On 18 January, we played Sheffield United at the Emirates Stadium. We haven’t lost a home league game at 3pm on Saturday since August so if history is anything to go by, we shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Sheffield United are looking for their first league double over us since the 1946/47 season. We are without Tierney, Bellerin, Chambers, Kolasinac, and Aubameyang so we were at a bit of a disadvantage. Our opponents have been one of the biggest surprises of the season! They have drawn with the likes of Sp*rs, Manchester United, and Chelsea. They were sitting in sixth place with thirty-two points, which is the highest amount of points by a promoted team after 22 matches of a Premier League season since Birmingham City in 2009-10. Eddie Nketiah was back in the squad and likely to play for the first time since the last game of the 2018/19 season, following his loan at Leeds United.

In the final minute of the first-half, Ozil, Lacazette, and Saka played a few nice passes. Saka whipped the ball into the box where Martinelli was waiting to tap it into an open goal! We were ahead, which was great because we would now have some confidence going into the second-half. I was very excited because both the goal and assist were produced by 18-year-olds.

In the sixty-ninth minute, Pepe made a great run into the penalty box. Jack O’Connell and Enda Stevens caught the Ivorian between them and he fell to the ground. I was 100% sure that it was a foul but somehow both the referee and the VAR didn’t give the penalty and play was waved on. I was fuming! Five minutes later, Nketiah replaced Lacazette.

Fourteen minutes later, Callum Robinson swung the ball into the box. It was headed away by a Sheffield United player but unfortunately it fell directly to John Fleck. He took a shot on goal, but it deflected off Maitland-Niles’ leg and curled past Leno. The Blades had equalised in the dying moments of the game. I was so annoyed because it was going to be a pretty routine save for Leno but it deflected of Maitland-Niles which put him off.

The game ended 1-1 which is very frustrating because we had such a commanding lead. Unfortunately, we did not manage to kill the game off and Sheffield were able to claw themselves back into the game. We are currently sitting in tenth place in the Premier League table which is not ideal, but hopefully we will be able to turn our fortunes around starting with our next game which is against our London rivals, Chelsea. Thanks for reading!

MAN OF THE MATCH

Gabriel Martinelli

PLAYER RATINGS (STARTING ELEVEN)

Bernd Leno: 6

Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 6

Shkodran Mustafi: 6

David Luiz: 6

Bukayo Saka: 7

Lucas Torreira: 7

Granit Xhaka: 7

Mesut Ozil: 6

Nicolas Pepe: 6

Gabriel Martinelli: 7½

Alexandre Lacazette: 5

On 11 January, we played Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. This was an important game because the Eagles were only one point ahead of us, sitting in ninth and if we won we would replace them in that position. It was the first time that Crystal Palace were facing us after Christmas in a top-flight match with them ahead of us in the table. The oldest current Premier League manager (Roy Hodgson) was playing the youngest current Premier League manager (Mikel Arteta) for the first time. Aubameyang has been averaging a goal or assist every 88 minutes in Premier League London derbies which is an amazing record and hopefully he would be able to extend that. Our starting line up was unchanged from our last Premier League game. We’ve lost just one of our last fourteen away Premier League games against Crystal Palace.

Twelve minutes into the game, Ozil and Lacazette exchanged the ball several times before feeding it to Aubameyang. He took a touch then blasted it past Vicente Guaita to put us ahead! Aubameyang and Lacazette have combined for ten Premier League goals since February 2018 – only Ryan Fraser and Callum Wilson of Bournemouth have combined for more in that time. This was an eighteen-pass move!

In the fifty-fourth minute, Cheikhou Kouyate received the ball in the penalty box. He laid it off for Jordan Ayew who drilled it towards the goal. Luiz attempted to clear it but it deflected off his foot and into the goal! Ayew is the first Crystal Palace player to score home and away league goals against us in a season since John Craven in 1971-72.

Thirteen minutes later, Max Meyer attempted a run down the left flank before our captain Aubameyang cut him down. Following a VAR Review, the Gabonese striker was sent off. He is the third Arsenal player to score and be sent off in the same Premier League match, and coincidentally the last was Mikel Arteta vs Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in 2013. We were really going to have to work hard because we were now without our captain and striker.

In the second half we made three substitutions, Torreira was replaced by Guendouzi in the forty-sixth minute, Martinelli replaced Ozil in the seventieth, and in the second minute of extra time, Lacazette was replaced by Nelson.

