Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
There’s good news in the red half of North London with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil staying at the Emirates until the end of the season as Arsene Wenger announced yesterday that neither player will be sold in the January transfer window.
Not only that but the Gunners have the perfect opportunity to move further clear of arch rivals Tottenham after Mauricio Pochettino’s lost a second game in three outings last night when they faced Leicester at the King Power Stadium.
In addition to that Tottenham have taken just one point from nine while if Arsenal win tonight that would be a maximum points haul over the same period, an eight point swing in just three matches as Spurs season now looks in danger of crumbling on a domestic front.
Arsenal moved into the top four at the weekend after they managed to pick up another late win at Burnley, it is third season in a row in which they have won at Turf Moor by a score of 1-0 and although Sean Dyche will once again feel aggrieved at the nature of the goal in which the Clarets conceded he cannot have too many completes.
After Aaron Ramsey was pushed in the box it was only going to lead to the award of a spot kick and Alexis Sanchez duly obliged from the spot with seconds left in the game, they may have left the pitch to a chorus of boos from the home side but it is fair to say that Arsenal would have cared all that much as they picked up a second straight win.
Tonight they look to make it three against a Huddersfield team who at one point were close to earning themselves a Manchester double in terms of scalps at the John Smith’s Stadium. After beating Manchester United at home in October they looked to do the same to Manchester City last Sunday.
And although they did not even have a shot on goal they still managed to register something on the scoreboard, that was thanks to Nicolas Otamendi putting through his own net, a stroke of luck perhaps but the question now was whether or not David Wagner’s men could hold out.
The answer unfortunately for them was no as minutes after the restart Sergio Aguero had restored parity while Raheem Sterling then broke Huddersfield hearts with a winner for City just eight minutes from time, however that was not the end of the drama.
That was because after the game Rajiv van La Parra was sent off for pushing Leroy Sane, tempers had obviously frayed after the final whistle and the Dutchman pushed the German international right under the nose of Craig Pawson leaving him no other option but to brandish a red card.
That means that van La Parra will be suspended for the trip to the Emirates this evening and no doubt his contribution will be sorely missed especially as he is one of the few players to have scored for the club in the Premier League this season.
Huddersfield are the third lowest scorers in the Premier League this season and with only nine goals scored from their first 13 matches you do have to wonder if that is a ratio that is going to catch up at some point especially as should that continue they would only score 27 goals all season.
The danger is not quite apparent just yet as there is a relatively comfortable buffer between themselves and the bottom three but you do get the feeling that it is something that Huddersfield boss David Wagner will be looking to address, perhaps with a new face in the New Year.
But tonight it is Wenger vs Wagner and who will come out on top, Arsenal have a one hundred percent record at home this season and have won their last 11 league games at The Emirates, in all honesty I can see this one then being 12 straight home wins. Maximum points for Arsenal.
Here is what social media thinks will happen – you can still vote on the outcome
Time for some scientific polls for tomorrow evening now
First up can #Arsenal continue their impressive home form when they host #Huddersfield
— Dan Tracey (@dantracey1983) November 28, 2017
