After a disappointing loss to old nemesis Manchester United last weekend which saw their lead at the top of the Premier league cut to four points, Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal team were ruthlessly efficient in getting back on track in obtaining a result away to Daniel Farke's Leeds United on Saturday evening. Registering their sixteenth league win of the season with a clinical 4-0 win with goals from Zubimendi, Madueke, Gykores and Jesus, Arsenal found themselves once again seven points ahead with nearest challengers Manchester City and Aston Villa yet to play on Sunday.
And like what we've seen a few times already this season, unpredictability is a large part of what makes the league so exciting as the title race swung back in Arsenal's favour with the two chasing teams dropping points. Villa suffered a surprising home defeat to Keith Andrews Brentford despite a late goal ruled out by VAR and City were held to a 2-2 draw at Spurs, having been two goals ahead in that game.
The lead therefore, is six points over Manchester City and 7 points over Aston Villa and January has been safely navigated for the Arsenal as they seek their first title in 22 years.
Semi Final 2nd Leg
The focus this week then shifts temporarily as the Gunners are back on Carabao Cup duty on Tuesday evening taking on London rivals Chelsea in the semi-final 2nd leg. The Gunners bring a 3-2 lead back to the Emirates having beaten the blues last month in the first leg at Stamford Bridge with goals on the night from Ben White, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi, the Chelsea reply coming from a brace by Garnacho.
Mikel Arteta will be expected to field a strong side for this game with a place in March's showpiece final up for grabs and will be feeling confident in his team's chances after a comprehensive display against Leeds. Chelsea on the other hand under Liam Rosenior have won all games that he has been in charge of with the exception of that Arsenal defeat in the cup and will come into the game looking to redress the balance. Arsenal on current form though and with home advantage should be too strong for the blues but will have to work for it to earn their place in the final.
Injury news
Bukayo Saka missed the league match against Leeds having to withdraw during the warm up and Arteta addressed the issue in the post match interview. "In the warm-up, he had a little niggle, he wasn't comfortable starting the game, so immediately we made a decision to make that change and bring Noni Madueke in. And he was ready, because you cannot do that in two minutes. The way he prepared, the way he's waiting for opportunity, I think it paid off today because he really impacted the team".
Likewise, Arsenal were without Mikel Merino for their visit to Leeds with the Spanish midfielder sustaining a foot injury towards the end of the January 25th league match against Manchester Utd. The official Arsenal website confirmed today that "Mikel is expected to be out of action for an extended period, with the aim of returning to full training before the end of the season". A blow to Arteta and the Gunners and his contributions will be sorely missed. In better news, Kai Havertz returned to the starting 11 for the first time in almost a year and Riccardo Calafiori replaced Piero Hincapie on 76 minutes for his first league appearance for Arsenal since winning 1-0 at Everton back in December.
Champions League record
January also seen an end to a successful qualifying campaign in the Champions League with the Gunners winning on home soil against Kazakhstan champions, Kairat Almaty. Goals from Gyokeres, Havertz and Martinelli secured the win with a 3-2 score line. The qualifying stages therefore concluded with Arsenal topping the table with a club record 8 wins from 8 matches.
Incidentally, the Champions League record stands at 15 wins in a row from Bayern Munich back in 2019/2020 with the next best being Manchester City (2023/2024) and Real Madrid (2013/2014), both on 10 wins. A win in Arsenal's next fixture in the last-16 in that competition which gets underway in March will See Mikel Arteta's team draw level with Barcelona on 9 wins (2014/2015) and with the return leg at the Emirates Stadium on 17-18 March a chance to join the City and Real on 10 wins.
Next up
Up next for Arsenal is the high stakes Carabao Cup semi final 2nd leg on Tuesday (3rd February) and a Premier League home game against Sunderland on Saturday 7th February.
