Who Are You? And What Have You Done With Noni Madueke?

Arsenal continued their dominance atop the Premier League table with yet another 1-0 win on Saturday; against a game, but limited, Hull City side who - to be fair - are not your typical just-promoted cannon fodder. Indeed, none of the promoted sides look the prime candidates for relegation that these sides often do; which is going to make life interesting for several more established clubs as the season progresses.

Hull have no stars, but they are extremely well-organised; and they work hard. Our expectations for Arsenal, however, should be set higher than what we’re seeing at the moment; for all that this game was on the back of yet another sequence of three away games. Nonetheless, one could hardly call watching these games 'enjoyable'. Here's my On The Whistle - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZKYbdRP2NgI - next... some media training, I think.

The home side always looked the better side (as one would expect), but were laboured in possession, had too many players off the boil, and they really struggled to create clear-cut chances - yet again! 21 shots - apparently - and 10 on target - but they struggled to muster much above 1.00xG from all those chances. Christos Tzolis is still feeling his way back after his injury - and frankly is starting to look less like the world-beater that we hoped that he’d be. And Kai Havertz had yet another one of 'those' games; struggling in his duels, running offside far too much, and failing to register a single shot. For all that he has a knack of scoring important goals, his season so far has been distinctly underwhelming. 

Arsenal were - of course - defensively solid, with Gabriel and Konsa giving nothing whatsoever away. They never looked like conceding. But despite Martin Odegaard popping up everywhere - one moment between the centre backs;  the next probing close to the opposition penalty area -  and Declan Rice pushing forward at every opportunity, there remained a slight dysfunction about the midfield and its ability to create against yet another mid-low block. I mean... Bruno did OK - always looking for a through ball - but there was something about Hull's shape that made them very awkward opponents.

The main ray of sunshine was once again Noni Madueke, who since the last extended Interlull has looked a different player to the flaky, inconsistent individual he has been since he was plucked from the Chelsea lunatic asylum. Whatever has happened - Arteta getting his teeth into him, or he himself starting to take his career more seriously following a frankly disastrous World Cup - we are seeing a more mature and productive player than ever before. 

We have never doubted his ability on the ball, but up to now he has not been able to apply it to offer consistent production. Last season I had christened him Noni Noendproduct, and this year we'd again seen Good Noni and Bad Noni - never quite knowing what to expect; often from one minute to the next! In the past few weeks, however, he has been - alongside Martin Odegaard - Arsenal's most creative player. I guess that a combination of something clicking for him at last, alongside the certainty that he is going to get a run of starts in the side in the enforced absence of Bukayo Saka, has given him the confidence to express himself more consistently.

Not that things are perfect. Not by a long chalk. But he is terrorising defenders with his unique combination of pace and skill, and is actually the league's most consistent player in regard to chances created per 90 minutes. That's a remarkable stat, actually. On Saturday he was relentless; going again and again and again; and finally getting his assist for Martin Odegaard - one of three decent shooting opportunities that all caused goalkeeper Tzolakis to make a save. The last of those, actually, he made a right mess of - he should have shot, but instead tried to round the keeper. But his decision-making does continue to improve - alongside that relentlessness that continually pressurises his full back. Despite his shocking World Cup showing, on current form he should be disappointed not to have found his way back into Tuchel's squad in the absence of Starboy. But his and England's loss will be Arsenal's gain, I guess.

I won't get into much details regarding the game. There was very little action to get excited about; and frankly it was just when I was starting to worry if Arsenal were ever going to turn their territorial domination into goals that they finally did take the lead. Noni's shot spilled by the goalkeeper, and Odegaard reacting the quickest to turn in the loose ball.

Frankly, it had been coming. And it is a reflection of the strength of the Arsenal bench that Arteta was able to present Hull with a completely different set of problems to those with which they had appeared so relatively comfortable for so long. Gyokeres and Merino for Rice and Havertz changed the dynamic Yes, Havertz had been poor, but Gyokeres' abiity to stretch defenders, and Merino's knack of 'arriving', changed the flow of the game. Bruno dropped into the 6 role to accommodate that - and it all worked. The mood changed, and the goal was inevitable, frankly; for all that the substitutes weren't really involved in it.

The only other incident I really wanted to cover was the 'penalty' incident. Which -as it turns out - the officials got all wrong. Now, whether the Law as it is written is the right way of going about things is an interesting point of discussion, but it was the incorrect interpretation of it by the VAR that is the real frustration (no coincidence, perhaps, that the VAR was Michael Oliver, whose Direct Debit appears not to have yet been cancelled by Qatar...).

Law 12 states that 'where a player in an offside position is moving towards the ball with the intention of playing it, and is fouled before playing or attempting to play the ball or challenge an opponent for the ball, the foul is penalised as if it had occurred before the offside offence'. In other words, in this instance Havertz was hampered by the shirt pull by Mendy before he could challenge for the ball; and the fact that he was offside at the time is secondary - after the fact, in fact.

Certainly, referee Allam did not help with his 'after review' explanation. We cheered at the anticipated penalty award as he started to explain what he had seen, but neither he nor senior referee Oliver knew the Law sufficiently as they incorrectly penalised the offside. The egg certainly came before the chicken, but the officials think that the chicken came before the egg. All I can say is Thank Goodness that Arsenal went on to win regardless of this incorrect interpretation; otherwise the debate would still be going on now!

Anyway, we move on; now 5 points clear of Brighton in second as Mancheater Cheaty were comfortably despatched by Nottingham Forest - for whom Liam Delap suddenly metamorphosed into a clone of his opposite number on the field. Remarkable; and his second goal was one of two outstanding goals in that game. That, Cherki's finish at the other end, and Gomes's remarkable effort for Brighton were outstanding pieces of skill and excitement. How we would have killed for that at Emirates Stadium earlier! Or for anything that could have got us out of our seats. Apart, that is, from the continual stream of people in my row and the two in front getting up and down all afternoon; as usual - alternating between the bar and the urinals; a massive source of irritation for me every single week, frankly.

Lots of results went Arsenal's way this weekend, did they not? City losing again; and Haaland looking utterly fed up. I wonder what their players talk about after training every day? Spurs back to being Spurs. Chelsea losing to the bottom-placed side. Manchester United involved in a crazy game that saw them equaslise with a goal that Arsenal would have been vilified for scoring - surely there was a foul or three in there? - and Emery losing his rag as a result. Glorious... meanwhile, Arsenal march on into...

