It is a HUGE game today. All the usual suspects won their games… bar City, they lost in an embarrassing 2-3 thriller away at Norwich.

What a result for Premier League new boys. They were well worth it as well. Very organised. They ran their guts out. They took their opps when they were presented to them and they carved out one really awesome counter-attacking goal.

I loved reading the post-match commentary from the fans. Raheem Sterling is now average. Pep has finally been found out. Manchester City are certainly losing the league to Liverpool.

You couldn’t make it up.

In a post fan tv world, the only place to exist on the radical edge of everything.

For me, what is clear is this… Arsenal are winning the bloody league. Yes, fellas, Unai is bringing it home.

First up, we have to destroy Watford by 11 goals to climb second (from 7th). Be realistic, probably 12 or 13 because the chances of us keeping a clean sheet are pretty slim.

We’re in a post-Lacazette world for the next month. There’s a lot of fans getting their panties in a twist over the lack of an Eddie in the squad. I think people need to remind them of the troubles the young forward was having when he was getting game time with us.

I assume the thinking from Emery will likely be to have Auba as the lead striker, and if he needs a rest, we’ll slip Pepe in there. He’s very comfortable through the middle and offers all the same attributes as Auba… bar the unreal finishing (in England at least).

Also worth remembering Lacazette is not good away from home. His record is very poor, I think Tammy Abrahams has more goals this season than Laca had in the entirety of last year. He’s also not hugely prolific. He scored a Premier League goal every 192 last season. I know he does a lot for the team, he landed 10 assists, which is impressive for a striker.

Anyway…

I think where we’re going to see the innovation is out wide. The manager has quite a few players to choose from. We have a lot explosive pace this year, and starting your career out wide is a lot less stressful than through the middle. I think Reiss has a huge chance to lay claim to a first team spot. I think Saka has always looked very promising when offered a chance to stretch his legs, he also looks very ready from a mentality perspective, no fear in his eyes. Then we have wildcards like Gabriel, who IS the new Anelka… and potentially ESR who has a lot of versatility.

In short, I think Eddie is going to learn more out on loan this season with Leeds, versus playing a bit part role when his confidence was looking pretty touch and go.

We know what we’re going to get tomorrow. Bullied.

Watford are playing under Quique again, he’ll bring a lot of energy, he’ll make them work like dogs and I’ve no doubt we’re going to be penned into tight areas all game long much in the same way we were against Burnley.

I’ll keep on saying it, but I truly hope Emery has learned his lesson with three holding midfielders. We’re not built for deep blocks and I don’t think players care for the pragmatism. We’ve been porous all season. We shipped lots of shots against Spurs and Liverpool. The same happened against fu*king Burnley of all clubs.

The manager needs to take advantage of the technical superiority we have over Watford, that’s not going to come from attack-minded players shutting up shop.

Let’s stretch them, let’s play the beautiful game, let’s bring some excitement to the pitch… we need a performance. Chelsea looks great yesterday, there’s no reason we can’t offer up the same type of decisive output.

Right, just a short one today. I’ll see you in the comments where I shall eviscerate your challenges with word bullets.

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