Gunners 6/4 to beat Man U
Arsene Wenger made one change from the team that narrowly beat Burnley on Sunday with Mesut Ozil returning following a bout of flu – and the Germany international played a pivotal part in securing all three points by providing two assists and a goal in the space of five minutes.
Alexandre Lacazette scored an impressive early goal after Granit Xhaka pierced the Town defence with a fine through ball which the Frenchman finished with aplomb. The club record signing now has the most home goals of any Arsenal player this season, with five, and continues to look like the kind of forward Wenger has been crying out for since the days of Eduardo da Silva and Robin van Persie.
His quick feet and ability to move into goalscoring positions make him a tiresome player for opposition defenders to play against and it was no different in a chilly north London on Wednesday.
Lacazette was taken off as a precautionary measure at half-time and replaced by his compatriot Olivier Giroud but the substitution emphasised just how many top-quality attacking players Wenger currently has at his disposal.
Even Alexis Sanchez, who had a poor game by his standards and lost the ball on countless occasions, ended up on the scoresheet after a five-minute wonder show from his fellow talismanic forward Ozil.
Chilean maestro Alexis has now been involved in 19 goals in 19 games against newly-promoted clubs and it’s obvious how much of a blow losing him next summer would be.
Wenger revealed in his pre-match press conference that both Ozil and Sanchez will be staying at the club beyond the transfer window unless something ‘special’ happens. If the duo continue to fire on all cylinders and produce similar performances to Wednesday night’s showing then a £50 million bid from one of Europe’s elite certainly wouldn’t come as a surprise.
The main questions over Arsenal remain. Can they do this on a consistent basis? Can the players maintain focus for 90 minutes without conceding scrappy chances to the opposition?
Saturday’s crunch clash against Manchester United represents another mammoth match where the Gunners will be assessed once again. Wenger’s side looked impressive up until the Christmas period last season and will be hoping to maintain a consistent run of results against the top sides – starting with the weekend’s game against Jose Mourinho’s men.