... another international break. I'm actually looking forward to Spain vs England, to be honest. But I'd sooner be watching my team stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League table, of course. After Newcastle away on our return, it's Dortmund and then Mancheater Cheaty in the space of 5 days at home - an exciting week awaits. I should mention, by the way, that I will be fully prepared for City; the inflatable bananas have been purchased!

Let's hope that Arsenal players come back unscathed from their jaunts this next week or so. And it won't be long until Saliba is back! That - and the hope of the verdict that we're anticipating, and a subsequent Manchester fire sale that sees their Nordic hero rock up at Arsenal to play with his international captain... Put Erling Haaland in this side, and the rest may as well give up. Allow a man to dream...

COYG!

Low Block FC Ole Ole

Arsenal achieved a narrow - and crucial - victory over Liverpool on Sunday. And in a manner that reminded me of the expression: 'the biter; bit'. Although this was pretty much the opposite of that. Because having spent a good part of the season trying to break down low blocks - Coventry, Sunderland, Leeds, Nottingham Forest - Arsenal produced their own version to turn away Liverpool in a match brimming with tension. One thing's for sure - if you're playing against The Arsenal, the last thing you want to do is go a goal down! 

There are two ways of looking at the performance; and more specifically the result. So I'll do just that. Because Anfield is a venue at which Arsenal have struggled for years now - and taken some tonkings on the way. So this was definitely another weight off of their shoulders - and another wrong righted by Super Mik.

But first to the team itself; and a squad that must have been reeling from their ignominious exit from the Carabao Cup at the hands of lowly Fleetwood Town on Tuesday evening. Another of those embarrassing exits from cup competitions to go alongside such as Bradford City, Wrexham, York City, Walsall, and cup final losses to the likes of Swindon Town, Luton, Birmingham City and West Ham United. Let's gloss over that, eh...

We saw changes from the previous league game. Timber in for White, Tzolis (apparently somewhat rushed back for the apparently barely fit Eze), and Kai back in for Big Vik. All pretty sensible; but I do have nagging doubts about the solidity in high pressure games of a midfield of Rice, Bruno, Odegaard. I'll return to that later.

For Liverpool, Trey Nyoni was preferred in central midfield to Gravenberch, which was something of a surprise. And the young Englishman made his mark - literally! - in the very first minute with an attack on Martin Odegaard's Achilles tendon, and which was well worthy of a booking (at the very least!). And on 10 minutes a late challenge on Havertz again led to no sanction from referee Madley. By this point he could have been off, and should at least be on a yellow card.

Now, this Nyoni stuff is the area of this particular game's litany of dodgy officiating decisions that will have drawn the least attention. But it did set a tone that suggested that the referee wasn't fully in control of the game; which was being played at a frantic pace.

Arsenal were looking good at this very early stage, and taking the game to Liverpool; and it wasn't long before their ferocious pressing brought dividends. Alisson played an injudicious pass into midfield as Tzolis closed him down and Havertz cut off the easiest passing lanes, Odegaard pressed hard and won the ball off of Jacquet before finding Bruno. He in turn found Madueke on the right and suddenly there was Rice, bursting into space beyond Noni and found with an immaculate lay off. One sweeping pass across the 6-yard box and there was Havertz, who had drifted to the far (left) post from his initial inside right position and who had the simplest of tap ins. A goal of wondrous simplicity and beauty; something that represented everything that Arsenal stand for. There are impossibly hard to play against, find your weaknesses, and pounce. Stunning. Worth noting that whilst Kai has not been anywhere close to his best since the opening game of the season, there is no doubting his knack of scoring important goals. This was another.

But - bizarrely - the flow of the game immediately turned on its head, and for much of the rest of the half Arsenal were under pressure. Look, This Is Anfield, as the sign above the players' tunnel says, and there are many very good reasons why it's a fortress. You'll Never Walk Alone pre-game. The crowd are right on top of you and very noisy. They drive their team on. And Liverpool are pretty good. But...

This Arsenal are a formidable defensive unit. And whilst they rode their luck (Wirtz hit the bar from a free kick, for example), they also did plenty of amazing stuff. Time and time again defenders put themselves in the way of shots and crosses, as the home side found it virtually impossible to get a clear sight of Raya's goal. Bruno once, spectacularly. Gabriel. Timber. Calafiori. Konsa on more than one occasion. And amongst it all Declan Rice was everywhere. The solitary time they did get a clear sight of the whites of Raya's eyes MacAllister, left untracked by Havertz, failed to hit the target with a header from just 10 yards..

The biggest stroke of good fortune was the failure by the officials to do anything about a clear tug on Isak's shirt by Timber, which prevented the forward from getting a header in on goal from 10 yards out. I'm not blaming the referee for not spotting it from where he was positioned (poorly, if you ask me), but the failure by the VAR - our friend Atwell - to spot it was frankly inexcusable. It would have been more obvious had Isak thrown himself to the ground in order to draw attention to the challenge; but he really shouldn't need to do that. This is precisely what VAR is for, but this was ' a right cock-up'. Arsenal got away with one there, for sure.

Not that Arsenal weren't able to create chances themselves. Bruno had a shot on goal deflected away by VVD - the referee failing to spot the deflection and awarding a goal kick - and Timber getting in the way of Madueke's cross shot from close to the bye line and thus denying Kai a tap in second goal, before Rice forced a save out of Alisson. 

An excellent half of football all round, with Arsenal doing what they needed to keep the home side out; and not without threat themselves. But the second half - thanks to Arteta's recalibrations, was far less full of jeopardy as Liverpool huffed and puffed to no avail. Indeed, Arsenal had several chances to put the game to bed as they exploited the gaps behind the Liverpool full backs; VVD and Jacquet coming to the rescue, and Alisson making a smart save from a Tzolis shot that actually bore a remarkable similarity to 'that' Arshavin goal against Barcelona all those years ago.

Two further points of note. Firstly, I was delighted to see MLS replace Bruno half way through the half. For me, he offers more structure and solidity than the Brazilian, and is more 'press resistant'; and whilst he did lose the ball once in a difficult spot he feels more defensively reliable. I'm not knocking Bruno's attacking capabilities, by the way - he played his part in the goal, and it is clear that his team-mates believe in his passing ability; their movement when he has the ball at his feet is proof of that. They are excellent alternatives to each other, and there's still Zubi to consider - so Dec doesn't have to play every minute of the season!

