Ahhhh, so that’s Arsenal‘s level! I knew we would find it eventually if we kept looking. Beating a team I reckon at least 97% of even the most ardent football followers have never heard of, 4-2 at home in the Europa League. There you go Gooners, revel in that one.
There was something delightfully Arsenal in the way that they bullied the unknowns into being 4-0 down and then clocked off for the evening. The problem was, there was still 13 minutes left and Vorskla managed to get two consolation goals, which they can probably tell their grandkids about in the future.
Arsenal fans will, no doubt, get very excited about the fact that Pierre-Emerick got another double, Lacazette and he looked good together like any couple madly in love should and Mesut Ozil scored once again. But, let’s be realistic. Nobody had heard of the opposition!
Unai Emery was probably busying himself with potential transfer targets as Arsenal sped into their four-goal lead. He is missing Ever Banega, a man who pulled the strings for Unai at both Valencia and Sevilla and believes that he might just be an upgrade on Granit Xhaka. I don’t think anyone can sanely deny that is the case. With Aaron Ramsey continually linked to a move to anywhere other than the Emirates, talk has increased around the Boca Juniors star Christian Pavon, who is bound to move to Europe at some point. If that doesn’t work out, then Emery also has his beady eye on Lille wideman Nicolas Pepe but then so do Barcelona and bigger clubs like that, so move on, Emery!
Chelsea made it something like 15 out of 15 under Maurizio Sarri with their Eden Hazard-less win in Greece over PAOK. Willian scored the winner and, to be fair, Chelsea did control the game from start to finish. But life is rarely easy at the Bridge and Pedro was carried off by the end with a dislocated shoulder, meaning he won’t be able to run rings around West Ham at the weekend.
The Poch reckons that the ‘stress’ of being caught drink-driving may have led to Hugo Lloris getting a thigh strain, meaning Tottenham have to run the risk of having Michel Vorn in goal for the next few matches. All jokes aside, Lloris’ inconsistent form in the last year culminating in a drink-driving offence does beg the question around what is going on for him right now and in a sport where it is still quite difficult to come out and say ‘I need help’ then, personally, I hope Lloris is getting the support he needs.
The owners of Leicester City have won their battle against claims of corruption back in Thailand. It was bandied about that they’d dodged a whole load of VAT but, unsurprisingly, the case failed to stand up in court. I reckon they got Rebecca Vardy in as a character witness.
There seems to be a weird shift at Manchester United this week. First, they get linked to Lucas Paqueta. Then young Diogo Dalot plays very well on debut. Now, United are being linked to another young footballer, Arne Maier of Hertha Berlin. But Jose doesn’t like young players, right?
Finally today, Chelsea’s Gary Cahill seems to be looking to swap one Europa League hopeful for another – he could be off to Watford in January.
