There’s been a lot of handwringing over William Saliba’s injury and, to be fair, our injury list is reminiscent of the later years under Arsène, but it seems more and more as if Javi Gracia’s squad is suffering injuries at a rate that suggests they’d rather not make the long journey south to face us on Saturday. It also gives us a glimpse into how those who are available may set up against us.
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Despite the late injury to Thomas Partey forcing him out of the lineup just hours before kickoff, we went toe-to-toe with City and more than held our own, shaking off the lethargy of the last few weeks. Yes, de Bruyne pounced on a risky pass from Tomi back to Ramsdale to score a clever goal, and Ake’s accidental flick from Dias’s header hit the crossbar, but Saka equalised from the spot, sending Ederson the wrong way and Ederson had clobbered Nketiah. From there, it was back and forth, with each side creating chances. In the end, though, it was really our own mistakes and not anything City did that led to this result.
Anyway, click here to vote. That nifty graphic will be available later; if you want real-time results, click here.
With a grand total of 578 votes, 36% selected Bukayo Saka as our MOTM against Newcastle, with 29% preferring Tomiyasu (whom we actually rated higher). The knives were out for Aubameyang, whom we rated an ugly 4.31 after a poor all-around performance capped by that ignominious miss. We’ll have to examine Aubameyang’s form, role, and future at some point soon. For now, though, let’s just bask in the glow of a tidy win…
Three wins from three. Five goals scored from five different scorers. At a risk of sounding melodramatic, there is absolutely no other conclusion to draw other than the Arsenal, the mighty, mighty Arsenal, are back. Okay, so that was a touch more than melodramatic, but, still, it’s hard to resist letting just a touch of optimism creep in after such a dire start to this campaign and after such gloomy campaigns prior. Consecutive 8th-place finishes are nothing to write home about, and it’s perhaps little surprise that yours truly had stopped writing. This, my friends, is my first post since April 2019—approaching 30 months, give or take. I wonder if I’m as bad as this now as I was back then. Time will tell. Enough about me. It’s my least-favorite subject. Back to the action on the pitch and, well, adjacent to it.