The other point was the final officiating flashpoint of the game, with our Argentinian mate MacAllister at the centre of it. He first brought Odegaard down, then leant over the striken Norwegian to taunt him. In the melee that followed, he theatrically threw himself to the floor in order to try to get (the already booked) Madueke sent off. Which could easily have happened; because Madueke had put himself into an unnecessarily difficult spot by putting his head into extremely close contact with MacAllister's. The theatrics were disgraceful, nonetheless - and the authorities need to stamp hard on that sort of behaviour.

Victory was sealed - the first time since 2012 that Arsenal had won at Anfield - a 'mission', as Arteta described it post-game. And there are two clear ways of looking at both performance and result. If you want to heap praise on Arsenal, you can admire the fighting spirit and the refusal to allow the opposition a sniff of your goal. On this occasion, Arsenal reminded the football world that they are probably the very best there is without the ball. If you want to be negative, you could query whether the Champions of England should choose to play that way. But that viewpoint is sour grapes; any excuse to have a dig. You do what to have to do - Liverpool are no mugs, and pressed hard for a large part of the game. All the more remarkable, then, that OPTA registered this game as one where the home side failed to manage a single shot on target.

Anyway, this clears the air and the mind following what happened in midweek. I'm sure that we're more concerned about the red card for Mighty Max than about the result; shocking as it was. And the Gunners now move on to what we ought to expect to be easier tasks - a trip to Prague in the Champions League, followed by a home game with Hull at the weekend. With Mancheater Cheaty having lost on Saturday and Arsenal now three points ahead of them, that game is a chance to cement our position atop the table before the next Interlull. 

After which, William Saliba will be back!

COYG!

Whatever The Weather

Despite some quite foul and disgusting weather - 'Arsenal weather' as my father used to describe it; although to be fair he called all weather 'Arsenal weather' - Arsenal closed the gap on Mancheater Cheaty down to goal difference by means of a comfortable 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday. Here's a link to my On The Whistle - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/iVU4noDewn4

The crowd were in a good mood before the game kicked off. Mancheaty had lost at Aston Villa ( so Happy Invincibles Day, everyone), and Arsenal Ladies had won their NLD, so the day had started perfectly. And it didn't take long for Arsenal to take the lead in this game; thereby putting us at our ease. But I'm getting ahead of myself..

Everton are generally a tough and durable opponent and so, on the back of two tough away games on Sunday and Wednesday, this was a quick enough turnaround against a team that had had a full week off. But Mikel rotated his troops, and the home side still looked plenty strong enough for the challenge ahead. Despite a mounting injury list, there is plenty of depth to the squad these days. 

We saw Ben White back in for Timber, MLS in for Calafiori (who Arteta knows shouldn't be playing three lots of 90 minutes in the space of a week), Merino replaced Bruno, Eze and Madueke on the flanks due to the midweek injury to Bukayo Saka, and Big Vik got his first start of the season in place of Kai. And, with so many games to play, this all seemed wise.

As for Everton... well thankfully they didn't come out to play with everybody behind the ball, which gave Arsenal the opportunity to play a bit of football, and the home side were soon dominating and winning a series of early corners. From which we saw the return of Set Piece FC, as Konsa scrambled in his first Arsenal goal following some pinball in the 6-yard box. At last - a first half goal; which relieved the pressure on all concerned.

And from then on, frankly, I personally felt completely relaxed about the result. I didn't feel that Everton had enough to hurt Arsenal, and despite the occasional foray into the Arsenal half, and even with Barry chucking his weight around - ably dealt with by Konsa and the utterly imperious Gabriel - David Raya had little or nothing to do. 

Saying that, the weather did cause Raya some issues - a shot from Garner fizzed off the turf, causing him to have to plunge on the second ball after he understandably couldn't hold the initial effort; and then an understandable punching error from a corner caused a little consternation before Gabriel hammered the ball away. Compared to Chelsea's goalkeeper a little later in the he afternoon, Raya got off lightly there. Late in the half, a careless header from Ben White back in the keeper's direction was intercepted by Barry, but the Spaniard was alert enough to stamp out the danger.

Meanwhile at the other end Arsenal were looking controlled; and dangerous at times. With Rice and Odegaard taking it in turns to pull the strings, Madueke fashioned two decent chances for himself, and Merino headed over from an Odegaard free kick in the final act of the half. 1-0 at half-time was about right, and I guess there's always jeopardy in a single goal lead. But I was relaxed about things.

Second half, and more of the same. Arsenal dominating possession - as they usually do - but Everton causing the odd problem; they have some good young players, but lack squad depth and need more investment. Something that's tricky, as we're all aware, on the back of moving into a new stadium as they have done this season. Raya had a few bits and pieces to do, but Gabriel was generally dominating Barry. Nonetheless, a header from Dewsberry-Hall did cause some consternation at one point.

Calafiori, Bruno and Kai replaced MLS, Merino and Big Vik - and it's worth mentioning that whilst the latter failed to register a single shot in his 67 minutes on the field, he had put in an excellent shift and had done a very good job of working over Tarkowski and O'Brien. A perfectly decent first start for the Swede; and he got the assist for the first goal too.

At the other end, the decisive moment came on the back of yet another long sequence of passes, as White went on the overlap and was found by his captain. His cross, stood up to the far post, was headed in emphatically by Gabriel. A goal on his 200th PL appearance for the Gunners, but the more remarkable statistic was that this was his first goal since January! And at 2-0 that was that.

The game petered out towards the end - although we had a stoppage for what looked like a bad facial injury to Martin Zubimendi (on for Rice late on). The referee kindly awarded a free kick against the Spaniard for having the audacity to take an arm in the face from Barry! There did look to be a further injury concern, however - and this one potentially more serious. Calafiori was straight down the tunnel at the final whistle, looking quite unhappy. Let's hope it's nothing serious, with Hincapie still working his way back.

One thing I want to mention here is stadium maintenance. 10 yards in front of me and slightly to my right, water was pouring through a hole in the roof and onto the seats below. Dozens of supporters were obliged to move as a result. These things happen, of course, and such problems are often not apparent until we get weather like we had on Saturday. But this issue had been ongoing for at least 5 years now. Sort this out, please, Arsenal! 

