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Barring an early EFL Cup exit to Brighton & Hove Albion, defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford and a somewhat disappointing draw away at Southampton, the start to the 2022-23 season has been a better one than many Arsenal fans could have ever envisaged.
Mikel Arteta‘s side are guaranteed to be top of the table at Christmas for the first time since the 2007-08 season as they hold a five-point lead over reigning champions Manchester City, whom they were due to meet prior to the World Cup break before the death of Queen Elizabeth II threw the footballing calendar into disarray.
A straightforward 2-0 success over Wolverhampton Wanderers came in the same weekend that Man City were stunned 2-1 by Brentford at the Etihad Stadium, allowing Arteta to steer his current team out of sight over his former employers, but all eyes will be on whether they can maintain a title charge in the New Year.
News of a serious injury to Gabriel Jesus has already led some Arsenal fans to concede defeat in the title race – similar to the 2007-08 season, when the Gunners fell off the pace after Eduardo da Silva‘s horrific leg break – but victory over West Ham United on Boxing Day could go a long way to holding their place at the summit.
Following Thursday’s contest with Lyon, Arsenal will round off their warm-weather training camp in Dubai with a fixture against AC Milan on Tuesday before returning home, where Juventus will be waiting at the Emirates for another tantalizing exhibition encounter on December 17.
Peter Bosz‘s departure was a case of when and not if for a number of months, but Laurent Blanc has overseen a steady period since replacing the Dutchman back in October, picking up seven points from his first five Ligue 1 games after masterminding wins over Montpellier HSC and 2020-21 champions Lille.
Just before the World Cup break, former Arsenal striker Lacazette and current Gunners loanee Nicolas Pepe both scored from the spot as Lyon and Nice played out a 1-1 draw, one which leaves Les Gones eighth in the table with 21 points from their opening 15 games, and they ran out 5-3 winners over OH Leuven in a friendly at the start of the month.
Blanc therefore has plenty of work to do if he is to steer Lyon back into Europe, with Les Gones seven points adrift of the European spots and 10 behind third-placed Rennes, and they are no strangers to friendly wins over Arsenal, who lost to the French side 2-1 in the Emirates Cup following a brace from Moussa Dembele
At the time of writing, Arsenal still have Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli representing their nations at the World Cup, while Matt Turner, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka‘s nations have been knocked out, and Ben White withdrew from the England camp due to personal reasons.
White has not made the journey to Dubai, and neither has Jesus as he recovers from a knee operation, but there is a spot on the plane for Emile Smith Rowe as he steps up his recovery from groin surgery.
Smith Rowe is unlikely to be involved in December’s friendlies as he pushes for a return to first-team action in January, but senior players such as Gabriel Magalhaes, Kieran Tierney and Mohamed Elneny could all start before Arteta rings the second-half changes.
Meanwhile, Lyon only have one remaining World Cup representative in the form of Argentina left-back Nicolas Tagliafico, with Karl Toko Ekambi‘s Cameroon suffering an early exit in the group stage despite a last-gasp 1-0 win over Brazil.
Former Arsenal youngster Jeff Reine-Adelaide has made the trip to Dubai despite a thigh injury, as has the luckless Corentin Tolisso, although Jerome Boateng (knee) is not involved as he continues his recovery.
Lacazette will expect to headline a strong Lyon starting XI, which could also feature the likes of Rayan Cherki, Anthony Lopes and former Arsenal target Houssem Aouar.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Hein; Cedric, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; Elneny, Lokonga; Nelson, Odegaard, Marquinhos; Nketiah
Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Gusto, Diomande, Lukeba, Henrique; Tolisso, Mendes, Aouar; Cherki, Lacazette, Tete
In the week that the Bulls lost their most famous ex-player, FA Cup legend Ronnie Radford – 50 years on from his iconic match-winning goal against Newcastle – it briefly looked like there might be some left-over magic in the air.
For seven minutes, the sixth-tier outfit led after Miles Storey’s goal against the team 81 places above them in the English football pyramid in League One.
But Pompey hit back, with Reeco Hackett quickly levelling before second-half goals from Colby Bishop and substitute Joe Pigott earned the twice FA Cup winners a safe passage to Monday’s second-round draw
Making their first trip to Edgar Street in 38 years, Pompey were given a good first-half workout by the fired-up hosts.
Although home keeper Dale Eve had to keep out Hackett’s left-foot curler bound for the top corner, Pompey had a first real scare when Bishop’s challenge on Hereford’s former million-pound marksman Tyrone Barnett in the visitors’ penalty box went unpunished.
And there was worse to follow for Pompey when Hereford took the lead on 26 minutes.
Sean Raggett played a loose pass inside to Hackett, who was immediately closed down and robbed by Storey – and the former Pompey player raced away down the inside-left channel before keeping his cool to nutmeg on-loan West Bromwich Albion keeper Josh Griffiths.
Fittingly, just two days on from the announcement of the sad passing of Hereford’s legendary number 11, their modern-day number 11 emulated his predecessor.
There had already been a minute’s silence, which cascaded into applause from the whole ground, followed by chants of ‘there’s only one Ronnie Radford’ when the clock showed 11 minutes.
But this goal was destined not to prove so famous.
Ronan Curtis headed down Connor Ogilvie’s far-post cross for Hackett to bring down and fire home coolly from six yards.
On 63 minutes, Portsmouth took the lead when, from Clark Robertson’s in-swinging right-foot corner from the left, Bishop timed his run to get there first and head his 10th goal of the season.
And Pigott wrapped up victory 10 minutes from time when, again from a corner by skipper Robertson, Bishop won the initial header before Pigott reacted sharpest to sidefoot home
Hereford FC boss Josh Gowling told BBC Sport:
“I’m really disappointed because we should have got something out of it, but goals change games – and the quality of the delivery they have changes games.
“In the first half we were excellent. We were in the ascendancy and they looked nervous.
“We were on top and looked like we could go on and win, but we’ve made one mistake, it has cost us a goal and that’s the difference in levels.
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“We’ve given them a leg up and a little lift and you could see their performance raise after that.”
Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley told BBC Sport:
“I was so sad to hear the news about Ronnie Radford. He was such an iconic figure and he had that iconic moment. For a lot of people my age, his famous goal was their first memories of the FA Cup. But what a brilliant night to celebrate his life