The game ended 1-1 which is quite disappointing because we played so well in the first half. Considering the fact that we only had ten men for the final thirty-three minutes of the game, this was a decent result. We have failed to win five Premier League games when leading at halftime this season, which is our joint-highest total in a single season. We stay in tenth place after this stalemate and Crystal Palace still stay in ninth. Our next game is against high-flyers Sheffield United in the Premier League. Hopefully we can get a good result in that game. Thanks for reading!

MAN OF THE MATCH

Alexandre Lacazette

PLAYER RATINGS (STARTING ELEVEN)

Bernd Leno: 6

Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 7

Sokratis Papastathopoulos: 7

David Luiz: 7

Sead Kolasinac: 7

Lucas Torreira: 7

Granit Xhaka: 7

Mesut Ozil: 6

Nicolas Pepe: 6

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 5

Alexandre Lacazette: 7½

On 6 January, we played Championship side Leeds United. It was the seventeenth FA Cup match between the Gunners and Leeds and the first since 2012, when we won 1-0. Ozil was starting an FA Cup game for the first time since the 2016-17 final against Chelsea, 954 days ago. This was a pretty important game because the FA Cup (and potentially the Europa League) is our only realistic chance at any silverware. Leeds had a crazy season last year which included everything from spying on Frank Lampard’s Derby County to winning the 2019 Fifa Fair Play Award for allowing Aston Villa to score a goal after they had scored a goal while Villa forward Jonathan Kodjia was down with an injury.

Following a very bad first-half in which Leeds dominated us and had fifteen shots, in the fifty-fifth minute, Pepe won the ball on the halfway line. He made an excellent run past three players before laying it off to Lacazette. He took a touch then knocked it towards the middle of the penalty area. A Leeds player attempted to clear it but it went straight to Nelson. He then bundled the ball past Illan Meslier to put us ahead! This was Nelson’s second competitive goal for Arsenal on his twenty-ninth appearance for the Gunners across all competitions.

During the rest of the game, we made three substitutions. In the sixty-seventh minute, Martinelli came on for Nelson, in the seventy-seventh minute, Ozil was replaced by Willock, and in the first minute of additional time, Pepe went off to be replaced by Saka.

The game ended 1-0 to us which is a really good result. We have won back to back matches in all competitions for the first time since October! We drew Bournemouth in the fourth-round game which is to be played on the twenty-eighth of January. Our next game is against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in the Premier League. Arteta has made a huge impact on our team and hopefully we can stretch our winning streak to three in the next game.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Reiss Nelson

PLAYER RATINGS (STARTING ELEVEN)

Emi Martinez: 8

Sokratis Papastathopoulos: 7

Rob Holding: 5

David Luiz: 6

Sead Kolasinac: 7

Matteo Guendouzi: 6

Granit Xhaka: 7

Mesut Ozil: 7

Nicolas Pepe: 7

Reiss Nelson: 8

Alexandre Lacazette: 7

On 29 December, we played our London rivals Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium. This was Arteta’s first home game as the manager of Arsenal. In all competitions, we have conceded at least twice in each of our last four home games, our longest such run since 1965. Twenty-eight of Aubameyang’s forty-four goals in the Premier League have been scored on a Sunday so if history is anything to go by, this should be an easy victory. This was the last game of 2019 so I was really hoping that we would be able to go out with a bang and go into 2020 with some momentum.

Thirteen minutes into the game, Ozil swung a corner into the box where Chambers was waiting to flick the ball towards the back post. Aubameyang ran in front of his marker (Emerson Palmieri) then threw himself at the ball and headed it past Kepa Arrizabalaga. Since his Premier League debut in 2018, Aubameyang has scored more goals in the competition than any other player which is very impressive considering that there have been some very good strikers in the Premier League. This is the sixteenth time we have led Chelsea at half-time in a Premier League game – we have never lost from this position against the Blues. Ten minutes later, Chambers injured himself and was replaced by Mustafi. We are in desperate need of a centre back now because, along with the inefficiency of our defenders, arguably our best defender is now going to miss six to nine months.

In the eighty-second minute, Mason Mount swung a free kick into the box. Leno attempted to punch the ball clear but he swung and missed the ball. Unfortunately, Jorginho was waiting at the far post to tap it into an open net. I was furious because several seconds earlier, Jorginho had fouled Guendouzi and should have been sent off but somehow he wasn’t shown a red card. He then proceeded to win the free kick and score the subsequent goal. Leno has made seven errors directly leading to an opposition goal in the Premier League since the beginning of last season but he has been so amazing this season so I don’t think he should get too much stick for it.