So that's another handy three points; Arsenal's seventh successive home PL win. And there were some interesting stories elsewhere in the league this weekend. Firstly, the 'shock' of Tottenham winning at Stamford Bridge - I'd prefer to see both teams lose every week, but as long as one of those sets of fans is unhappy that's good enough for me - with Cole Palmer, the modern-day Luke Chadwick (you'd have to be old enough...) sent off for good measure. Liverpool's win over Brighton opened up a 5 point gap to the latter in third (or should I say second) place. And - most amusingly - the once formidable Manchester United were hammered yet again; if their thrashing at Cesc Fabregas's Como in midweek wasn't funny enough, a 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth put their freefall into focus. It's clear that Michael Carrick isn't up to a job of that magnitude, but the problems at the club run far deeper than him. How the mighty have fallen!

Arsenal move on - weather permitting - to League Two Fleetwood in the Carabao Cup - expect to see loads of rotation. And then it's Liverpool away on Sunday. A big game, as usual - and it's about time we won there.

Before that, on Monday evening, the Ballon D'Or awards will be handed out. I am finishing this article as the ceremony gets under way, and I'm hoping that the Premier League Champions get the recognition they deserve.

COYG.

Are You Not Entertained?

Do you remember when the season kicked off that we were speculating that now that Arsenal had finally got over the line and won a title, that the handbrake would come off and we'd see the players express themselves, and witness loads of exciting football as a result? 

How's that going? Because I have to say that Arsenal's laboured 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest was quite possibly the most boring game of football I have ever seen in almost 60 years of going to matches; and - I guess - 30 years of watching football regularly on television. 

This game replaces Arsenal's dreadful 1-1 draw at home to Birmingham City on December 27th, 1983 - which I recall as part of a double-header attended by myself and my Chelsea-supporting friend Anthony as a Christmas 'treat' - as the worst game I've ever seen. I recall that we went to Stamford Bridge in the morning to watch a very entertaining 2-2 draw between Chelsea and Portsmouth, which featured a 25-yard screamer from Tony Hateley for the away side. And we then went on to Highbury. 

What I remember most about it was that it was absolutely freezing cold, and Anthony and I stood shivering in a sparsely-attended Clock End watching some really dire stuff. It was so bad that we waited until the teams came out for the second half to go for some much-needed Bovril. Arsenal had thrashed Spurs the previous day at the old Toilet Bowl, with Charlie Nicholas breaking a 4-month goal drought, so we were hoping for more fireworks. But the players were clearly feeling the effects of that, with Charlie finally notching his first Highbury goal from the penalty spot to equalise midway through the second half. Dreadful...

This was just as bad. Worse, frankly, I guess, given our expectations for this side. We know what we are, after all... But teams have worked out how to combat Arsenal's stlye of play, and whilst results have been generally excellent - 10 wins and just single defeat so far this season in all competitions - they are not thrilling us supporters, and simply cannot carry on doing this, or they are sure to get caught out and start dropping points at some stage. Arsenal must have breathed a sigh of relief to see Morgan Gibbs-White's name absent from the Forest team sheet. And with their main centre forward being Liam Delap, their problems are glaringly obvious. 

I'll try to analyse Arsenal's issues here - as I'm sure that many are doing at the moment. Firstly, it's inevitable that 'lesser' teams are going to do their best to stifle the Champions by sitting deep and leaving as little space as possible for Arsenal to operate. Very few teams are remotely equipped to take Arsenal on by playing any form of expansive football, and they therefore revert to a certain type. Each low block that the team comes up against seems lower than the previous one - if you thought that Sunderland sat deep, this was even worse... and it means that there is little or no room in which to operate (Saka was double- or even triple-marked at times). Very few sides will look to play expansively against Arsenal; although perhaps they should - look what Brighton did a month ago, and what Forest almost did themselves in the last few minutes of this game. Saying that, these teams tend to be more expansive against Manchester City, for goodness' sake! And it's worth bearing in mind that Sunderland and Forest are two venues from where Arsenal came away with just a single point each last season; two wins this time round. 

As regards team selection, right back and left wing were the only queries. Ben White was preferred to Jurrien Timber at right back - perhaps with Bayern Munich in Mikel's mind - and slightly surprisingly for me Eze was preferred to Madueke on the left. It was no surprise to me to see Bruno replace MLS. And the game fell into a familiar pattern, with Arsenal totally dominating possession, but doing little or nothing with it. 

And why is that? Well, as we all know, there is little room in which to work when teams are prepared to sit quite that deep. But there do appear to be some fundamental flaws in Arteta's tactics at times, with spontaneity sacrificed for structure, and some players fearful - to my eyes at least - of making mistakes and therefore playing too slowly, and too safely. We once again saw the old Horseshoe of Doom out to play, with the ball being constantly recycled from side to side and very few 'vertical' passes going around or into the opponent's penalty area. Of course, with space at an absolute premium that's understandable, but there are surely ways to counteract such tactics. None of the intricate stuff was working; but there was literally no real estate in which to work.

So what should they do? Play more quickly. Keep trying the intricate, and don't worry about losing the ball that far from our goal, because it's never too long before we win it back. Or shoot from distance, in order to draw defenders to the ball. If the players don't try anything different, then they should surely expect the same result; which is what happened. Move after move broke down without a shot going in on the opponent's goal. 

Forest - with just 25% possession - looked more threatening with that limited possession than Arsenal did with all of theirs. And apart from headers from Havertz and Gabriel (from a corner), and a penalty box melee that featured a goal-bound back heeled effort from Gabriel, plus a couple of free kicks from 25 yards out by the home side, the first half was completely without interest. Nobody was playing well, frankly - perhaps apart from Gabriel who looked back to his best, I thought - and it was no surprise when Arteta made a half-time change.

Poor Eze was the scapegoat. Although, to be fair, he had done nothing for 45 minutes. Seemingly unwilling to go outside his wing back, unable to gel with Calafiori, and constantly drifting into the already crowded central areas, it didn't look like he was capable of following instructions. So it was no surprise that he was hooked for Madueke, who - for all his faults - at least tries stuff. And this felt like a micro view of Eze's Arsenal career. Apart from the odd flash of brilliance, his time at the club has been disappointing. 5 goals against Spurs last season, and a few spectacular (and important) goals aside, there has been very little consistency. Yes, it was fun to steal him from under the noses of That Lot, but he doesn't really seem to suit Arteta's system, and his style - and the areas in which he likes to operate - also don't fit in with the rest of the team. Arsenal don't need an 'inside left'. I am desperate to see him succeed - as I am with every Arsenal player, of course - but I wonder if this season might be his last at the club. 

