Arsenal's Recent Performance: Good Win, But Injury Woes Loom
I’m not exactly a huge fan of Jason Cundy or Jamie O'Hara on talksport, but as a pair? I’ve got to admit, I love the dynamic they’ve got going. They're often much better together than they are individually. They’re just hilarious fun, especially when they’re going at each other. So, with that said, I’m going to start off by asking: what on earth is going on at Spurs? Seriously, their home form has been terrible. They can’t seem to catch a break or buy a win at that lovely stadium of theirs to save their lives—just four wins in the 2025 calendar year. That’s relegation form if you ask me and what was that by Spence and his team mate? You cant imagine trying that with Mikel Arteta? Is the Thomas Frank hype train coming off its tracks so soon already
Now, onto Arsenal. November is typical not one of Arsenal's best months but we got off to a good star with a win at Burnley. Viktor Gyökeres had his best game in an Arsenal shirt but had to come off injured. Blimey. What has Arsenal done to the injury gods to deserve this much good luck, so to speak? The latest news is that both Martinelli and Gyökeres are going to be out for a couple of weeks. Just when everything seemed to be running like clockwork, we're now back to Merino up top… again.
I can't fault the club for this one, though. The squad’s been beefed up nicely, but these injuries are starting to take their toll, and it’s frustrating. All this talk about squad depth is great, but injuries are chipping away at it, and it’s beginning to stretch the squad to its limits. It makes our potential title charge feel more tenuous. Speaking of the title race, Pep was asked if Manchester City were in the title challenge conversation after matching Arsenal's win at Turf Moor with their own victory over a high-flying Bournemouth. His response? "It would be nice if Arsenal conceded a goal." And I’m sure he meant it. That win at Burnley equaled Arsenal’s record for consecutive clean sheets—set by the legendary George Graham's team—seven in a row. Mikel Arteta will be aiming to break that record, maybe even push it to eight or nine, or perhaps even match Liverpool’s record of 11 consecutive clean sheets. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s one game at a time. We did the business at Burnley. Although I missed the match due to competing commitments, I caught the highlights, and I can say we showed why we might finally be on a title charge. Gyökeres was lively, but it was a shame to see him go off injured. Saka missed a couple of chances he really should have buried, but Rice was imperious in midfield. We were 2-0 up at halftime, and let’s not forget—Burnley are a competitive side under Scott Parker. The Premier League is a harsh mistress, and Burnley are learning that the hard way. I still expect them to survive the drop, though. Right now, it’s looking like Wolves and West Ham are racing each other for the bottom.
Back to the game—when Gyökeres came off in the second half, Merino came on, and you could feel a stark difference in our attacking presence. Merino just doesn’t occupy defenders in the same way as Gyökeres does. This gave Burnley some breathing room and allowed them to push forward, while we also dropped off significantly. Arteta mentioned this in his post-match comments—highlighting both the things he liked and didn’t like about the performance. I hope this was just a one-off because, as we all know, the Premier League is unforgiving. If you snooze, you lose, and Arsenal knows that all too well.
Saka had one of those off days, too. I thought he might have been starting to return to his best, but it seems there’s still some work to do. Overall, it was a good win, but there are plenty of reasons for concern. Injuries are the biggest issue. Why are so many players—Saka, Ødegaard, Martinelli, Gyökeres, Havertz, Jesus, Saliba, Madueke, White, and Jesus again—getting injured? And we’re only a quarter of the way into the season! Ten first-team players sidelined with injuries? Something’s not right.
UEFA Champions League Preview: Slavia Prague Away
But enough about the doom and gloom. Let’s shift gears and look ahead to Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League clash with Slavia Prague away. This will be Mikel Arteta’s second meeting with the Czech side, after a Europa League quarterfinal encounter back in 2020. Slavia Prague are currently sitting 28th out of 36 in the group stage, having picked up just two points from their first three UCL matches against Atalanta and Bodo. It’s funny, though despite their struggles, they’re actually above teams like Bayer Leverkusen, Ajax, and Benfica, sides with far more European pedigree. While their league form is also different, having beaten Banik Ostrava 2-0 too over the weekend taking them top of the Czech league.
On the other hand, Arsenal are coming into this match in fine form, with three wins from three in the UCL, and not a single goal conceded. We’re sitting 4th, just behind PSG, Bayern, and Inter. The game plan should be clear: win all your home games (looking at you, Bayern), grab a few away wins, and avoid losing on the road. So far, we’re on track. This should be one of those winnable away games, but the team needs to show up. I expect Arteta to have an eye on that #EPL fixture agaist sunderland at the stadium of Light hence, need to make a few changes. Some will be forced (Gyökeres being out) Zubi is suspended for this, while others will be more precautionary, as he’ll want to keep the squad as competitive as possible. A lineup similar to the one that faced Brighton, with perhaps Timber and Calafiori on the bench. In the middle, I’d go with Nørgaard and Rice, or even MLS, if we play Hincapié at left back. Here’s how I’d line up with Sak Trossard and Merino leading the line, it leaves a light bench though but we have to deal with it and hopefully still keep a clean sheet.
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| #SLPARS |
