Arsenal should aim high in Premier League after Leeds success

Arsenal are continuing their hot run of form with a now eight game unbeaten match, added to most recently with another victory in the Carabao Cup, against Leeds United and the intellectual Marcelo Bielsa. Their 2-0 victory was a positive innovation, as it will send the club to the final eight of the competition, against still unknown competition.

Better still, it continues to show the real form and ability that Arsenal has and can demonstrate on a match to match basis; if the Gunners can continue on this trajectory, improving by the week, they will be in serious competition for a top five or six finish in the Premier League table.

While The Arsenal started off slow and have steadily improved since, many other teams have come back down to earth a bit, while the best in the league continue to demonstrate exactly why they are, in fact, the best in the league.

The Gunners sit in tenth place, in the top half, and in a very interesting position: they have 14 points and still suffer a -3 goal difference, are tied with Leicester City, Everton, and Manchester United on points, sit a point behind Brighton and Tottenham, as well as a single point up on Wolves, and two points ahead of Brentford. After facing the Foxes they could be as high as fifth.

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Arsenal are a club that can certainly get to where they want to be in the Premier League, but a tough run of matches await

It is a tough stretch, and a tough position to be in, but if Arsenal can stay showcasing positive traits as they are, they will be a dangerous club come April or May.

But first, the club must still get there.

There, as one might glean from reading the rest of this piece, is the end of the season with a real chance to improve and progress, perhaps even with European competition, in the coming campaign.

While the final two games before the third international break will be challenging, with Leicester before Watford come to visit the Emirates, Both should be three points. Yet, both are well-coached and full of talent, even if many fans can be forgiven for not knowing who plays for Watford anymore.

Four points would be better than three, of course, and yet six would really be supreme; both would leave little doubt that Arsenal have turned things around after a difficult beginning and might be poised to give the top teams a more difficult time than they have previously been offering up.

The Gunners will need all the help they can get, which includes from the likes of the much-maligned Nicolas Pepe and the currently struggling Gabriel Martinelli. This team, without the resources that European play provides a club, have been relying on youth and must continue to do so as the hectic November and December schedules emerge. Can Arsenal navigate a Carabao Cup and Premier League balance? Surely. We are seeing this as clear as anything. Will it be done? This remains to be seen.

Against Leicester, Brendan Rogers will put out a strong outfit with familiar faces like Jamie Vardy and James Maddison, among others, and it will be up to the backline to provide good strength and coverage for Aaron Ramsdale. Meanwhile, the offensive production will have to remain fluid, as the opposition can score, and when given time, can score in a blur. They’ve had a tough go of it too this early year, but are making up for lost time as well; it will be a test of wills that Arteta will surely wish to see play out in his teams favor.

These final two matches of this stretch will be important to observe as well: can Arsenal keep the form? Or will they too, come back to earth?