Noni is like Marmite, of course. We don't know if we're going to get Good Noni or Bad Noni - and we often get both in the space of a few seconds. But he at least showed some ambition to try something different whilst the others laboured. Odegaard, Saka and Havertz all struggled to make any impact, and neither Rice nor Bruno were anywhere close to their best. And even when Arteta made a further triple substitution, very little changed. It looked for ages as if the game was going to peter out - and when I say peter out, that would imply that there was anything of note to report - into a 0-0 draw, with the home side almost devoid of ambition (apart from looking to hit Arsenal on the break), and Arsenal almost devoid of ideas. At 6.06pm - 33 minutes into the second half - I posted on a couple of WhatsApp groups: 'If I were a neutral, I'd switch this off'. There was nothing to hold anybody's attention.

And then Good Noni popped up. A dart into the penalty area, a stepover to create a yard of space, and a right(wrong)-foot shot rifled towards goal. A big deflection off of a defender's thigh wrong-footed Sels, and the ball crashed into the back of the net. Arsenal needed that bit of luck, and there seemed no other way that they were going to get the win; but Noni had at least tried something. You can't rely on him to be reliable in any shape or form, but that maverick moment was what turned the game in the away side's favour.

The last few minutes were nerve-wracking, frankly. For whichever neutrals who hadn't switched over to Antiques Road Show, there was some actual action of interest as Forest were finally obliged to attack. Fortunately, their strikers are rubbish. Delap may or may not make it as he gains experience, but Chris Wood looks done now. Both wasted excellent opportunities due to lack of technique and composure, and we should also thank Rice and Konsa for extremely timely interventions. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to query one of the chances that Forest carved out late on, as Michael Oliver allowed Delap to get away with a clear foul throw as he set up a late opportunity. I'd assume that - had they scored - VAR would have dealt with it. I'd hope so, anyway.

And so Arsenal hung on and regained second (probably first) spot in the table. But - as I keep saying - they can't go on like this. 

I can of course not let a post go by without mentioning Manchester City. We will have to wait for the result of their appeal - foregone conclusion as it appears to be - and until such time it makes watching Premier League football a surreal experience. 7 Premier League wins in a row for them now - for all that they let in two goals to Ipswich - and it's difficult to know what to make of that. Or to care, frankly. 

But it did us all a power of good, I'm sure, to see PSG take them apart in the first half of their Champions League game on Wednesday (the second half was much more equal; but, as I had said to my wife very early on, Maresca picked the wrong starting XI). This was the match that I dubbed El Cheatico; because if there's any side who have come close to City's levels of financial doping, it's PSG. Nation State versus Nation State; and matches of that quality are what you get when you decide that you can spend whatever you want on getting hold of the very best players that you can buy. If we're struggling to cope with what City have done over the years, you have to ask yourself quite what the point is of supporting any Ligue Un side apart from PSG - because you have no hope. The match was great entertainment, of course; but viewed with the taste of ashes in the mouth.

Arsenal now move on to an extremely tricky away tie in Munich on Wednesday; by far their most difficult group stage game. And then it's Everton at home - beatable, of course, but they won't make it easy. They say that the end justifies the means - but as far as Arsenal’s performances go I'd hope to see an uptick in style to match the points tally. Anyhoo... that's Arteta's job.

So COYG!

Arsenal Beat Lil' Ol' Lille - And Farewell To Mr Arsenal

Three subjects on the agenda today: Arsenal 3 Lille 0, the death of the wonderful Ken Friar OBE... and a bit more on the elephant in the room; Manchester City.

An ultimately comfortable win was achieved against a somewhat limited Lille side - here's my very short On The Whistle post-game video https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PEZsBjvSd1w - but it did take a while for Arsenal to click into gear. Fair enough, one might think, when Mikel makes 5 personnel and two positional changes - and whilst there was little cause for alarm at any point, it didn't make for the most interesting of viewing early on. In fact, as I said to my next door neighbour Sam halfway through the half: 'I'm Bored'.

Once Arsenal had got fully to grips with the opposition - it probably took 20 minutes - it was only a matter of time before their superiority shone through. As we often see from this team, to be honest. But there are nonetheless a few quick points worth making.

Firstly, MLS back at left back. With Arteta choosing to rest Calafiori, and with Hincapie out for up to a month, this seemed to be a wise move. Not that he spent that much time at left back, however...

Secondly, with Zubimendi - who would surely have started this game - also out we saw Bruno partnering Rice in central midfield. The Brazilian is more dynamic than the alternatives in the role, but it does feel a little less solid to my eyes. I'd add, by the way, that some of Bruno's histrionics and attempts to whip the crowd up were a little juvenile in my humble opinion (probably trying to endear himself to the Emirates crowd following years in the role of the pantomime villain at Newcastle, perhaps?).

Up ahead, there was a very unfamiliar look to the Arsenal attack. Gyokeres down the middle, of course - and once more rarely involved, unfortunately - and then Merino in the 8/10 position but not particularly influential, Madueke on the right and Eze on the left. These latter two roles bear some discussion. 

Whereas Good Noni made an appearance on the left hand side on Saturday, it was Bad Noni on the right this time round. He struggled all evening to beat his man on the outside, and his crossing was frankly dismal - like a man with a club foot, there was little finesse and most were overhit. Nonetheless, he did make the assist for Timber's opening goal with a nice little reverse pass - but that was his only contribution of worth all night.

Eze is another not really suited to the role he was asked to play. Whilst he did go on the outside of his full back a couple of times, it is very clear that he prefers to operate more in the interior. I would personally prefer to see him in a kind of inside left role, but there's only room for one inside forward at a time, and Odegaard has got that sewn up. To be fair, they are entirely different types of player. Eze's goal - like most in his Arsenal career - was scored from a very central position. There is certainly a lack of like-for-like alternatives to our normal starters.

All the fun in the game occurred in the middle of the second half. As Arteta was beginning to panic and lining up his crack troops - my wife had asked me 5 minutes prior who I suspected the substitutes might be, and I'm not claiming it to be rocket science to have responded 'Odegaard, Saka and Havertz' - Timber's exquisite clip over the Lille goalkeeper (who was very much a Kepa lookalike, I thought, by the way... but I digress) found the back of the net. 

