Following victory over Leicester City Arsenal have consolidated 4th place, gone over 50 points for the season, and have a full 14 points more than they had at this point last season. The progress is there to be seen. And in the battle for 4th, Arsenal find themselves a point ahead of Manchester United, three points ahead of West Ham and 5 ahead of Wolves, with three games in hand of each of them.
It's additionally been a particularly bad weekend for Tottenham, who lost at Old Trafford and then watched Arsenal, West Ham and Wolves all win. They're now down in 8th place, but with two games in hand on the three teams above them. Their inconsistency is making life particularly difficult for them.
However... it is worth pointing out that Arsenal's games in hand are against Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham, so there is no room for complacency at London Colney. I still see the latter as our biggest rivals for 4th.
I was sad enough to go through an exercise a few weeks ago to try to work out how many points Arsenal might need from their last 17 matches in order to take that 4th spot. I made it 35 points from 17 matches, and with 5 cup finals won since then the equation appears to be 20 from 12. 71 points. There is, however, a long, long way to go; so whilst we can dare to dream that's all I'll be doing.
Just a quick recap on Leicester. And what a pleasure it was to see that Vardy - who has been a gigantic pain in our side for years now - was injured. Leicester had been underperforming over the winter, but are now back in some sort of form, so it was never going to be easy. They have a number of talented players, of course; including James Maddison, with whom Arsenal were linked over the summer. However, his market price was twice that of Martin Odegaard... I need say no more...
Leicester started with a high press, but Arsenal had control over the early part of the game and were rewarded with a goal in the 11th minute. It was perhaps no surprise that it came from a corner, seeing as Leicester's record defending corners this season is dire - this was the twelfth this season - but perhaps it was a surprise that it was Thomas Partey who headed home at the near post. Two things on this - firstly, this goal was almost identical to the one he scored against Villa earlier this season. And secondly it was a close-range header and not a long-range shot, because... well, we all know that those end up in a similar place to Kepa's penalty the other day!
The rest of the half was much more even. Partey hit the bar - getting closer - but Leicester started to push Arsenal back as the half wore on and only a last-ditch sliding tackle from White, and a spectacular save by Ramsdale from a Barnes header prevented an equaliser. So 1-0 at half-time.
Second half, and 10 minutes in Arsenal were awarded a penalty by the VAR following a handball by Soyuncu during a goalmouth scramble. Two things on this again - firstly, it was Partey's header that he got his fingertips to, so Thomas was actually not too far off of claiming a hat-trick (!), and secondly I'm not sure how it took two minutes for the penalty to be awarded; nor what Rodgers and Schmeichel were complaining about! Despite his serious attack of shyness in front of goal, Laca buried the spot kick with aplomb.
And from then on it was frankly comfortable; the points never in doubt from that point as Arsenal saw the game out with ease and turned the screw on their rivals. Thank you very much.
A quick word here regarding individual performances. Once again, both Odegaard and Partey were outstanding. But everyone is playing their part. Gabriel and White in the heart of defence, Tierney on the left, and Lacazette all had superb, if understated games. Let's keep this up.
And now, on to a big test in Liverpool. Now, some might say that is a bit of a 'free hit', but it isn't really. As important as the points are - and I'd take a draw right now - it's also an opportunity to see how far Arsenal have come since the autumn. We're in the best form we could possibly be; so let's see how we compare against one of the powerhouses.
Because Liverpool are a formidable side. Fine players in every position, a strong bench, and no team presses as hard, nor moves the ball as quickly as they do. There's a small chance that Salah may miss out, but when you look at their last team selection and see that Klopp went with Salah, Mane and Diaz (where did they find him from - he looks like a magnificent acquisition; the new Alexis Sanchez perhaps!) but still had Jota and Firmino on the bench! Quite terrifying, really.
How Arteta chooses to line up for this game will be interesting. For many reasons:
- this is the first time in several weeks that Arsenal have actually had a midweek game. They will also have had 28 hours less rest than Liverpool, who played on Saturday lunchtime, and themselves play again on Saturday lunchtime. Is the Villa game more important? Surely he must rotate?
- I'm having nightmares over the thought of Cedric having to deal with Sadio Mane (and his flying elbows). Does Arteta bring in Holding and go with 5 at the back? And if so who does he leave out further up the pitch? Or does he maybe shift White out to right back for his physical presence?
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