Four minutes later, Willian made a brilliant run down the right wing before cutting it back to Tammy Abraham. He took a touch, spun around, and then smashed the ball through Leno’s legs. Chelsea were in the lead for the first time in the game with only three minutes left to play. Between the seventieth and ninetieth minute, we made two substitutions. Willock replaced Ozil in the seventy-sixth minute, and Nelson was replaced by Pepe in the eighty-fifth minute.

The game ended 2-1 to Chelsea which is very disappointing because we had a very strong lead which lasted eighty-three minutes. We had lost four consecutive home matches in all competitions for the first time since 1959 which is embarrassing for a team who are supposed to be one of the best in Europe. If it is any consolation, though, we did play well and hopefully we can build on that in our next game against Manchester United in the Premier League.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

PLAYER RATINGS (STARTING ELEVEN)

Bernd Leno: 2

Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 7

Calum Chambers: 7

David Luiz: 7

Bukayo Saka: 6

Lucas Torreira: 6

Matteo Guendouzi: 6

Mesut Ozil: 7

Reiss Nelson: 7

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 8

Alexandre Lacazette: 5

On 26 December, we played Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. We were sitting in the second half of the table during Christmas for the first time since 1983-84, so I was hoping for a big revival in Arteta’s first game as Arsenal manager.

In the thirty-fifth minute, Saka attempted a run down the flank before Jack Stacey intercepted the ball. He then played a one-two with Callum Wilson before crossing the ball into the box. Dan Gosling pounced on the ball and put it past Leno. We were behind within only thirty-five minutes which is not a good start. Our defensive frailties have been showing very clearly recently so I think that we need to make some improvements in that area.

In the sixty-third minute, following a great piece of play, Reiss Nelson received the ball. He took a shot from outside of the box which took a deflection and fell right into the path of Aubameyang who had an open goal to put the ball into the back of the net. Aubameyang has scored eleven of our last sixteen away league goals, including seven of our last nine on the road in the Premier League.

We made three substitutions in the entirety of the game. In the seventy-fifth minute, Ozil was replaced by Willock, and two minutes later, Sokratis was replaced by Mustafi. In the eighty-second minute, Pepe replaced Nelson. I was hoping these substitutions could inspire a winner.

The game ended 1-1 which was our second draw in a row. We are really falling from grace and are now closer to the relegation zone then the top four. Arteta’s first game didn’t end very well but our next game is against Chelsea at the Emirates and I’m hoping that we can turn our fortunes around in that game. Thanks for reading!

MAN OF THE MATCH

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

PLAYER RATINGS (STARTING ELEVEN)

Bernd Leno: 8

Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 6

Sokratis Papastathopoulos: 6

David Luiz: 6

Bukayo Saka: 6

Lucas Torreira: 6

Granit Xhaka: 7

Mesut Ozil: 7

Reiss Nelson: 6

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 8½

Alexandre Lacazette: 5

On 21 December, we played Everton at Goodison Park. Aubameyang was starting which is usually a good sign because his eleven Premier League goals had been worth eleven points for us this season. This was Ljungberg’s last game as coach of Arsenal before Arteta replaces him so I hope that he can go out with a bang. Everton recently secured the signature of Carlo Ancelotti who is very highly rated and was closely linked with us (although he would not be taking over until the next game against Burnley). The average age of our starting eleven was 24 years and 50 days, which is our youngest in the Premier League since 2010-11. We were without six players including Bellerin, Ceballos, Ozil, Tierney, Holding, and Kolasinac so we were at a bit of a disadvantage but I was still confident.

Following a pretty dreary first-half, in the fiftieth minute, we were awarded a corner. Chambers flicked it on at the front post to Aubameyang who smashed it at the goal. Unfortunately Jordan Pickford was there to make the block. Aubameyang has been so consistent of late but he was not able to put the ball into the back of the net this time.

We made two substitutions in the whole of the game. In the sixty-seventh minute, Smith Rowe was replaced by Willock, and Lacazette replaced the captain Aubameyang in the seventy-eighth minute.

The game ended 0-0 which is the first time that we have produced that scoreline this season. Our next game, against Bournemouth, is Arteta’s first game as Arsenal coach. Hopefully we can get a good result in that game and start making our way back up the table.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Reiss Nelson

PLAYER RATINGS (STARTING ELEVEN)

Bernd Leno: 5

Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 6

Calum Chambers: 7½

David Luiz: 5

Bukayo Saka: 7½

Granit Xhaka: 7

Lucas Torreira: 5

Reiss Nelson: 8

Emile Smith Rowe: 6

Gabriel Martinelli: 7

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 5

After eighteen months as Arsenal manager, Unai Emery was sacked as Arsenal boss. Several days later, former Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta was appointed as the new head coach. The thirty-seven year old played for Paris Saint-Germain, Rangers, Real Sociedad, Everton, and Arsenal during his illustrious playing career. Between 2016-19, Arteta has been the assistant manager of Manchester City under Pep Guardiola.