But Mikel went through with his changes, and 7 minutes later key contributions from Saka and Havertz had helped convert the lead to 3-0 (a scoreline, by the way, that I had guaranteed to my son at half time). Game well and truly over - and all of interest that remained was to see Max Dowman's 10-minute cameo at the end.

We did - of course - see the return of 40-year-old Olivier Giroud to Emirates Stadium. He got a standing ovation from the crowd but I - a bearer of grudges - did not leave my seat. I won't forget his derogatory comparisons of Arsenal and Chelsea of a few years ago in a hurry. Anyway, he contributed nothing of significance to the game; apart from raising the handsomeness levels.

So no goals conceded, and 6 points from 6 for last year's finalists. That's 14 successive group stage wins for Arsenal over three seasons now. Whether that sequence continues next week is a moot point, because it's Bayern Munchen away; a proper test. They'll be without Olise, however - sent off for an act of petulance in a somewhat shocking 3-3 draw in Stavanger. And that is cause for optimism.

Moving on; and I'd like to take this opportunity to express my sadness at the passing of Arsenal stalwart Ken Friar OBE. Mr Friar worked at Arsenal from 1946 - when he started as a messenger boy - until he finally retired just a few years ago. He worked his way up from a role in the box office to become Company Secretary in 1973, and took over as Managing Director in 1983. I guess that his key role at the club was the work he did to help facilitate the move to the new stadium; he did an excellent job at that. 

He finally retired after over 70 years at the club in 2020, became Life President of the club, had one of the bridge approaches named in his honour - the  Ken Friar Bridge - and a statue was also unveiled on the stadium's outer concourse in his honour. Verily, a true Mr Arsenal, and his contribution to the club cannot be underestimated. Farewell, Mr Friar. In your own way, you have left a legacy as big as Arsene Wenger did.

Finally, a few more thoughts on Manchester City. I've been giving a bit more thought as to how I felt watching them play on Sunday. And it left me cold, frankly. The behaviour of the players is almost as reprehensible as that of their Board. Shameless, and with no self-awareness. The more I think about it, the more I'd like to see them expelled from the Premier League. Not once their appeal is concluded, but right now! I have no idea what we are watching, or why. They are surely finished; and we all need to be put out of our misery as soon as possible. A 19-team division would be preferable to this.

What I cannot understand is why the punishment has not already been announced. When the likes of Everton and Nottingham Forest were punished - for relatively tiny lapses - points deductions were announced immediately; not following the appeal. So why are the biggest cheats in football history afforded different treatment? Plus - and I have no idea if this is actually true - if they had been made aware if the verdict over the summer, as is now rumoured, why the hell were they allowed to spend a further £450m on players by the league?

The sooner this is over, the better. For all of football. It's nauseating.

Anyway, Arsenal move on to Nottingham on Sunday (with Michael Oliver named as referee; are ProREF taking the p*ss?), and then Munich next week. Let's hope we see momentum continue to build. COYG!

Mikel's Madueke Conundrum

Three points were eventually secured from Saturday's return to Premier League action. But this was very much a game of two halves - although not equally divided halves (not actual halves then, as pedants may point out)...

Up to the point when Leeds deservedly took the lead after 55 minutes, Arsenal were frankly second best when it came to effectiveness; for all their dominance of the ball. But the goal sparked the home side into life, and victory was ultimately achieved fairly comfortably. All of which leaves questions.

As far as team selection was concerned, there were two surprises. Firstly that Kai Havertz was deemed fit enough to start - thus leaving moot all questions about whether Arteta would prefer Gyokeres or Merino up top. And Noni Madueke was the perhaps slightly surprising choice to replace the injured Tzolis on the left instead of Eberechi Eze.

And Arsenal started fairly well; dominating possession if not creating too much. Indeed, throughout the half Leeds were far more effective with the limited possession they had than Arsenal were. The home side looked sluggish and ponderous on the ball; failing to move it quickly enough in the face of the massed yellow ranks. Two headers from Havertz - from Madueke crosses - were the only worthwhile attempts they had on goal throughout the half, whereas Raya had to work considerably harder than his counterpart, Trafford - making three important saves - and the away side's tactic of quick switches deep into the Arsenal penalty area - one of which would hurt the home side later - was clear, obvious and effective. 

Frankly, Arsenal were poor. Only Raya was playing well, with Gabriel, Saka and Havertz the three players I'd single out for particular criticism. Gabriel has been all over the world during the international break (to Australia and India), so I am sure that there would have been some jet lag in his legs; he was well off his normal standards. Additionally, Starboy certainly didn't bring his England form back with him, and Havertz looked sluggish and nowhere near fully fit to my eyes.

The butt of the crowd's displeasure - and a lightning rod for moans and groans - was Madueke. Which I thought was really harsh. With the exception of Odegaard - who buzzed around in midfield constantly; although he often frustrates me by taking 5 touches when one or two would do - Noni was the only player really looking to make things happen. By trying some of the more difficult stuff - the risky pass into the box, or the take-on when it would be easier to come back inside - he is of course more likely to cough up possession. Which he did on several occasions. But in contrast to the ultra-safe Saka on the other side he looked the most likely source of chance making. He doesn't hide, and he doesn't stop trying something different. And he created all the worthwhile chances for the home side on Saturday. He deserves to stay in the side.

Saka, on the other hand, has to my eyes never fully recovered from that horrendous hamstring injury he sustained a couple of years ago. As a result, he may never quite reach the heights that we thought he might. Look; I'm not saying that he's not a high-class player, but he seems less willing to do some of the stuff he was doing prior to the injury nowadays. He played a lot of football over the Interlull, and I feel that Arteta needs to handle his load much for judiciously than he has done historically.

It was no surprise when Arsenal fell behind. It had been coming. And there were numerous Arsenal errors that led up to it. Gudmonsson ran off the back of Declan Rice into the left channel. Raya failed to cut out the low cross just 6 yards out, and Madueke had switched off completely, allowing Justin a clear run into the penalty area to slam the ball back across goal. You may recall that this was the player who scored twice for Leicester City at Emirates Stadium a few years ago - not too shabby for a full back.

The goal turned out to be a fatal error for Leeds. The bear had been poked, and Arsenal finally shook off their funk. Arteta reacted immediately by lining up no fewer than 4 substitutes, and while they were getting ready the home side equalised; a mere 6 minutes after the Leeds goal. And whilst the goal and assist go down to Calafiori and White, it was a pinpoint right-footed cross from deep out on the touchline by the left-footed Madueke that caused the mayhem. A magnificent delivery. Credit to the two full backs, of course, for both being deep in the Leeds penalty area to apply the finishing touches, but that doesn't happen without the initial delivery. The moment in itself justified the selection of Madueke. 

