“Arsenal haven’t played anyone yet”
“Just wait until October”
“Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City”

We were scheduled to have 9 games in 30 days. It was supposed to be too much for our young, thing, frail squad. Throw in fixtures against Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City and it was going to be the month that ended our title challenge.

Arsenal were supposed to tumble down the table during the month of my birthday (Monday 17th, feel free to buy me something from the She Wore Shop). Expectations were that we would not just no longer be top of the table, we would not even be top 4.

“They will be back to 8th by November” Spurs fans flooded Twitter with.

But football games are won on the pitch, not on paper (as are boxing fights Fury fans…).

Firstly the Manchester City game was postponed. Swapped up for the PSV Europa League fixture that was cancelled due to the death of Her Majesty The Queen.

Then we beat Tottenham 3-1. Followed it up with another 3 against Bodo/Glimt. Then 3 goals for the 3rd time in 3 games as we took 3 points against Liverpool.

Finally we travelled to Bodo/Glimt – just North of the Arctic Circle. Another win. Another 3 points.

4 games into our tough October, top of the Premier League, top of the Europa League group.

With 5 games to go in the month, we still need to remain focused. Ensure we do not drop silly points.

Tomorrow we face Leeds United at Elland Road. One of those away fixtures that makes the Premier League the toughest in the world.

Elland Road, Selhurst Park, Goodison Park, these sort of places, when the crowd gets behind the team, makes it a hard day for the visiting side. On the back of a long old trip away in Europe on a Thursday night, these sort of fixtures are never easy.

But like October is becoming easier as the month goes on, that Leeds is also not looking as tricky as it did back in August.

Leeds are in a poor run of form since beating Chelsea 3-0 in the 3rd week of the season – failing to win in their last 5 Premier League games.

But during that period, they are unbeaten at home (drawing against Everton and Aston Villa).

Like so many of these sort of games, scoring first is what will be important.

Then it is onto PSV at home.

Victory in our 4th Europa League game should guarantee qualification to the next round of the competition. And then that makes October less intensive as we will be able to put out a complete changed XI for the final 2 games.

Then it is on to Southampton – St Mary’s holds a few recent bad memories for Arsenal fans.

But like Leeds, the fixture does not look as tough as it did when they were announced – Southampton having lost their last 4 games.

They play twice more before facing Arsenal (West Ham at home, Bournemouth away in the countries worst “derby”).

The form we are in, the form they are in, you would be dissapointed if we did not walk away with 3 points.

Whilst in theory, we should walk away from Leeds and Southampton with 6 points, this is the Premier League and it is anything but predictable. I would not be surprised if we dropped points in one of the two games. But 4 points from back to back away games would not be a disaster.

Then it is Nottingham Forest at home. Should be an easy win.

With Liverpool and Tottenham out of the way and Manchester City postponed, October has become the month where we have become title challengers rather than also-rans.

If we get through the month with at least 6 points from the next 9, we will be going into November in at least 2nd place.

November sees us face Chelsea (A) and Wolves (H) before the season breaks for the World Cup.

We all would have taken top 2 at the break before the season started. If Manchester City slip up (I do not think they will), we could be going into the break top.

And then with so few of our squad set to be regular starters for their countries, we will be getting a mid-season break.

Fingers crossed we get over the line tomorrow and make it 5 wins from 5 in the first 16 games of October.

We just need to keep going. Keep winning.

Keenos

Our Liam Brady bottle openers are the perfect addition to any Arsenal fans home bar #Arsenalhttps://t.co/Y2pzuicG1N pic.twitter.com/b2LOKxk1TH

— Kick Off Merchants (@KOMerchants) August 3, 2022

FC BodØ/Glimt (0) 0 Arsenal (1) 1

Europa League

Aspmyra Stadium, BodØ, Norway

Thursday, 13th October 2022. Kick-off time: 17.45pm

(4-2-3-1) Matt Turner; Ben White, William Saliba, Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney; Albert Sambi Lokonga, Fabio Vieira; Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard (c), Reiss Nelson; Eddie Nketiah.

Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Thomas Partey, Gabriel Magalhāes, Gabriel Martinelli, Cédric Soares, Takehiro Tomiyasu, (Marcus Vinicius Oliveira Alencar) Marquinhos, Karl Hein, Granit Xhaka, Khayon Edwards, Matt Smith, Bradley Ibrahim.

Scorers: Bukayo Saka (24 mins)

Yellow Cards: Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey, Matt Turner

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 55% 

Referee: Irfan Peljto (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Assistant Referees: Davor Beljo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Damir Lazić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Fourth Official: Admir Šehović (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

VAR Team at UEFA HQ, Nyon, Switzerland: VAR: Marco Guida (Italy); AVAR: Fabio Maresca (Italy)

UEFA Referee Observer: Kenneth Clark (Scotland)

Attendance: 8,300

For the second time in a week, we find ourselves playing the same team in this competition, and this time we are the away team, playing in Norway, of course. At the time of writing, we do not appear to have any injuries nor outstanding problems, so hopefully the match will be one that we can get through without any problems.

Almost straight away from the kick-off, there was an early opportunity for us as Bukayo Saka made a really good run to get in behind the defence down the right. The goalie came out and Bukayo Saka hooked the ball across the face of goal but the whistle went for a foul, and shortly afterwards, there was a lovely exchange of passes inside the home side’s penalty area. Martin Ødegaard had the ball before playing it back to Albert Sambi Lokonga, who fired well wide. The match was dictated by the speed of Arsenal, and on the twenty-fourth minute, we got our reward, when Bukayo Saka played a little trickery to get inside the box and his shot bounced off a defender, onto his chest and into the back of the net, to give us the lead. Our goalscorer almost grabbed a second goal from a deflection (via a defender) as he got into the box again but this time he flashed a shot wide of the mark. We continued the pressure on the home side, and just after Bukayo Saka received a silly yellow card for his thoughtlessness, the home side appeared to wake up a bit and tried to put us under a bit of pressure, but our defence held firm, Just before the break, Bukayo Saka was brought down midway inside the hosts’ half and we had a perfect opportunity to create another chance just before half time; however, Ben White played it safe by squaring the ball to a team-mate rather than send the ball into the box and Arsenal retained possession for the final few seconds of the half.

The second half started in a fairly pedestrian manner, not much to get excited about just yet; however, seven minutes after the break, Amahl Pellegrino broke into space down our left-hand side and got into our penalty area. He had Ola Solbakken in support but had opted to go for goal himself and placed his shot too close to Matt Turner, who saved it easily enough. We had a narrow escape on the hour when Hugo Vetlesen, who had just Matt Turner to beat but thankfully blasted it over the bar, which inspired Mikel Arteta to send on Grant Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli for Bukayo Saka and Reiss Nelson just to spark things up a little. The home side was trying to make the match more of a competition now, with some good midfield play linked to one or two interesting chances, all of which went nowhere, which from our point of view was good to see. Hugo Vetlesen pulled back Eddie Nketiah to earn the hosts their first yellow card of the game, and a free-kick for us, which we took quickly. Gabriel Martinelli found Martin Ødegaard but his ball from the touchline was smothered at the near post by goalie Nikita Haikin. With twenty minutes of the match remaining, and with the home side looking a litle more spirited now, Mikel Arteta made another double change as Marquinhos and Takehiro Tomiyasu both came on for Martin Ødegaard (who handed the captain’s armband to Granit Xhaka) and Ben White. As we entered the last fifteen minutes of the match, we were still in charge, but the home side were looking more and more like they wanted to be part of this game now, as game management appears to be ours. Lars-Jorgen Salvesen almost got his head to a clever ball into the box as the home side kept pushing for an equaliser. The BodØ/Glimt fans then call for a penalty as they thought that Albert Sambi Lokonga handled the ball inside the box, but the referee was not interested and there was not a VAR check, so that was the matter closed. Albert Sambi Lokonga was replaced by Thomas Partey with five minutes of the match remaining, and shortly afterwards our substitute (Thomas Partey) got a yellow card for a messy tackle. Takehiro Tomiyasu showed a cool head as he calmly shrugged Amahl Pellegrino off the ball on the edge of our penalty area, and as the game entered injury time, Matt Turner received a yellow card for time wasting, but it mattered not, as a couple of minutes later we chalked up yet another win in the Europa League, Group A.

