Following two straight wins, it’s time for another international break

Arsenal has given Gooner Nation a chance to take a sigh of relief following their solid week of football. With two big wins in-a-row under the team’s belt, many of the Gunners regular international players will be staying in London to rest and recuperate from injuries. That group includes Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard. Thomas Partey’s longer-term injury will keep him from playing for Ghana during this break as well. We will need a strong and healthy squad for the tough list of fixtures coming up before the winter break in late January.

Let’s quickly go back to Saturday’s win over Burnley.

This match was an exceptional performance for the Gunners. Everyone stepped up to help the club win the three points, and keep the club near the top of the Premier League table. My Men of the Match would go to Leandro Trossard and Alex Zinchenko. Trossard’s opening goal showed how important this player is the to Arsenal front line. Fortunately, his injury was not as serious as one would have thought while watching it happen both live and on replay. That was a gutsy goal by the young Belgium. As for Zinchenko, it is my opinion this was his best match of the season. Along with his spectacular, high-flying volley for goal, the Ukrainian was all over the pitch making plays and keeping the Gunners on the offensive. Congratulations to both men for their terrific work on Saturday.

Also, let’s give Kai Havertz some credit as well. The German midfielder worked very hard for the 90 plus minutes v Burnley, and even though he didn’t make any spectacular plays, or score any goals, he was a contributor at both ends of the pitch, and played a good game for Mikel Arteta. The boss keeps giving him a lot of opportunities to shine, and maybe eventually Havertz might surprise us. At least, we can hope.

And then, there’s Fabio Vieira. His red card miscue was really a pointless mistake. Thank goodness the Gunners had control of the game when he this occured, because an ejection at that point of the match could have been devastating against a stronger side, in a tighter game. These are the kinds of mistakes Arteta has worked hard to correct, and to avoid. This was a straight red card, so Vieira will miss the next three Premier League matches at a time when our midfield can not have these kinds of distractions.

So, here we are in the third international break of the season. We have 13 days until Arsenal’s schedule resumes v Brentford on the 25th. When you look at the Premier League table, you can already tell the race for the top spot, and the top four spots, will be exciting race to watch as the season continues to unfold. My bet remains on the Gunners to be right there at the end!

COYG!

Gunne1953