Winning the league ain’t easy. And defeat to Newcastle has made it that little bit harder.

I always think during a campaign there are litmus tests. Decent sides who you need to get a result at away. This season they are the likes of Tottenham, Aston Villa and Newcastle.

The trio are not title challengers, but will probably the best of the rest. And anyone that goes away to all three and wins will probably lift the Premier League title. We have 2 wins and a loss in the games.

It was always a tough start to the season.

10 games in and we have been away to Manchester City, Newcastle, Villa and Spurs. Our 11th game is away to Chelsea. Liverpool aside, that will be our 5 toughest away days done and we have only played a dozen games. 

Our second defeat of the season leaves us 7 points off top. To some, that is already an impossible gap to close and our title chances are being written off.

Personally, I do not think we are out of the title race. We have had a very tough start and we are more than capable of winning 10 on the spin. 

To mount a title challenge season in, season out is not an easy thing to do.

During our peak period under Arsene Wenger (1997/98-2004/05), we did not challenge for the title every season, even if we finished second in the league.

In 1999/2000, we finished 18 points behind Manchester United. The season after it was 10. In both of these years it never felt like we were in the title race despite finishing second. Likewise in 2004/05, once our unbeaten run was ended it felt like Chelsea ran away with it. Again we finished 2nd but we never really challenged.

Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp were a force to be reckoned with. They were Manchester City’s closest challengers for so long. But the my didn’t not challenge for the title every season.

2018/19 was the first year they Liverpool challenged under Klopp, finishing second with a mammoth 97 points. The year after they won’t the league! But then in 2020/21 they failed to mount a challenge, finishing 3rd and 17 points behind.

They challenged once again in 2021/22, finishing 2nd and a single point behind. And then after that they fell away with a 5th place finish (22 points behind) and 3rd place finish (9 points behind). 

In the 8 full seasons under Klopp, I would say Liverpool only put up a proper title challenge in 4 of them (18/19, 19/20, 20/21 & 23/24).

Our title challenge this season might be over following the defeat to Newcastle. And if that is the case I will be disappointed. But not challenging for the title every year does turn you into a poor team, or make you a poor manager.

Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t challenge for the title every year. Neither did Wenger or Klopp. Even Pep Guardiola with City has not challenged year in, year out.

We can not keep questioning Mikel Arteta and claiming we are in some sort of crisis everytime we have a result that does not go our way. 

Keenos

https://twitter.com/komerchants/status/1852673258111594896?s=46&t=NnmMnpIdEx5zWqnbfbhYSw

Starting team lineups:

Arsenal starting XI: Raya; Partey, White, Gabriel, Timber; Rice, Merino; Martinelli, Trossard, Saka; Havertz.

Liverpool Starting XI: Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Konate, Robertson; Gravenberch, Jones, Mac Allister; Diaz, Nunez, Salah.

Match officials:

Referee: Anthony Taylor . 

Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn. Fourth official: Sam Barrott. 

VAR: Michael Salisbury. 

Assistant VAR: Darren Cann.

Premier League

Emirates Stadium

27th October 2024

KO: 4:30 (UK)

Today, we face Liverpool in a clash at the top of the table. With quite a few first team players injured, Arteta will have to rotate his side.

Saka and Timber return to the squad however, Saliba is absent due to his red card which he received in our last Premier League fixture against Bournemouth.

Liverpool have had a very strong start to the season under Arne Slot. With only one loss and seven wins Slot will be looking to continue their good form.

As we kicked off, Diaz ran at Partey and was supported by Robertson who was fouled by Saka. The ball was crossed in from the freekick and flicked on by Van Dijk however, Rice was able to clear. 

A few minutes later, Kai Havertz and Van Dijk hd a tussle off the ball as the German had a couple of pushesat the defender.

Van Dijk responded with a little kick out of his own to send the Arsenal man into a heap on the ground. No card was given but a dangerous free kick on the right which came to nothing after a poor cross. Salah then nearly slipped Diaz through however, Ben White was there to intercept. We then broke the deadlock as 

Ben White played a great ball in behind for Saka to chase with Robertson contesting him. Saka got into the area and cut the ball back through Robertson’s legs and fired home past Kelleher. 

Salah then had his own chance as Merino let the ball slip through his foot through to Salah whose effort went wide. Moments later, Liverpool equalised through Van Dijk. A corner was swung in and flicked on by Diaz to Van Dijk who was there to head home. 

Arsenal fans were then furious as Diaz wasn’t booked for kicking the ball away. We then nearly scored as Merino was unmarked and misjudged the ball in forcing him to hit wide as he fell holding his shoulder. Martinelli had his first test against Trent as he beat him and fizzed the ball in to Saka who couldn’t connect. 

Minutes later, we then had a penalty shoot as Konate and Trent appeared to sandwich Martinelli however, Anthony Taylor waved away any claims. Mac Allister was then shown a yellow for bringing down Saka. Some nice play from Timber and Merino then forced the ball out to Martinelli who blazed over. 

We had the majority of the ball limiting Liverpool as Trossard’s cross was cleared. We then won a freekick in Liverpool’s half which was whipped in beautifully by Rice and headed in by Merino. VAR checked for offside however, the goal was given. 4 minutes were then added as Liverpool had the last chance of the half with Mac Allister’s header being saved by Raya.

