The first set of Champions League semifinalists were established yesterday with Paris St. Germain smashing past a 10-man Barcelona while Borussia Dortmund had enough in the tank to see off the threat of Atletico Madrid. Prior to the quarterfinals, the Spanish clubs were touted to qualify from their clashes against opposition ranked lower than them in the competition, but yesterday’s games proved that at the end of the day, it’s the aggregate result that matters. After a heart breaking loss suffered at the hands of a former manager, Unai Emery, and his Aston Villa vying for the Champions Leagu ..read more

On Saturday, Manchester City made mince meat of Luton Town, propelling the Cityzens to the top of the Premier League, with fellow title rivals, Liverpool and Arsenal having home ties on Sunday. We all watched Liverpool miss chance after chance against Crystal Palace, and it’s fair to say that Eberechi Eze’s goal was against the run of play, but Liverpool huffed and puffed and couldn’t bring that defense down. Liverpool’s surprise loss saw them drop to third place, making Arsenal’s clash against Aston Villa all the more important. The starting lineup saw Gabriel Jesus take Jorginho’s place in ..read more

Following Manchester City’s resounding win over Luton Town, which propelled them to the top of the table temporarily, Arsenal has the uphill task of upstaging a resurgent Aston Villa team at home to return to pole position. There is still the business of the Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Bayern Munich to attend to, but this game against Aston Villa is very important, as every Premier League game is pretty much a cup final till the end of the campaign. Aston Villa has shown defensive frailties in recent weeks, and the 3-3 draw with Brentford was a nice sight for the neutrals ..read more

Jurrien Timber joined Arsenal earlier in the summer and bedded himself in time to join the squad that travelled to the United States for the MLS preseason tour. Timber has always been known for his versatility, featuring as a center back, right back and right wing back from his Ajax days, but Mikel Arteta featured him in the Oleksandr Zinchenko left back role and he blended in like water off a duck’s back, giving his manager the confidence to feature him in the Community Shield victory over Manchester City as a left back. Timber expectedly started in the left back inverting role in the&n ..read more

In the Premier League last week, the three-horse race between Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City took center stage as the Cityzens threw the first punch with their Kevin de Bruyne-inspired win over Crystal Palace at the Etihad. Arsenal had a daunting challenge against a Brighton side that has been a constant thorn in their flesh in recent campaigns, but a dominant performance saw Mikel Arteta’s men run out as 3-0 winners, launching them to pole position in the Premier League table. Everyone connected with Arsenal and Manchester City watched with keen interest as Liverpool visited Old Traf ..read more

Gabriel Jesus’ major injury concerns while at Arsenal came to fruition in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, when he suffered a knee injury while representing Brazil, causing him to miss up to five months of action for Arsenal subsequently. This was a major blow as Jesus was a vital cog in the Arsenal attacking machine, cementing his place as the alpha dog in the club’s forward line following the high-profile departures of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Jesus didn’t start the new campaign any better, as he had to go under the knife again for a minor procedure for a niggling knee iss ..read more

It was expected that the clash between Arsenal and Bayern Munich was going to be an all out war, with two European juggernauts locking horns for a chance to be in the semifinals of the competition. Both sides had contrasting domestic forms as Arsenal currently sit in pole position in the Premier League, albeit by goal difference, while Bayern Munich are miles adrift from their lofty ambitions of winning the Bundesliga with Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen performing at elite levels right now. The stage was set and it was showtime, with Arsenal heavily motivated especially with the fact that the ..read more

Following the nervy win over FC Porto via penalty shootout, Arsenal has finally gotten a date with destiny, against a side, Bayern Munich, that has been a thorn in our flesh in quite recent memory. Losing 10-2 on aggregate over two legs is not a pleasant thing, but it actually happened when Arsenal met Bayern Munich in the knockout stages of the Champions League. However, this is totally different Arsenal from the Arsene Wenger side that was pummeled eons ago, and in all fairness, this is also a different Bayern Munich side as well. For starters, the club is going through a tumultuous time wi ..read more

Match Report – Match Highlights – Post-Match Press Conference Final Result: Brighton 0-3 Arsenal (Saka 33′, Havertz 62′, Trossard 86′) Arsenal XI (4-3-3): Raya; Zinchenko (Tomiyasu 72′), Saliba, Gabriel, White; Rice, Jorginho (Jesus 70′), Odegaard (Vieira 89′); Jesus (Trossard 64′), Saka (Martinelli 64′), Havertz (Nketiah 89′) Following the midweek win over Luton Town, Mikel Arteta brought back the players that rested with the likes of Declan Rice, Gabriel Jesus, Jorginho and most importantly, Bukayo Saka, returning to the fray. Saka was subject to speculation, with suspic ..read more

So far, so good on the international break for Arsenal with no injuries from the fixtures so far, but things will get a bit heated tonight for Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior, as Ukraine and Poland feature in the European Championships playoff finals tonight. Ukraine have a huge clash against Iceland, which will be an interesting encounter. The Scandinavian nation can be a potential banana skin for the Ukrainians, but I feel that Zinchenko and co. have enough in the tank to see out the threat they’d pose, but they will have avoid complacency and of course, profligacy, to ensure that they ..read more