West Ham, tough. Torreira for Partey makes sense.

Morning all.

Saturday match day with an 8pm kick off. That’s weird. Monday to Friday yes, but not a Saturday night. But hey, we knew this season was going to be strange because of the shortened time frame in which the same amount of fixtures have to squeezed in. International breaks won’t help either, nor will our Thursday/Sunday routine we’ve had to get used to. Still, it’s the same for all Premier League clubs although those who voted against the five substitutions will have a slight advantage by not being involved in European football and in some cases, not having as many players away on international duty.

For the fans though it’s great as the television channels are full of the game we love to watch.

We’re at home tonight for the first time and it’s about time we did make it our home. A ground other clubs fear going to rather than turn up fancying their chances. It was this very same fixture last season which turned out to be the last domestic match for Arsenal before the world of sport came to a sudden halt. Coronavirus, and the darned thing is still hanging around, threatening a shutdown once again.

Anyway, Arsenal huffed and puffed in typical Arsenal fashion but instead of fearing more of the same would follow over the weeks, months and years which followed, there was hope. Hope that Mikel Arteta’s words would become a reality on the pitch. The performance against West Ham was pretty dire though but even so, we won thanks to a late Lacazette goal and a solid performance from Bernd Leno.

David Luiz returns to the squad today but other than him, our injury list remains the same. William Saliba won’t feature as he played for the under 23’s last night.

So, West Ham. David Moyes who know Mikel Arteta we’ll from their time together at Everton. We all know about Flapianski who turns into a world class keeper when he plays against his old club and lastly, Jack Wilshere who once again finds himself on an injury list. He’s recovering but just not enough to face his boyhood club. It’s so sad really because Jack is clearly a guy who just loves to play football yet has all too often been injured and then there’s a guy on our books who seldom suffers an injury, other than his ‘I don’t fancy this match bad back’ but doesn’t seem to be fussed whether he plays or not. Doesn’t seem right at all.

West Ham are yet to make a move in this transfer window, at a successful one which is quite different to Arsenal who by their own standards, have been pretty busy and both Edu and Arteta have hinted that that more might arrive before the transfer window closes. Last weekend two of our new signings had a major impact on the game and result. Willian had a hand in all three goals, one of which Gabriel scored and as the game went on, our new central defender showed exactly why Arsenal signed him. In fact all our summer signings have something to offer, yes, even Cedric who will be called upon for the domestic cups and Europa I’m sure as Bellerin can’t be expected to play in every fixture this season. Neither can any of our players which is why we need a strong squad. Our weakness in my opinion, remains in midfield but if the headline on NN yesterday holds any truth, Lucas Torreira might be heading to Atletico Madrid with Arsenal finally getting Partey in the deal which would be ideal for both clubs in my opinion. The Aouar rumours wont go away either.

Until such times that the club strengthens our midfield, we’ll be seeing Ceballos, Elneny and Xhaka fight it out with Willock and maybe even Guendouzi hovering behind. Last weekend Willian got the nod over Pepe, Lacazette preferred to Nketiah. Gabriel and Holding did well, very well but with Luiz fit again, Arteta has a decision to make.

Whoever plays this evening, I’m sure Mikel Arteta will demand more of the same style of football we’re starting to get used to seeing. Happy to sit back and defend as a group when the moment dictates. Happy to play on the break, or the long ball when the moment is right. The pressing game which Unai Emery promised but only now are we seeing and the 100% effort both on and off the ball and from start to finish. The kind of style which makes this Arsenal team more difficult to beat. The kind of football which will hopefully see us win more fixtures, more confidently.

See you in the comments guys.