PREMIER LEAGUE

Arsenal September review: Injuries and performances

Arsenal have started the season off just as Arteta would’ve hoped. The Gunners have managed to get good results amid injuries at the club. The North Londoners came very close to winning the Premier League last year and the year before but beating Manchester City is not easy. This season Arsenal have a different aura. The Gunners have faced one of the toughest schedules to begin the season but are placed third in the league table after seven games, just one point behind league leaders Liverpool.

Can Arsenal do it this season? Considering Rodri is out for the season and Liverpool have a new coach. It seems like this is going to be Arsenal’s year. Seven games are a small sample size and with more than eighty percent of the season left, it is too early to say anything. But there’s a reason why everyone is talking about Arsenal. It’s not that they are winning games, they were doing it in the last two seasons too. It is ‘how’ they are winning games that has convinced me to believe that Arsenal will win the league for the first time in about twenty years at the end of the season. Let’s look at the latest injury news at the club and talk about their performances in the absence of Martin Odegaard.

Arsenal Injury updates

This is another reason why I believe that they can win the league. They have had their share of injuries to begin the season but what is amazing is how they have reacted to the issue.

Timber, Calafiori and White have filled in for each other whenever required. Mikel Merino also got injured in the training session and could not make his debut until the end of the month. He came on against Paris and did the job. Even though players like Tomiyasu, Jesus, Zinchenko, and Tierney have been injured for the majority of the season till now, the biggest injury issue at Arsenal has to be the Odegaard injury.

The Arsenal captain, is the creative engine of the team, one of the best in the world at creating chances. He and Bukayo Saka are the two offensive players on the team who can create for others too. Generally, it is the two of them combining to create a chance and let someone else finish the move. When Odegaard got injured, Arsenal were set to face tough opponents, like Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspurs, Atalanta and PSG. Nobody would’ve expected Arsenal to stay undefeated throughout. Even without Odegaard, scoring goals was not a problem for The Gunners. They have managed well without their captain and his return will only help them get better.

Arteta has managed brilliantly in the last month. Even without his star playmaker, the team never looks clueless in attack. The season is long and full of hurdles however, it looks like Arteta and his boys, have the answers.

Performance review

The Gunners were up against tough teams during the month and the way they handled their business throughout the absence of Odegaard was commendable. The team won their matches against Tottenham and Paris. A splendid defensive performance and a set-piece goal in both games.

The match against City was quite different, Arsenal were down to ten men for the entire second half and they defended like champions. If Arsenal had not conceded in the second half, the narrative would’ve been completely different. It wasn’t just the defense that has performed well. The attackers did not let the absence of Odegaard affect their goal-scoring prowess.

Martinelli is now regularly getting on the scoresheet and his return to form has come at the perfect time. Trossard and Havertz have also put in exceptional performances and helped them get over the line in crucial games.

This team for the first time under Mikel Arteta is playing like a winning team and all the talk about Arsenal not having the heart of a champion, of Arteta being more like Mourinho than Pep will be put to rest the day Arsenal wins the league.

A trusted source on GoonerNews.com

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  1. Pingback: Bukayo Saka injury scare? What will Mikel Arteta do?

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