Successive defeats have stalled Premier League title charge but Martin Ødegaard is keeping faith in team’s cutting edge
When Liverpool visited the Emirates in October 2022, Arsenal needed to prove a point. The home side had won seven of their first eight games but, beyond the successful negotiation of a derby with Spurs, all of those victories conformed to expectation. They required a real inflection point to underline what everyone sensed: that this was a side capable of taking the next step and mounting a genuine challenge at the top. It was duly delivered during an absorbing, stylish five-goal thriller in which Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli ran riot.
How Arsenal could do with making a similar statement now. Liverpool return to north London on Sunday and while the FA Cup may not be top of Arteta’s priorities it provides an opportunity to breathe life into a tottering season. It is also a chance to land a blow before, in a month’s time, this meeting of title contenders is reprised in a Premier League context.
Continue reading…Successive defeats have stalled Premier League title charge but Martin Ødegaard is keeping faith in team’s cutting edgeWhen Liverpool visited the Emirates in October 2022, Arsenal needed to prove a point. The home side had won seven of their first eight games but, beyond the successful negotiation of a derby with Spurs, all of those victories conformed to expectation. They required a real inflection point to underline what everyone sensed: that this was a side capable of taking the next step and mounting a genuine challenge at the top. It was duly delivered during an absorbing, stylish five-goal thriller in which Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli ran riot.How Arsenal could do with making a similar statement now. Liverpool return to north London on Sunday and while the FA Cup may not be top of Arteta’s priorities it provides an opportunity to breathe life into a tottering season. It is also a chance to land a blow before, in a month’s time, this meeting of title contenders is reprised in a Premier League context. Continue reading…
