Arsenal fans yesterday night were treated to an early Christmas gift as our captain, Martin Ødegaard, netted a brace against Wolverhampton Wanderers away at the Molineaux Stadium to send us 5 points clear off Manchester City.
This was after a tantalizing performance from surprise hero, Ivan Toney, who again netted twice in the Brentford game against Manchester City, earlier on in the day.
To say this was an absolute shocker is an understatement as no one would have predicted this Brentford win, which ended City's 11-game home unbeaten run.
It was also a statement from Ivan, who had just a day before been snubbed off an opportunity to head to the World Cup by England gaffer, Gareth Southgate.
Back to our game against Wolves, it was a pretty tough game before we got the opener as seen in the first half, with Wolves managing to contain our ruthless attacks and the offside flag coming to their rescue as Gabriel Jesus' sublime strike in the 6th minute was written off. (Total pain for us who have him in our F.P.L squads😢)
Guedes' two strikes in the first half could have easily set up the match for a heated battle had they gone in but they all flew wide over the post.
We have two gems in both Olexsandre Zinchenko and Fabio Vieira, both of whom we signed in the summer. I'm saying this because Vieira is the one who set up Ødegaard for the first goal, after replacing Xhaka in the first half who had to unfortunately come off due to injury. Also, he has been able to step up when needed as seen in his performances at the Europa League.
Zinchenko's role as an extra midfielder breathes more life into the Gunners' attack and this was seen in the game as his cross into the Wolves' box was enough to ensure that the game was sealed off there and then.
5 points clear off City. Who would have thought that on Christmas Day, Arsenal would still be on the driver's seat for this season's title race? These boys just keep on surprising us to say the least. I mean, we knew that at least a top four spot was guaranteed but after 14 games still top? Come off it bruv. I'm not complaining though...12 Wins, 1 draw, 1 loss is our tally for the almost-concluded first leg.
Do you fancy our chances of pulling off an upset to City by clinching the title? Remember that we are yet to face them in the first leg as this match was postponed due to the overload in fixtures back in October coupled with the late Queen Elizabeth's passing. It will be an interesting match this one, as a draw or even a win would maintain and even widen the gap between us.
(I haven't forgotten the total pain I endured in this year's New Year as I watched City pull off a last-minute comeback against us after some questionable refereeing decisions, so you know that this is a definite battle to watch.)
If we are to manage this startling Premier League clinching victory however, it is important for us to make some much-needed January Winter transfers so as to improve our squad depth as the subs we have aren't nearly at the level we would like them to be at.
A player we are closely being linked to is Leicester's midfielder, Youri Tielemans, whose contract ends this coming June and with no sign of an extension, Leicester City may as well be willing to cash in on him as they would obviously not want him to leave for free.
Another interesting name being thrown around is Shakhtar Donetsk's Mykhailo Mudryk, an exciting Ukrainian winger whose firing off on all cylinders at just 21 years of age. Already scoring goals at the European elite level at the Champions' League, his addition would boost Arsenal's attacking options come January. With reports claiming that Arsenal have already made a bid on him, it's all fingers crossed from here onwards until we get the confirmation from Mr. Transfers himself , "Here we go!!!"
All the best to our players heading to the World Cup. I'm praying and hoping that they won't face any major injury issues in the tournament, that would just be disastrous considering our form this season.
How do you fancy Arsenal's E.P.L Title winning chances after the first leg?
0%They've been amazing, just give them the title already
0%They're not yet there, City will eventually win it
0%They need to beat Newcastle and City and then we'll talk...
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