Gloves off as Gunners trounce Lens on a chilly late November evening

 

Arsenal 6 Lens 0    
Champions League Matchday Five
Wednesday 29th November 2023 8pm  

Results elsewhere. The Sevilla v PSV game was a little crazy. Two goals up. Sevilla had a player sent off after 65 minutes. Cue a Dutch comeback which ended in a 3-2 away win. It meant Arsenal needed a win against Lens to secure top place before the visit to Eindhoven in a couple of weeks and give Mikel Arteta the option of resting his first team regulars. And how they delivered…

 

Havertz in, Trossard out. A switch from the starting eleven at Brentford saw the late goalscorer Havertz being given the nod for this game, as Declan Rice remained the holding midfielder. It proved a good decision with the German scoring with a poacher’s finish a couple of minutes after heading a Tomiyasu cross just wide. The man with the Shakira chant is beginning to deliver, at last. I’ll make a prediction here. If Havertz gets into double figures in the Premier League this season, Arsenal will win the title. He’s scored two so far.

 

Tomiyasu the man in possession. Ben White is fit to play, but Arteta is sticking with the Japanese option, and you could see why last night. He was a constant menace roaming forward, especially on the overlap, and notched up a pair of assists. His ability to put a decent cross in is evident, and his defensive abilities already proven. I have a feeling he has regained the starting spot at the expense of White. Time will tell.

 

Spreading the goals around. Four up after half an hour, five up by the interval, and just the one after the re-start, and credit to Lens for turning up in the second half given the cause was lost. Notably, there were six different scorers, including all of the Gunners’ front five. The goals were a mixture of the opportunist and the sublime. The other was a late penalty by sub Jorginho.

 

No shortage of spot kick takers. This season, Saka, Odegaard, Havertz and Jorginho have all scored from the spot. It augers well should there be a shoot-out in one of the cups later this season.

 

I’ve never seen Arsenal score 8. Said the Highbury Spy, who sat next to me as is customary at home matches. We recalled the handful of times that the Gunners have netted seven, but it wasn’t to be. The points, and the group, were in the bag after 30 minutes, and much as the team didn’t stop attacking afterwards, they didn’t expend energy better saved for Saturday’s visit of Wolves, likely to be a tough game. There were enough chances to have notched up double figures, but in fairness to Lens, this wasn’t even a 6-0 game – the French team were better than that, it just wasn’t their night. Let us not forget they defeated Arteta’s team earlier in the campaign. 

 

Good to see Saka and Rice removed from the fray. Generally, Arteta will play both of these players for the entire 90 minutes or remove them to eat the clock at the very end of a match. Nelson and Jorginho replaced them, after the half-time switches of White and Kiwior for the two full backs.

 

Reiss – Time to move on? Yes, we’ll always have Bournemouth, but I have the feeling time’s up for Reiss Nelson. Not everyone can be as good as Saka, but Reiss’ level is just a little too far below and the drop off when he replaces Bukayo is marked. It would be better to have more regular first team football if he is to develop, and I’d be more inclined to sell him rather than loan him out. 

 

Dead rubber in Eindhoven. Some Champions League groups are resolved, some have everything to play for. Arteta will be happy Arsenal’s is done and dusted and the only thing at stake is who makes the third spot and qualifies for the Europa League. Lens and Sevilla will resolve that a little south of Eindhoven in a fortnight, whilst Arteta fields what is likely to resemble a League Cup side in Holland. Even Cedric might get a start and it would be cruel not to play Ramsdale in goal. Let’s face it though, the majority of those in attendance will be based in Amsterdam, so their enjoyment of the trip is not solely going to be tied to a football match. 

 

Who Arsenal won’t play in the last 16. In the first knockout round, the group winners cannot play each other, and teams from the same country are also kept apart. So, no chance of facing Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Manchester City. The other groups are yet to be decided. Having said that, ignoring the memories of Barcelona and Bayern Munch, the Gunners have been eliminated often enough in Europe by teams they were favourite to beat, including under Arteta in the Europa League. It is a salient reminder that nothing can be taken for granted. Under Arsene, the club often romped home in the group stage, but never progressed to win it in (if my maths is correct) 18 attempts. Early days anyway, but at full strength, this Arsenal team can go toe to toe with anyone, and the bookies have them as 4^th favourites behind the three teams listed near the start of this paragraph. It’s been a long time since Arsenal even made the last eight in the Champions League, so here’s hoping for some very big nights to come in the remainder of the season from February onwards.

 

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