Arteta went ahead with 75% of his substitutions; sitting Eze back down, but bringing on Timber, Gyokeres and Bruno. And Arsenal had their tails up at this point - the atmosphere in the ground had flipped, and from that moment there was only going to be one winner. And the second goal came just a few minutes later.

And this was a thing of beauty. Arsenal - unusually - overloaded their left-hand side instead of the right, with Saka driving into the inside left position. Some pinpoint passing from him and Odegaard, Rice's driving run and clever back flick, and Bruno was on the edge of the penalty area to slide the ball into the corner of Trafford's net. A contender for goal of the month. Interestingly, if you watch the video carefully, Madueke has his hands in the air in celebration as Bruno hits the shot. Noni knows... https://x.com/i/status/2108914713908138429     

Bruno Guimaraes, the man we used to love to hate, is now an Arsenal hero. Fickle, aren't we?

Arsenal were in complete control for the last 20 minutes as Leeds tired. It's a funny old game; because if they'd have been 3-0 down after an hour that wouldn't necessarily have come as a shock, but in the end it could have been 4- or 5-1 (Bukayo Saka will not look back fondly at the one-on-one he fluffed as time expired). Three points were vital following the Brighton thrashing and three week gap; and three points were what they eventually came away with.

Credit to Leeds, however. There's no chance of them being involved in a relegation scrap this season on that showing. They - like Sunderland - will give plenty of teams plenty of problems this season.

Bizarre news came in the post-game warm down, with Hincapie - in particular - and Zubimendi both suffering non-contact and self-inflicted injuries that will reduce Arteta's ability to rotate for Tuesday's Champions League game against Lille. I guess that we may see MLS at left back for this one, with Bruno starting alongside Dec. I'd expect 5 or 6 changes, frankly, as Lille aren't the strongest team in the competition by a long chalk. Let's see.

Lille, incidentally, have former Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud in their ranks. Now, I'm not 100% sure that he'll get the sort of welcome he'd hope for from the home crowd, following some of the comparisons he made between Arsenal and Chelsea following the Europa League Final that Eden Hazard dominated. I will choose to simply ignore him, I think.

Just a couple of things before I go:

Manchester United vs Tottenham - and the home side were terrible, and should have been three or four goals behind before they took the lead. Which was highly amusing. Of course, 10-man Spurs did finally equalise; and I suppose that seeing as I didn't want either side to win that was a satisfactory result. Spurs are actually improving, but I think that Michael Carrick is going to be fortunate to last the season.  

Then to Anfield, where Manchester City eventually blew a much-depleted Liverpool away. But not before they got a helping hand from Chris Kavanagh (it looks like the direct debits haven't been cancelled yet, then...). 0-0 when Gravenberch received his second yellow card, but the result already looked inevitable, with substitute Doku running rings around poor Aruajo. City remain with a 100% percent record; not that that matters, of course, with sanctions around the corner.

Three things on the game: 

• Liverpool were missing Szoboszlai, Isak and Gakpo following the Interlull, and so looked ripe for the taking in any case. The referee ensured that was the case
• I was a little disappointed in the Liverpool supporters - they didn't give City anything like enough grief in my opinion
• City's general arrogance at the end is exactly the wrong message to send out. As if fans of other clubs aren't already up in arms. I would hope that this sort of behaviour will only serve to stiffen the resolve of the authorities and their rivals to give them a punishment that fully fits the crime

Anyway, Arsenal move on. Lille on Tuesday, then a trip to a somewhat underwhelming Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

COYG!

Asterisk FC

This one is going to run and run, I'd have thought. And there's so much that has been said - on the radio, on television, in podcasts and in the written media - over the past week since I last posted. This is such a monumental story, and I thought I'd add some of my own new thoughts (there are so many strands; so it may end up reading like random streams of consciousness, I'm afraid...). All this based on the perfectly reasonable assumption that the club are guilty as charged.

I'll then quickly turn my attention to the actual football - which returns, as it rightly should, at the home of the Champions on Saturday lunchtime.

As I say; so many threads to pick up on. Let's go:

Firstly, let's get the supposed 'irrefutable evidence' that Manchester City claim to have to fight the 114 guilty verdicts. All I can say is this; if the evidence is irrefutable, why didn't they present it during the actual investigation? The fact that they're continuing to double down on their 'innocence' is difficult to understand, frankly.

City also claim that they have proof that the extra money that was fed through to the club did not come from its owner, but from the Government of Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Mansour is the Crown Prince - the King's brother - so make of that what you will... 

Additionally, this 'evidence' flies directly in the face of the defence they used against the UEFA charges from a few years ago, when they proclaimed: "All sponsorship liabilities were met by the sponsors in question". Huh? Which one is it, then?

These are of course people who are not used to being told 'No'. They're at the very top of an Absolute Monarchy; answerable to nobody but themselves. They are used to setting their own Laws, so it probably barely computes with them that they may have to follow other people's.

The owners have - for reasons that don't need a lot of spelling out - firmly insinuated themselves into the UK. They have bought plenty of property; in London and beyond. They have invested billions into various institutions - both financial and other - in this country. And, most importantly in this instance, they have sought to make themselves invaluable to the city of Manchester. 

There is no doubt that their money has made a massive difference to the wealth of the city; to the way it looks, and to the quality of housing and municipal facilities available. They have completely renovated the run-down areas around the old City of Manchester stadium (which was donated to the club after the Commonwealth Games of 2002, and due to a sponsorship deal is now what we all know as The Etihad). Their money also helped build the impressive Co-op Live - the largest entertainment arena in the UK - which sits on the edge of the Etihad Campus. But...

A lot of evidence points to them having obtained the land in 'sweetheart' deals; in other words at knockdown prices. Perhaps fair enough if no other developer was interested, to be fair. But in the light of what we know now about the way the club has been run, we should perhaps be asking how much Manchester City Council - and its Mayor at the time; one Andy Burnham - were in bed with them and quite how those deals were struck. I'd also imagine that the rents they are charging won't get fed back into the UK economy.

