The way Arsenal demolished Sunderland proves they have a serious chance of winning the Premier League title
The Gunners are vicious in attack and just need to cut out mistakes at the back
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ARSENAL’S win on Saturday lunchtime was pretty seismic – not only did it push David Moyes ever closer to the sack as Sunderland match the worst ever start to a Premier League season – but the Gunners laid down a marker as serious title challengers.
The three goals they grabbed in seven second-half minutes was a savage attack on Sunderland as they stepped up the gears when it was needed.
Substitute Olivier Giroud could have mooched about for the final 21 minutes he was given in protest at not starting the match. Instead he put Moyes’ milky relegation chasers to the sword. Here are five reasons why this could be their year.
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1. DREAM START
The Gunners now have 23 points from their opening nine Premier League games. Only on four occasions have they had more points after ten games.
When they finished first in 1998 they had 22 points after 10 games and in 2004 when they went unbeaten they had 24 at the same point.
They might have lost their opening clash with Liverpool and conceded sloppy goals against the likes of Watford, Southampton, Swansea and Sunderland but mathematically they are in a sweet spot and on course for a place at the top.
2.STRENGTH IN DEPTH
Giroud’s hunger to come off the bench and crash home two goals in five minutes should scare Arsene Wenger’s rivals.
If youngster Alex Iwobi has a quiet game then it’s brilliant for the Gunners to have a proven European finisher to come on and add more cutting edge. Aaron Ramsey was back in action with some valuable minutes too and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain impressed on a rare top-flight start.
For Saturday’s romp Wenger had an injury list containing Theo Walcott, summer signing Lucas Perez, midfield maestro Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal, and they still looked so powerful.
They are also using promising kids in the League Cup to prove their embarrassment of riches runs through the whole club.
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3. DEFENSIVE DUO
Thierry Henry knows plenty about demolishing Arsenal defenders having terrorised them in training during his glorious spell at the club.
But before the latest nail in David Moyes’ Wearside career, the French pundit discussed how impressed he is with the current centre-back pairing of Shkrodan Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny. Inexperienced Calum Chambers was shipped out on loan, young Rob Holding is being slowly nurtured and Paulista is back-up option.
Perhaps harshly, the serious knee ligament injury captain Per Mertsacker picked up has left summer signing Mustafi and the French defender to form a formidable duo that only ever looks like being breached when they take their eye off the ball.
4. ONLY SCORE OWN GOALS
The needless goal Arsenal let hapless Sunderland score was so indicative of why they have failed to get over the Premier League line first for so long. They almost only ever concede when they’re completely at fault.
Their lack of work on defending set-pieces is well-documented and unlikely to suddenly change in Wenger’s 20th year but they should still cut out the silly goals like Jermain Defoe’s penalty.
They often look like a tennis superstar playing a park hacker but haemorrhage points through their own unforced errors.
Maybe they get bored of dominating possession and toying with their prey, which leads to carelessness? Whatever the reason, it’s a positive point because it should be easily remedied and they will then keep more clean sheets and win even more easily.
5. STAR QUALITY
Mesut Ozil and Sanchez do some simply terrific things. The little Chilean has had injury problems and the languid Germany has vanished in some high-profile games, but they look a cut above a lot of very good Premier League players this season.
When Sanchez is fully fit he appears unplayable, haunting the daydreams of defenders and combines world-class skill with a working-class work ethic.
Ozil can be majestic. When he has hard working midfielders like Mohamed Elneny, Francis Coquelin and Oxlade-Chamberlain buzzing around him he does not need to do the doggy work.
These two players would walk into any Premier League team on current form and that can be said of few other players at present. Liverpool and Tottenham are firing because of progressive managers and systems that good squads have bought into.
City are struggling while Manchester United and Chelsea still seem in transition. But the Arsenal pair are on fire and will be the envy of all their rivals.