When August ended, Arsenal were pointless and goalless, keeping Norwich off the foot of the table. When the third international break arrived, they were fifth, seemingly on a quest to go from bottom to top.
Since August, Arsenal are the Premier League’s only undefeated side and have amassed an unrivalled 20 points. They arrive at Anfield on Saturday as the kings of autumn, but with the possibility this will rank as the latest of the false dawns that have pockmarked Arsenal’s recent past.
Their other two meetings with the title favourites were chastening affairs, albeit in their awful August. They were bullied and schooled by Romelu Lukaku as Chelsea won 2-0. They were reduced to 10 men, eviscerated and embarrassed as Manchester City ran riot in a 5-0 win.
Yet each came with patched-up, second-string defences. Mikel Arteta’s new-look rearguard are unbeaten as a unit. Indeed, Aaron Ramsdale and Takehiro Tomiyasu have never tasted defeat as Gunners. Ben White had a shaky debut at Brentford but since being united with Gabriel Magalhaes, he has been imperious.
Now the Arteta Invincibles – unbeaten in eight, rather than the full 38 Arsene Wenger’s side managed – face trial by Mohamed Salah. Liverpool against Arsenal is a fixture with a certain significance, and not merely for those with memories of 1989. The Gunners’ first loss last season came on Merseyside; thereafter Arteta abandoned the 3-4-3 that was a revelation as they won the FA Cup and, indeed, beat a Liverpool side already crowned champions in the summer of 2020.
Once again, Arsenal face the question if a system is sustainable. Again, it is an attempt to crowbar Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang into a line-up that may leave them short-staffed in the centre of midfield. Arteta’s recent reversion to 4-4-2, and uncharacteristic experiment with a genuine strike partnership, was aided by Aston Villa and Leicester playing 3-5-2 against them.
The victory over Villa ranked as one of two outstanding performances in Arsenal’s golden run, along with the North London demolition of Tottenham. The triumph at Leicester was arguably their best result, facilitated by a fantastic first half but secured by some stunning saves from Ramsdale.
The goalkeeper can be the personification of the Arsenal revival: youthful – Arteta has named the youngest teams in the division this season – and a signing by the Spaniard who was initially greeted with scepticism as many wondered what Arsenal had to show for their status as the summer’s biggest spenders. Parachuting Ramsdale into the team ahead of Bernd Leno was the gamble that has proved a masterstroke. Now there is the sense that long-term planning has provided a glimpse of a bright future.
The sight of three Arsenal players starting for England, for the first time since 2014, felt doubly symbolic when the others were the homegrown Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka, who both scored in the 10-0 thrashing of San Marino. They are the faces of the new Arsenal, the endearing entertainers.
And yet the nature of Arteta’s Arsenal is that, while his overall record is undistinguished, the highs have been sufficiently high to suggest they are on the route back to glory and the lows often deeply depressing.
Arteta’s intelligence and training-ground prowess are apparent as he oversees impressive wins after finding a formula and formation, only for someone to unlock it. But perhaps sometimes he stumbles on a short-term solution, and this could rank as another.
Without Granit Xhaka and potentially Thomas Partey, he may name understudies in midfield. Anfield, where Arsenal have conceded 28 goals in their last eight games, is a place where failings have been exposed and plans abandoned in the past. Arsenal must hope history does not repeat itself.
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh135,000
Engine 1.6L turbo
Gearbox Six speed automatic with manual and sports mode
Power 165hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 240Nm @ 1,400rpm 0-100kph: 9.2 seconds
Top speed 420 kph (governed)
Fuel economy, combined 35.2L / 100km (est)
FA Cup fifth round draw
Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City
Reading/Cardiff City v Sheffield United
Chelsea v Shrewsbury Town/Liverpool
West Bromwich Albion v Newcastle United/Oxford United
Leicester City v Coventry City/Birmingham City
Northampton Town/Derby County v Manchester United
Southampton/Tottenham Hotspur v Norwich City
Portsmouth v Arsenal
The years Ramadan fell in May
The Lost Letters of William Woolf
Helen Cullen, Graydon House
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Essentials
The flights
Return flights from Dubai to Windhoek, with a combination of Emirates and Air Namibia, cost from US$790 (Dh2,902) via Johannesburg.
The trip
A 10-day self-drive in Namibia staying at a combination of the safari camps mentioned – Okonjima AfriCat, Little Kulala, Desert Rhino/Damaraland, Ongava – costs from $7,000 (Dh25,711) per person, including car hire (Toyota 4x4 or similar), but excluding international flights, with The Luxury Safari Company.
When to go
The cooler winter months, from June to September, are best, especially for game viewing.
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SPEC%20SHEET
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The five pillars of Islam
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Fighting with My Family
Director: Stephen Merchant
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Florence Pugh, Thomas Whilley, Tori Ellen Ross, Jack Lowden, Olivia Bernstone, Elroy Powell
Four stars
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
The five pillars of Islam
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
More from Neighbourhood Watch
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The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
