January transfer exclusive, Douglas Luiz, Tomiyasu injury latest | The Chris Wheatley Show - video Dailymotion

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The Chris Wheatley Show is a brand new weekly series talking all things Arsenal and the Premier League.

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00:00 Hello, welcome to another episode of the Chris Wheatley Show. I'm your host, Jason Jones.

00:07 I'm joined as always by Chris Wheatley. This week we'll be discussing the Gunners 2-1 win

00:11 over Wolves at the weekend. We'll be talking about Nicolarte's pursuit of a Portuguese

00:15 sensation and as always, we'll be putting your listener questions to Chris as well.

00:19 So without further ado, Chris, thank you to get through on this drab and dreary Monday

00:24 morning. Not so drab and dreary for Arsenal though. Top of the Premier League. Obviously

00:29 a good win at the weekend against Wolves. Early goals from the Kai Osaka and Martin

00:34 Odegaard ultimately proven enough for all three points. And yeah, like I said, a largely

00:39 positive weekend for the Gunners.

00:41 Yeah, what is it? 20 sleeps now, 21 sleeps until Christmas and Arsenal will be looking

00:49 for more presents ahead of Christmas Day, of course. Some early Christmas presents.

00:53 I think I've used that pun about two or three times now in the last few shows, but I'm going

00:57 to use it again because it was another fantastic win for Arsenal. Hard fought against Wolves

01:02 2-1. The Kai Osaka, Martin Odegaard again turning on the style in that game. Wolves

01:09 did get a goal back at the end with Matias Kunia taking advantage of a Zinchenko error.

01:16 I think Kunia really was the main threat for Wolves in this game, but Arsenal, yeah, it

01:22 was a good result for them because I think Wolves, if you look at their recent results

01:27 and the way they've performed this season, they've been pretty unfortunate not to get

01:31 as many points on the board as they could have. They've been hard done by as well with

01:36 VAR errors this season, it has to be said. But yeah, I think Arsenal really happy with

01:41 just getting these results, even if the performance doesn't necessarily deserve the three points

01:49 or merit that kind of scoreline. But in the end, they got the three points and that's

01:54 really all that matters for Mikko Lautetta and his side. Word from Gary O'Neill after

01:59 the game, he did accuse Arsenal of time wasting. He was pretty frustrated about that. He said

02:04 his team would have probably done the same if they were in Arsenal's position. But yeah,

02:08 it was a good three points, a good day out for the Arsenal fans, of course, and Arsenal

02:14 continue their mount at the top of the Premier League table.

02:18 It seems to be something that we're seeing more often from Arsenal this season, isn't

02:22 it? Not necessarily performing at full tilt, but still having enough to draw those three

02:28 points where needed to sort of drag those wins as and when. We saw it against Brentford,

02:33 of course, only last weekend as well. But something has to be said for the individual

02:38 quality that they possess and the platform that that gives them in matches like this,

02:43 where if they can stay in a game, if they can perform at a certain level, they do know

02:49 that they've got the likes of Kyo Sakuram and Martin Odegaard to produce when needed.

02:57 Yeah, definitely. Don't forget, this is an Arsenal team which are missing some key players,

03:04 the likes of Thomas Partey in midfield. Jurijan Timber, of course, has been out for the entire

03:08 season since that opening game of the campaign. But when you consider they're missing key

03:14 players and they've had the wrangle between the goalkeepers, David Rye and Aaron Ramsdale

03:19 as well, which has been a bit of a sideshow, I think Arsenal have done pretty well to just

03:24 maintain that consistency, maintain that really excellent form.

03:29 And then when you look at Manchester City and their performance against Tottenham, I

03:32 think there's just an increasing optimism within the club and outside as well with the

03:38 fans that they can really do something special this season. Now, I know I said the same last

03:44 season that it tailed off, didn't it, towards the back end of the campaign. But there is

03:48 that feeling, of course, at the moment that Arsenal can do something better than last

03:53 season because at the moment they're keeping their players fit. They probably will dip

03:58 into the January transfer window if they can, if they can find the right player, coupled

04:02 with the right price. But at the moment, I think things are looking on the up. And yeah,

04:08 you look at the squad, you look at the options from the bench, they have lots of players

04:12 who can contribute as well coming off the bench in the second half. And I think that's

04:17 also an advantage for Nicoletta's side.