Half time views:

A very dominant first half with us limiting Liverpool to many chances. Arteta will be pleased with how we’ve dealt with the pace of the Liverpool wingers. 

We still need to find Saka more to create more chances as it seems that every time we stack with Martinelli, he runs into trouble.

Seconds into the second half, someone on the Liverpool bench was shown a yellow after Gabriel went down easily with a challenge from Nunez. Gabriel looked to be hurt however, carried on. A minute later, Gabriel went down again and had to be replaced by Kiwior. 

Salah then turned past Timber and crossed into the box however, Diaz wasn’t there to meet the ball. Liverpool then won a corner after Trent’s cross was blocked. Robertson crossed in but failed to beat the first man. Slot then made a triple change as Tsimikas, Gakpo and Szoboszlai replaced Robertson, Diaz and Mac Allister. 

Raya then picked up a booking for time wasting. Nunez then smashed a great volley over the top for Salah down the right.He flicked in a cross in which Raya got a touch to but only pushed it into the middle of the area. It wouldn’t sit for Jones who had to wait on it coming down before seeing his shot blocked by Partey. Timber then went down holding his toes. 

He managed to get up and continue however, went down again as he was replaced by Lewis-Skelly. Trent then tried a chipped ball towards Salah which went wayward. Moments later, Trent played a sublime ball through to Nunez who squared to Salah who tapped home to equalise. After the goal, Arteta replaced Saka and Martinelli with Jesus and Nwaneri. 

We then had a chance of our own as Havertz dunked the ball to the back post to Jesus whose shot was blocked and out for a corner. The resulting corner came to nothing. We then appeared to have scored however, Anthony Taylor had blown up for a foul by Kiwior as he didn’t let play continue. For me, it wasn’t a foul and he shouldn’t have blown his whistle. 

Seven minutes were then added as Endo replaced Jones. Minutes later, Nunez was then booked for tripping up Trossard. We then looked to have a corner in the dying embers of the game however, the officials gave a goal kick to Liverpool and then the full time whistle was blown.

Full time views:

A fair result with us being the better team in the first half and Liverpool having the better of the ball in the second.

One of our worries will be the absence of our senior defenders with Gabriel and Timber both coming off injured.

One point to also make is the decision by the officials for not booking Van Dijk and blowing up when Havertz was through on goal. I guess it almost is always inevitable when Anthony Taylor is the referee.

Anyhow onwards and upwards as we look to face Preston away on Wednesday in the EFL cup.

COYG

Hudson

14 days to set the tone for the busy festive spell

Over the next 14 days, Arsenal will face title-challenging Liverpool at Emirates Stadium, and if that wasn’t a stern-enough test, The Gunners also have away trips to Newcastle and Inter Milan before facing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Following that, the next international break. It feels like a make-or-break period. To me, it’s more about keeping our head above water rather than being Michael Phelps.

The mood around the club has been high spirited for a good couple of years now. The Emirates has had consistently great atmosphere over this time, but this is one of the rare periods where we need the crowd to be as positive and as excited as they have been for the last couple of seasons.

Liverpool will be tough. Liverpool without multiple key players will be tougher. Liverpool after defeat to Bournemouth will really test the home support. And I hope they stick with them throughout the match. We will lose possession more with Ødegaard. We will be less exciting down the right without Saka. But we are good enough to take a result without them – it just needs a combined effort from both the team and the crowd to do so. To create that buzz. To give the team all the resources needed to bring a result to the table.

Manchester City have consistently worse results without Rodri. Liverpool fell off a cliff without van Dijk a couple of seasons back. Teams losing their best players will make it harder – especially while we’re without two of our biggest ball retainers going forward. And it will prove to be tough for the next couple of games too.

No matter the results, we just need to remain within touching distance. Our early-season fixtures have been hard. After 11 matches in the Premier League season we will have faced Villa away, Spurs away, City away, Liverpool at home, and Newcastle and Chelsea both away too.

Now, it will not be a nice feeling if we lose further ground this weekend or indeed over the next couple of game weeks. But, as eye rolling as it sounds, it is important to not drown completely. After the next international break our remaining fixtures in 2024 are Forest H, West Ham A, United H, Fulham A, Everton H, Palace A, and Ipswich H. A batch of games where we could suddenly get up a head up steam with a nearly-fit squad again.

To add to that, our final FOURTEEN fixtures are Leicester A, West Ham H, Forest A, United A, Chelsea H, Fulham H, Everton A, Brentford H, Ipswich A, Palace H, Bournemouth H, Liverpool A, Newcastle H, Southampton A. There’s real potential that our season rests on a vintage second-half of the season.

In 97/98, we had 10 wins, 8 draws and 4 losses after 23 matches. We were 5th. Then we won 13 of our next 14 and the rest is history. In 01/02we had 13 wins, 9 draws and 3 defeats after 25 matches.

With those two title-winning campaigns mentioned I want to know your favourite match from any title-winning season, or a match that made you think “this might be the season after all”.

End of the day, teams do have down periods, and while the margin for error is smaller in the Man City era, they will drop points too. They’ve not had a convincing result since West Ham away on Matchday 3, and even Liverpool have a Home defeat to Nottingham Forest on their record despite the positive start from Arne Slot.

This season will be a long one yet, and let’s still with the boys all the way.

Nick