Saka out with an illness, Saliba out indefinitely, Tomiyasu out for the season, Man City battered Liverpool 4-1 earlier today, not what you want to see as an Arsenal going into this Leeds game but we handled them with a second-half onslaught to take us back to 8 points clear with a game in hand despite all those things going against us with a 4-1 win over relegation fodder Leeds. Gabi Jesus got back on the scoresheet with two goals, Trossard got himself another assist, Xhaka got a goal, Thomas Partey didn’t get injured and I didn’t have to suffer through a roller-coaster of a game. All to play for with 9 matches left, 9 cup finals, let’s do it fellas.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
- 9 matches left and everything to play for: Breathe in, breathe out. So close but yet so far. Just a disastrous situation for my health as we get to the last 9 games of the season. No room for mistakes, games against Liverpool away, City away, Chelsea home, and Newcastle away on the docket still left to play. I can hear and feel Haaland breathing down my neck as we get to the end of the season. The boys have withstood almost everything that has come up against them to get us to this point and deserve our faith and belief in them, we will see if they get it done.
- Gabi Jesus is back on the scoresheet: I needed this and I needed this bad. With Saka out, we needed someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck with Leeds sitting in a low-block and it was Gabi Jesus’ moment of brilliance that unlocked Leeds and won us a pen.
Gabriel Jesus was all-action today for us, forcing himself wide to make sure he can get touches on the ball, combining well with the wingers, take defenders out to relieve pressure. Just an immense performance by our #9 when we needed him most.
3. Trossard with another assist: Signing of the winter window by far, he has 1 goal and 7 assists in 11 appearances for us and doesn’t look on stopping anytime soon. His positional flexibility makes him a perfect foil for Jesus who likes to move across the front 3. I’d like to see him start next to Saka and Gabi Jesus for the coming weeks with Martinelli coming off the bench.
4. Saka and Saliba back as soon as possible pls: Saka looks like he just a simple break from something minor he picked up which is good to see. With Wilo however, this might make or break our season, whether we can get him back into the team. With Tomiyasu out with a knee injury and no other replacement at RB for White, we need to keep him out there which means Rob Holding is needed in the middle. Rob hasn’t done much wrong this season but breaking up the best CB pairing in the league this season is not ideal for sure, I would say closer to being catastrophic. Guess we will have to wait and see, if I had it my way, I’d want Saliba playing at Anfield rather than Rob.
PLAYER RATINGS:
Ramsdale: 7/10- Made a huge save to keep it at 0-0
Ben White: 8/10 – Quietly one of our players of the season. Got himself another goal.
Holding: 6/10 – solid all around, few instances where he didn’t clear the ball properly which brought more pressure.
Gabriel: 7/10 – Imperious and monstruous
Zinchenko: 6/10 – Weirdly sloppy with the ball at times
Thomas Partey: 7/10 – Didn’t get injured
Xhaka: 8/10 – Got himself another goal to add to his stellar season
Ødegaard: 8/10 – What a ball to get him that assist
Martinelli: 7/10 – Useful
Gabriel Jesus: 9.5/10 – Got our #9 back when we needed him most
Liverpool: 0/10 – Not getting the job done today
Manchester United: 0/10 – amazing how title challengers United are 22 points back of league leaders Arsenal, let’s all laugh at them.
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