They have done an amazing job, on the face of it. But isn't this exactly what sports washing is? Putting up a facade behind which one can kind all sorts of iniquities; such as financially doping a football club or - and this is of course far worse - causing people and even Governments to look favourably on them and therefore turn a blind eye to their policies both at home and abroad. Certainly, those Manchester City fans who are still to come to terms with the mess that the club is in continue to point at all the wonderful things they have done - and turn that blind eye to the bigger picture and all the less than wonderful things done in the name of that country.

Threats on all sorts of diplomatic levels, and about pulling out their money from the UK, have started, as they try to put pressure on the UK Government to in turn put pressure on the Premier League. Certainly, Mr Burnham's initial statement - almost defending the club's owners - showed a complete failure to understand the severity of the situation and to 'read the room'. Football is this country's national sport. Nobody rides roughshod over it and gets away with it; remember the uproar over the Super League a few years ago?

And I'll add this. All the talk in certain quarters about how much the Premier League would miss Manchester City is nonsense. In the grand scheme of things, only three clubs are essential to the success of the Premier League; Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. The rest are bit-part players in comparison, and those who one might regard as next in line - trying to knock on the door of those three giant, historical clubs and make up a Big 6 - would be Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City. But as for those three clubs... well, Tottenham have become a laughing stock, and the other two are where they are solely because they flouted the rules. The key to a successful Premier League is the so-called Red Cartel.

On the other side of things, I wonder how much pressure is being put on the owners from within their own country. After all, this matter is clearly bringing shame on Abu Dhabi - and Sheikh Mansour's brother won't like that!  Hopefully the pressure to extricate themselves from this mess will encourage them to slip away quietly - like that iconic meme of Homer Simpson disappearing into a hedge... 

Before I get on to my opinion on what punishment ought to be meted out, I just wanted to cover a few other strands to get you thinking. For example, if you've financially doped a club in order to illegally build the greatest squad of players that ever existed, and become more brazen each year that you've got away with it, what's to stop you seeking every other advantage that you can? For example, what about putting referees in your pocket? Raiding other clubs' academies? Paying journalists to write favourable articles? Artificially inflating transfer fees and wages to put other clubs outside of their own comfort zones? There's plenty of evidence pointing to all these things having taken place.

And now to Pep... Do you remember his comments when this all blew up all those years ago: "If you lie to me, the day after I am not here. I will be out, and I will not be your friend any more. I put my faith in you because I believe you and I defend the club because of that". Pretty unequivocal.

But last week's statement tells a different story: "I want every single Man City fan to know I am here; more than ever. I am, always have been, always will be, behind my club, my owner, my Chairman, Ferran, the players, staff, Enzo and you, our unique supporters. Let me be clear; we will get through this together, I love you all." Not their friend any more, then...

You know, if Pep's legacy wasn't already tarnished by being associated with Manchester City for all these years, statements like that one only make matters worse. Here's a guy with some skeletons in his closet - charged twice for steroid misuse whilst playing for Brescia, with questions hanging over whatever role he may had had regarding the brewing refereeing scandal involving Barcelona, and all the stories about the methods used by his pet medical teams over the years. I'm not knocking the undoubted genius of the playing systems he devised, but you have to ask yourself f if you believe that there's something of a dark side to Pep Guardiola.

And so to possible punishment. And we've all got our own opinion as to how large it ought to be. After some thought, I've come up with this:

• Expulsion from the Premier League (wherever the club may land is frankly not the Premier League's problem)
• A £1bn fine, to be redistributed proportionally throughout the football pyramid. Plus payment of the Premier League's legal costs
• A transfer ban of three seasons (6 windows); to be applied if/when ever they return to the Premier League
• A lifetime ban on their owners, Board members and senior officers from involvement in the running of any professional football club in England
• Stripping them of their titles. But perhaps don't award them to the runners up - as that's difficult. Asterisk FC 

If you think that's draconian, just think about the effect of their systematic and long-term cheating on their rivals, on those clubs who missed out on trophies and Champions League or European qualification, on those clubs who suffered relegation, and on the employees of other clubs who had their livelihoods affected as a result. On the legacies and reputations of players and managers of other clubs. On the finances of every single club from the Premier League down, as their wanton use of unlimited funds served to hyper-inflate the transfer and wage markets. Whatever form it takes, the punishment needs not only to hit the club hard, but also act as a deterrent to anybody else going forward from attempting to defraud the rest of the league. They deserve everything that I'd hope they've got coming to them. 

Sure, I feel sorry for the innocents. The employees who will lose their jobs. The supporters who are going to suffer as a result. I don't know what to call them apart from 'collateral damage'. And if I think about all this, I wish that it would have happened to Chelsea too; because they started all this. For all that people say about how Manchester United dominated the Premier League in so many of the preceding years - not losing sight of the amazing battles with Arsenal around the turn of the century- at least that club's growth (like Arsenal's) was achieved organically.

One tricky question for the Premier League, however, is when to announce the punishments. The timeline would indicate that the full process should be over by the middle of January; and foottball has of course to go on regardless despite everything that's going on. With Manchester City currently sitting top of the Premier League... with the team still in three cup competitions, if they realise that they've no chance of staying up will they simply rest their key players for the Champions League, for example; or just roll out a full strength side against the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool? What if they win a trophy this season? I have suggested on WhatsApp groups that once due process has been completed and - on the assumption that they don't win the appeal - that they are immediately expelled from all competitions and the Premier League becomes a 19-team competition for this season - with all of their results expunged. 

There are other legal matters, of course. The only question may be where to start. In a Criminal Court - take questions from HMRC, for example. Or in Civil Court - with other clubs suing Manchester City for all sorts of things. Then there's the question of whether the current City players can be held to their contracts; bearing in mind the Duty of Care that an employer has to its employees. Cans of worms everywhere!

And on top of all this... don't think for a single moment that the cheating stopped in 2018. There'll be so much more for the club to answer to for the following seasons.

Right - let's stick all that on the back burner for now. Because there's actual football to talk about. And with a series of injuries as a result of the international break with which to contend, Mikel Arteta has a number of decisions to make. Will we see Jurrien Timber? Who will replace Tzolis on the left wing? Will it be Big Vik or Mikel Merino up top in place of Kai? I'm not going to speculate; your guess is as good as mine. What I do expect, however, is three points from the game.

Of almost equal interest is going to be the reception that Manchester City get at Anfield on Sunday. I'm looking forward to that almost as much as I am the Arsenal game.

COYG!