Bukayo Saka has 41 starts in all competitions so far this season, Ben White has 40 and Martin Odegaard 39. Last season, Saka made 42 starts and Odegaard and White had 39 a piece. That virtuous triangle stationed on the right of the Arsenal team has been a consistent corner stone of the last two seasons. In 2022-23, Gabriel Martinelli started 40 games on the left wing, Granit Xhaka made 43 starts, all as a left eight and Zinchenko started 28 games at left-back. While Zinchenko’s fitness meant he could not match Ben White’s numbers at right-back, Arsenal’s left side still had a consistency to i ..read more

Morning all. It’s gonna be a pretty quick blog today, I think. Between yesterday’s post, and the Arsecast Extra, I think I’ve said all that needs to be said about our exit from the Champions League, and while it remains disappointing, the reality of our season is that we can’t (as a team) allow it to get under our skin. It’s easier said than done, of course, but with Man City and Liverpool also going out of Europe this week, it’s all about the league now. Those two clubs will have to deal with their own disappointment, but the very last thing they’re going to do is sit around and feel sorry f ..read more

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video Arsenal’s Champions League run is over after a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich last night. Mikel Arteta made some changes to his team, starting Takehiro Tomiyasu at left-back, bringing Jorginho back into midfield which pushed Kai Havertz up front, and using Gabriel Martinelli on the left. Before the game, Bayern made it clear they were going to try and play a counter-attacking game, so it wasn’t a surprise to see them let Arsenal have a lot of the ball early on. Thirteen minutes in, we’d had 70% possession, with a couple of tame efforts from ..read more

Welcome to another Arsecast Extra, the Arsenal podcast, with myself and James from @gunnerblog. In this episode we look back at the 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday which, despite being our first loss of 2024, has caused a significant amount frustration and disappointment. We examine the reasons for that response, reflect on game of two halves in which the Gunners can have attacking regrets in the first and defensive ones in the second, as well as discussing why it felt like Mikel Artets allowed the game to get away from us after the break. Then there are listener questions beginning with ..read more

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video It was a tale of two halves as Arsenal’s title challenge suffered a real blow after a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa. In the first, despite a bit of threat from Unai Emery’s side, we played well and had we been better and more efficient in the final third, we could have out of sight by half-time. In the second, our level dropped dramatically, we didn’t respond, and paid the price with the concession of two late goals. Mikel Arteta’s team selection saw Gabriel Jesus start up front with Kai Havertz dropping back into midfield. We also had Leandr ..read more

Join us for live blog coverage of our Premier League clash with Aston Villa, kick-off 16.30 We’ve got up to the second live text commentary, updates, goal clips, observations and occasionally witty asides. If you want to join the chat, register an Arseblog Live account. To do that, go to Arseblog Live – click login on the top right, and then choose ‘sign up’ to complete the process with your username/password via email. Note: Due to the dumpster fire that is Twitter these days, we can no longer provide real time updates via the @arseblog_live account. That account is now dormant. CLICK TO LAU ..read more

Morning all, let’s do a little quotes round-up for Mikel Arteta’s press conference yesterday, taking bits from the live section and the embargoed quotes from 10.30 last night. Further to yesterday’s post about Gabriel Jesus and his knee problems, the manager was asked if this might be an issue that has a long-term impact on his career, and played that down completely, saying: No, I don’t think so. When you see him train the way he trained today, again, there is nothing there. Injuries are part of football. He had a few. You look at how many games he already played at his age and the level of ..read more

In the 2021-22 season, Arsenal’s starting eleven had ten core players in it. Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey, Odegaard, Xhaka; Saka, Martinelli / Smith Rowe; Lacazette. Only the wide left spot was subject to any kind of debate. Emile Smith Rowe played 1,921 minutes that season compared to Martinelli’s 1,860. Outside of that, Arsenal’s core squad players were Cedric, Tavares, Lokonga, Holding, Nketiah, Elneny and Pepe. Nketiah got a run in the team once Lacazette’s form had circled the drain enough times; but the rest only ever played when there were injuries. It was not a ..read more

Morning. I watched some more Champions League last night, the 3-2 win for Barcelona against PSG. I think both of these teams are quite flawed in their own ways, but what is obvious when you watch them it just how technically accomplished most of the players are at this level.  Then you see Ousmane Dembele score the kind of goal he did, and you realise that even though that was just his second goal of the season, these teams have players who are capable of extraordinary moments. Former Arsenal target Raphina was on target twice for Barcelona, his second goal a sweet finish after a superb ..read more

Welcome to another Arsecast Extra, the Arsenal podcast, with myself and James from @gunnerblog. In this episode we look back at the 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich on Wednesday night. Arsenal went ahead, but carelessness handed two goals the opposition, before Leandro Trossard equalised late in the second half. We discuss all the big moments, from team selection, to the potential red card for Harry Kane, the penalty incidents at both ends, and the Gunners overall display on the night. There’s also some focus on individual performances, and whether Arsenal have an issue at left-back (in light of t ..read more