On a cold night within the Arctic Circle on an Astroturf pitch, we showed everyone just how good we are tonight under very challenging circumstances, none more illustrious than Bukayo Saka who just oozed class and skill out there this evening, Just like in the Premiership, we played together as a unit and gained the rewards for it too; we are top of Group A in this competition and top of the Premiership too. Mikel Arteta shuffled the pack again and he came up trumps with a young side who just keep on winning in style, despite some difficult moments at times. If we beat PSV Eindhoven next Thursday, then we are through into the knockout stages, which will be a just reward for all of our hard work.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Leeds United at Elland Road on Sunday, 16th October at 2.00pm. Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon

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— Kick Off Merchants (@KOMerchants) October 13, 2022

Life is good as an Arsenal fan right now.

Top of the league. Top of our Europa League group. A group of young, hungry players that have a connection with fans.

We look to carry on the good run in the Artic Circle tonight with the return game against Bodø/Glimt.

Firstly, fair play to the few hundred fans that have paid a few hundred quid to head out there.

Most of you go home and away, over land and sea, every game. You are the fans that players should be taking time to meet and interact with.

A win will leave us on 9 points with 3 games to go – and 5 points clear of 3rd place Bodø/Glimt who would have played a game more. So not quite through, but we will have a big foot in the next round.

It is also important to top the group, so whilst we can all but guarantee qualification tonight, it will not mean we can take the pedal off the gas for the last 3 games.

Top the group and you are straight through to the last 16 – and importantly European football can be put on the back burner until March.

If we finish 2nd, it is the Knockout round play-offs in February where we would have to face one of the 8 third-placed teams from Champions League group stage.

We still have the easiest game in the group to play – Zurich are 0 points from 4 games – but that is the our game of the group stages.

The aim has to be that we are qualified before then allowing us to rest everyone ahead of a trip to Chelsea 3 days later.

I expect a strong team tonight as we look to secure the 3 points.

The other big football news floating about this week is Kylian Mbappe.

It would be a hard “NO” from me.

The player is clearly an egotistical little prick who spent 12 months flirting with Real Madrid before signing an incredible deal with PSG.

5 months after agreeing to that deal, he publicly declares that he is “unhappy” at PSG and feels “betrayed”.

He is clearly a talented player, but he has had it all his own way whilst playing in France.

I wonder how he will cope playing week in, week out, on a bigger stage. How he will do with more competitiive games and a greater level of scrutiny.

To have his ego and attitude at just 23 stinks a little. You feel he will want to go into whatever club he joins and be front and centre. Be the most important player there. Believe that he is superior to everyone else. And that is not good for team moral.

Pep Guardiola would want nothing to do with him, and nor would Mikel Arteta.

I would be surprised if Jurgen Klopp would want to work with him, whilst Tottenham coukld never afford him.

I do not see him going to Spain – he has burnt his bridges with Real Madrid and Barcelona are still struggling to balance the books.

He is the type of player that I can see Todd Boehly going out and signing for Chelsea.

A superstar name without really thinking how he would fit in or if the manager would want him.

I can also see him ending up at Manchester United – who would show they have not learnt their lesson after Paul Pogba.

These days, it is not just about the talent you have in your feet but also your attitude.

Mbappe might have the talent and ability of a Thierry Henry, but he has the attitude of Abebayor. He stinks.

I hope Arsenal sit this one out.

Enjoy the game tonight.

Keenos