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A look ahead to Arsenal’s next three league games

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Arsenal are on a five-game winning streak, thanks to a Laurent Koscielny stoppage time winner at Turf Moor, and entered the international break in excellent form. The team has taken three points after three points, but the overall performance left much to be desired and even the most avid supporters could not deny that luck has gone in our favor in some deciding moments (finally!). Some nagging issues are still evident in some games.

With no additional injuries between the break, Arsenal should be able to pick up where they left off and continue the momentum. The ensuing fixtures also give them a reason to be optimistic. Swansea, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland, are all in bad form and on paper, should be an easy nine points. To quantify the advantage, Arsenal at the moment has scored more goals and goal conceded than all of these teams, and indeed Arsenal has more points than all three combined.

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Although on paper the games look easy, no one would expect an easy battle against any Premier League team. Burnley demonstrated how to deal with Arsenal for most of the match – by playing a deep and compact defense. There are a few key factors Arsenal need to think over in the next few games to make sure the team is not swamped by the same trick.

Sanchez, Walcott and Iwobi could give any defence trouble on their day. It was obvious in the Burnley game that the team looked lost at times when the usual winning formula didn’t pan out and they didn’t adapt well without another forward option on the bench. The lack of target man in the box has brought too many underwhelming side-to-side passes, which could have been turned to high crosses had there been an aerial threat who could challenge the defenders for headers. Bad news for Arsenal is that Olivier Giroud will still be out come Saturday.

Another difficult decision will be Carzola’s partner in the central midfield for next few games. Coquelin should be ready after a speedy recovery, but no one could be sure about his fitness until he hits the field. Xhaka will likely be slotted into the starting eleven in his place. His passing and long shot ability could influence the games, and more importantly make space for the playmakers next to him with the opposition having to respect his range. Elneny played briefly in the last match, and although he didn’t flash much in that game, his relentless movement and work rate are always appreciated. He could be a nice change-of-pace option who is capable of covering a lot of ground and creating chaos in the opponent’s backfield if the game is static. Ramsey, on the other hand, has yet to return and may miss a few more games until he could build up his fitness again. Hopefully, by the end of the month, he will be ready for the tough fixtures next month.

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Inconsistent effort and inability to adapt could be the team’s major enemy in the next few games. Through the years, Arsenal have shown that while they have the talent to beat strong teams stylishly, they can also lose against teams that they should easily beat.  With the added depth, maturity, and no glaring holes in the starting eleven in this season, the fans will hope the team can capitalize the relatively easy schedule in the next few games and get ready for the real tests in November.

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