04:21 You mentioned Manchester City there. Obviously, in a lot of respects, it was a good weekend

04:25 for Arsenal. Three points for them, drop points for City, for Spurs as well, drop points for

04:29 Aston Villa. It was nearly a perfect weekend. If it wasn't for a late fight back from Liverpool,

04:34 it would have been all of the clubs at the top of the table dropping points apart from

04:37 Arsenal. But just where City are concerned, that's now three successive draws for them,

04:42 six points dropped in their last three matches. Are we just seeing a slight chink in the armour

04:47 of Pep Guardiola's team or is this one of those blips that City occasionally have ride

04:52 out and then come back even stronger from?

04:55 Yeah, I mean, I think if you're going to have a blip, now is probably the time to do it,

05:01 right? Because you still have that second half of the season to make up points and to

05:07 get those points on board. So I think when you look at last season, it was similar. Arsenal

05:11 on top for most of the campaign and then Manchester City suddenly just produced an unbelievable

05:17 form book in the second half of the season. And I think that's what they'll be looking

05:22 to do again this season.

05:24 But how consistent can City be across the past three to four seasons in terms of winning

05:31 the league? It's difficult to maintain that kind of momentum and consistency when you're

05:36 so used to winning absolutely everything. Arsenal, I think, are so hungry, they're so

05:41 desperate. They might not have players who have really won the league other than the

05:45 likes of Jorginho or these really experienced players. But other than that, it's a young

05:50 team who are hungry and desperate to get a major trophy on board. And City have already

05:55 done that. It may be a bit tougher for them to actually repeat what they did last season

06:01 in terms of that treble. And I think, yeah, it will be a really close run title race once

06:07 again.

06:08 We haven't even mentioned Liverpool as well, who have been in really good form. They look

06:12 like they're certainly going to challenge for the title. I don't think it's going to

06:16 be a two-horse race as it was last season. But yeah, Liverpool as well, sneaking in there.

06:21 City, of course, they've had that inconsistent form, but you definitely can't write Pep Guardiola's

06:26 side off. But at the moment, Arsenal are definitely looking like favourites. There's no doubt

06:30 about it. They look in really good form and the performances are to match as well.

06:37 And finally, just a quick word. We're recording this on Monday morning. Obviously, Arsenal

06:42 have a game in midweek against Luton Town. Should be a relatively routine one for Nicolai

06:46 Tesmin, you would imagine, but still reasons to be wary of that.

06:52 Yeah, I think Luton are a tricky team to come up against. They're not the kind of bottom

07:03 of the league side that everyone was expecting to face this season. I think a lot of neutral

07:10 fans are maybe expecting Luton to even struggle to pick up points because you look at their

07:14 squad, it's majority championship players. And I think what they've done so far this

07:21 season has been pretty impressive when you consider their budget as well.

07:25 Obviously, last game was a loss against Brentford 3-1. But I think Arsenal at home, you can

07:32 technically say it's a bit of a derby game because the training ground is pretty close.

07:39 There's a lot of links there. I remember Jack Wilshere, of course, was brought to the club

07:44 for a pitch in town, which is basically Luton. So there's lots of small links there between

07:50 the two clubs. And I think, yeah, it's going to be a really tough game, tough place to

07:54 go. The usual cliches, but no, I really do think it will be not a simple win for Arsenal.

08:02 I think Luton are certainly going to be able to compete. But yeah, we'll wait and see.

08:08 Tough couple of games for Luton. They've got Arsenal and they've got Man City up as well

08:12 after that. So yeah, they'll be hoping to try and get some kind of points on board.

January transfer exclusive, Douglas Luiz, Tomiyasu injury latest | The Chris Wheatley Show

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