Since Arteta officially joined Arsenal there have been a lot of rumors about players who could possibly play for us next season. Some don’t look as likely as others, so here are a few that look more likely to happen:

Kevin Volland

The twenty-seven year old German winger who currently plays for Bayer 04 Leverkusen is being looked at as a replacement for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who is stalling on a contract extension. He has played for 1860 Munich and Hoffenheim in his career, plus the German national team. I think this deal is quite likely to happen but we should focus on our defence instead.

Wilfred Ndidi

The twenty-three year old Nigerian midfielder who currently plays for Leicester City is being considered as a replacement for Granit Xhaka who is being looked at by Hertha BSC. Along with Leicester, he has also played for Genk and the Nigerian team. Leicester are having an amazing campaign and that is hugely thanks to Ndidi so I think that it would be hard to secure his signature but if we were able to, it would be an amazing signing and I really hope it happens.

Adrien Rabiot

The twenty-four year old French midfielder who is currently on loan with Juventus is being looked at to add some creativity to the team and give Mesut Ozil some competition. He has also played for Paris Saint-Germain, Toulouse, and the French national team. I am not that excited about this signing because I don’t think he would fit into our team.

Dayot Upamecano

The twenty-one year old French defender who currently plays for RB Leipzig is being looked at as reinforcement for our defence because it is has not been very reliable recently. He has also played for Liefering and Red Bull Salzburg. He is very highly rated and is really young so I think that he will be a very good signing. My only concern is his price.

So these are several players who could be moving to Arsenal soon. Hopefully Arteta will be able to do very well in the coming season. Thank you for reading!

On 1 January, we played our long-time rivals Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium. We haven’t lost the first game of a calendar year since 1985. Manchester United have lost three of their last four away Premier League games against us, as many as they had in their previous thirteen trips to the Emirates or Highbury. This was a very important game because Manchester United will be huge competition in the race for the top six. Our super quartet of Pepe, Ozil, Lacazette and Aubameyang were starting a match together for the first time. We have only won one Premier League game in eighty-six days so this was a very important fixture.

Eight minutes into the game, Kolasinac made a great run to the byline before cutting it back into the box. Victor Lindelöf attempted to clear it but it fell straight to Pepe. He blasted the ball first try past David de Gea to put us ahead! Since the start of last season, only Lionel Messi has scored more left-footed league goals than Pepe amongst all of the top European Leagues. This was the Ivorian’s fifth Arsenal goal in all competitions and his third in the Premier League.

Two minutes before half-time, Pepe swung a corner into the box. Lacazette flicked the ball towards the goal before de Gea palmed it away. Luckily, Sokratis was prepared to attack the ball and volley it into roof of the net! We were two goals ahead, which is crazy! We have scored eight goals via corners in the Premier League this season, two more than any other team. This was the Greek’s second goal of the season which is respectable for a defender.

In the second half, we made three substitutions. In the sixty-third minute, Nelson came on for Pepe, in the sixty-ninth minute, Kolasinac was replaced by Saka, and in the eighty-first minute, Lacazette was replaced by Guendouzi.

The game ended 2-0 to the Arsenal which is a great result for us! We have not been doing well at all this season but after a long wait we finally have a win. This was our first Premier League win of the season against a team currently in the top-half of the Premier League which is not a great record. This is Arteta’s first win as Arsenal manager and thankfully it came in a game as important as this one! Our next game is against Leeds United in the FA Cup.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Sokratis Papastathopoulos

PLAYER RATINGS (STARTING ELEVEN)

Bernd Leno: 8

Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 7

Sokratis Papastathopoulos: 8½

David Luiz: 8

Sead Kolasinac: 7

Lucas Torreira: 8½

Granit Xhaka: 8

Mesut Ozil: 8½

Nicolas Pepe: 7½

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 7½

Alexandre Lacazette: 7

On 15 December, we played Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium. We were both coming off the back of European games: City beat Dinamo Zagreb 4-1 and we drew 2-2 with Standard Liege. Manchester City were surprisingly sitting in third place, which is lower than expected. On the other hand we were hovering in mid-table which is also very disappointing. We have lost our last four Premier League meetings with Manchester City. In our last game, Martinelli scored on his first Premier League start, which only three players have done (Ian Wright, Davor Suker and Alex Iwobi). I was hoping he could build on his impressive displays in this big game.

