Arsenal, whether their own fans can believe it or not, are Premier League title challengers this season. Betfred have them priced at 6/1 second favourites, which means they are the closest challengers to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Despite the fact that they have won nine from ten in the Premier League and sit top of the table, there seems to be an underlying feeling that it won’t last, and the unstoppable Man City machine will overhaul them. Even after City’s loss at Anfield
Gabriel, Granit Xhaka, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus all started for Arsenal tonight in their 1-0 win over PSV Eindhoven, a result that saw them qualify for the knockout stages, but on the whole it was a second string side for Mikel Arteta’s Gunners. The likes of Rob Holding, Matt Turner, Sambi Lokonga, Fabio Vieira and Eddie Nketiah all started and unfortunately, after a stale first period, it points to one of Arsenal’s issues.
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They weren’t expecting to compete for the Premier League title and despite a continuation of Arteta’s overhaul, their squad isn’t in a place to. Their first XI is exceptional and as we have seen, one of the strongest in the league, but behind that - what is there?
Even though he shone in spells last season, Eddie Nketiah is still somewhat of an unknown quantity. Fabio Vieira is the brightest of the backup stars but he is still finding his feet while Tierney’s injury issues have dropped him down the pecking order. In comparison to Manchester City’s embarrassment of riches, there aren’t enough gamechangers ready to come off the normal bench.
As alluded to previously, what City have built is the result of a decade of heavy investment, so it is ridiculous to suggest Arsenal could match them man to man. But it is what they are up against if they are to win the Premier League title. It’s exactly the same thing that has cost Liverpool from pipping them as well.
A lack of quality depth throughout the squad meant that even though Liverpool played every single game last term, they just came up short in the key moments. But what Arsenal have been able to rely on this year has been their imperious home form. They have won every single game at the Emirates so far this season and what was a library has turned into a fortress.
In the end on this Europa League night, after no shots on target in the first half from either side, Granit Xhaka picked out the corner to score Arsenal’s winning goal. It saw them extend their group stage record to four wins out of four as once again Arsenal saw the benefit of home comforts.
One slight worry which could expose this lack of depth was the injury to Bukyo Saka late on. He was caught on the calf by a late tackle and although he managed to continue for a couple of minutes, he was eventually substituted.The Gunners face Southampton away on Sunday afternoon and will want to be at full strength as they look to hold onto first place as we head towards the World Cup.
The impact that Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey and Gabriel Martinelli made when they were introduced was obvious. The rise of quality in Arsenal’s play shows the quality they have when their best players are on the pitch, but that’s unlikely to be the case in every Premier League game, especially with a testing World Cup in the middle of the winter. Then when you consider they will now definitely be playing European football after Christmas, the workload increases.
The result is all that matters at this stage, and the record books will read Arsenal 1-0 PSV. But the Europa League could prove to be completely irrelevant if the Gunners get what they really want.
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