners must learn how to systematecly dive for penalties. This is the main factor that decide the title race. Last season Arsenal only got 4 pens, the title winners got 10! There you have the five (5) points between the clubs – and more!