Two minutes into the game, Fernandinho made a great run from defence towards the middle of the pitch. The ball was passed to Gabriel Jesus who laid it off for Kevin De Bruyne. He then volleyed it first time into the roof of the net to put the blue side of Manchester ahead. This was KDB’s fifth goal of the season and it was a very impressive one. They were ahead after only 89 seconds of play which is very embarrassing.

In the fifteenth minute, Manchester City made a quick break. De Bruyne made a run into the box before laying it off for Raheem Sterling who easily passed the ball into an open goal. We were two goals behind within fifteen minutes due to De Bruyne and Sterling. Since his Premier League debut for Manchester City in 2015, De Bruyne has both scored and assisted in eleven different games in the Premier League which is more than any other midfielder.

In the thirty-ninth minute, Kolasinac injured himself and was replaced by Saka. We now have no left-backs which is concerning. One minute later, De Bruyne ran through almost the entire defence then smashed it into the bottom corner from outside of the box. We had conceded three first-half goals in a home Premier League game for the second time ever.

Not much happened in the second half, except we made two substitutions. In the fifty-eighth minute, Ozil was replaced by Smith Rowe. Ozil has clearly not been happy recently and after being substituted he ripped his gloves off and then kicked them in frustration. With everything that is happening at the club right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the German was sold in January. In the eighty-first minute, Willock came on for Torreira.

The game ended 3-0 which is very disappointing. We have now gone six games without a win at the Emirates across all competitions which is our longest run without a home win since December 1994 to February 1995 under George Graham. We only had one shot on target in the entire game compared to the opposition’s seven. Our next game is against Everton in the Premier League which is probably going to be Mikel Arteta’s first game as Arsenal manager as there have been a lot of rumours circling about him.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Bernd Leno

PLAYER RATINGS (STARTING ELEVEN)

Bernd Leno: 8

Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 6

Calum Chambers: 4

Sokratis Papastathopoulos: 3

Sead Kolasinac: 4

Lucas Torreira: 5

Matteo Guendouzi: 5

Mesut Ozil: 2

Nicolas Pepe: 5

Gabriel Martinelli: 6

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 4

On 12 December, we played Belgian side Standard Liege in the Europa League. We have played them five times and won every game. All of our previous meetings combine for an aggregate score of 19-2. A win or a draw would put us through to the Round of 32, so this is actually a pretty important game. This was Ljungberg’s first European game as manager of Arsenal. European football is something that Ljungberg is definitely familiar with, having made sixty-four European appearances including a Champions League final against Barcelona!

Two minutes after half-time, Samuel Bastien collected the ball on the edge of the penalty box. He took a great shot on goal which deflected off Sokratis and spun past Martinez and into the goal. Standard Liege were ahead through the Belgian. This was not a great start to the game.

In the sixty-ninth minute, a Standard Liege player made an amazing run down the left flank. Selim Amallah attacked the ball and smashed it towards the goal. It deflected off Mavropanos and into the goal. We were 2-0 down after seventy minutes which is not good enough. I was hoping for a big turn around.

Between the seventieth and eightieth-fifth minute, we made three substitutions. Martinelli came on for Sokratis in the seventieth minute, Chambers replaced Maitland-Niles in the eightieth minute, and in the eighty-fifth minute Aubameyang came on for Smith Rowe.

In the seventy-eighth minute, Saka sent a great cross into the box. Lacazette threw himself at the ball and headed it into the goal! Saka has assisted six goals for us in all competitions this season, two more than any other Gunners player.

In the eightieth minute, Saka made an amazing run towards the middle of the pitch. He played a one-two with Martinelli then curled the ball into the goal to equalise the game!

The match ended 2-2 which means that we are through to the next round of the Europa League. I’m not pleased with the final score but the fact that we came from two goals behind is really impressive. Our next game is a really tough one against the reigning Premier League winners, Manchester City.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Emile Smith Rowe

PLAYER RATINGS (STARTING ELEVEN)

Emi Martinez: 5

Konstantinos Mavropanos: 5

David Luiz: 6

Sokratis Papastathopoulos: 6

Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 5

Matteo Guendouzi: 5

Joe Willock: 5

Bukayo Saka: 7

Emile Smith Rowe: 8

Reiss Nelson: 5

Alexandre Lacazette: 7