David Luiz made it into Garth Crooks’ Team of the Week after Arsenal’s win against AFC Bournemouth, the only member of Unai Emery’s team to do so.
Arsenal didn’t exactly put in an inspiring performance against Bournemouth on Sunday. If anything, the only player deserving of real credit was Calum Chambers, after a couple of excellent last-ditch clearances from the right-back position.
Crooks felt goalscorer David Luiz did enough to make it in though, after his first goal and his first clean sheet with Arsenal. The BBC pundit didn’t seem too happy about the Gunners coming away with the three points in his analysis though.
“Luiz, who never does things the easy way, scored his first goal for the Gunners and the only goal of the game but more importantly kept his first clean sheet in an Arsenal shirt,” Crooks said. “I cannot believe this Arsenal team are third in the table.
“I know we are only eight games into the Premier League season but their defence has been so bad, how is this possible?”
To be fair, many Arsenal fans have been wondering the same thing after a distinctly average start to the season.
The Gunners have only won two of their last five, against Aston Villa and Bournemouth at home, but draws against Spurs, Manchester United and Watford have surprisingly not hurt their position in the table.
Arsenal also have a decent run of games in the league coming up:
- Sheffield United (A)
- Crystal Palace (H)
- Wolves (H)
- Leicester City (A)
- Southampton (H)
- Norwich City (A)
- Brighton (H)
- West Ham (A)
Not every game in that list is easy, with some tough tests away to Leicester and home to Wolves, for example. The fact there are no big-six league matches until mid-December puts the onus on the Gunners to start picking up some results though.
If David Luiz can consistently raise his game to the level he was at over the weekend, Arsenal should be able to do so.