Östersunds FK 0-3 Arsenal—Vote for Player Ratings & MOTM!

Arsenal strolled to a comfortable, cozy win over Swedish hosts Oestersunds FK, braving the frigid temperature to waltz away in the first leg. Goals from Monreal, OG, and Özil eased jangled nerves. Pity that the OG stands for "Own Goal" rather than Olivier Giroud. The away-goals should be more than enough to carry us through the second leg in the event that we somehow out-Arsenal ourselves by succumbing to a massive comeback from the visiting underdog. I wouldn't put it past us, much like Ospina wouldn't let Oestersunds put anything past him. Aha. Ha. Let's move on and get down to the poll...

Tottenham 1-0 Arsenal—Vote for Player-Ratings & MOTM!

In a pulsing, intense North London Derby, Harry Kane nodded one home in the 49th minute. Did he shove Koscielny out of the way? In a very real sense, yes—then again, Anthony Taylor was presiding, so in a very different sense, it doesn't matter. Truth be told, though, Tottenham were the better side for most if not all of the match, and for us to get the hour-mark down just 1-0 was a bit of a blessing. It wasn't until the last ten minutes that we really started to show an interest and an ability to test Tottenham, but even four minutes of stoppage-time didn't give us enough time to dig out of the hole we had dug for ourselves. Lacazette fizzed close twice from close range, Well, there will be time for a post-mortem later; for now, let's rate the lads...

The Art of the Dive, or how to lose your bottle: Tottenham-style.

Tottenham are not Everton. Let's get that straight. As such, it's unlikely that we'll blitz our putative hosts as we did our wilting visitors. Still, there's something in the air. Even after Tottenham escaped Anfield with a miraculous (read: dodgy) draw, it's hard to resist a creeping sense of optimism, a belief that a world that has gone topsy-turvy may just be set right. After several years of ekeing past Tottenham to again finish above them, the once-unthinkable finally happened last year as they found a way past us. It happened on the back of their best campaign ever and our worst in recent memory, but it happened. Even as they perch above us, they don't quite rule the roost. Not by a long shot. In fact, they look ready to bottle it.

Arsenal 5-1 Everton—Vote for Player Ratings & MOTM!

Phew. That match has left me and, I assume, all of you, exhausted and spent. The debuts of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang might have been even sexier than imagined, with the Armenian notching three assists and the Gabonese oening his account in fine fashion. This one was almost over before it had even begun as we found three goals in the first twenty minutes. Along with their statistical contributions, our new signings seem to have elevated everyone's confidence. The only open question was whether Petr Čech would get his 200th clean sheet. Sadly, the answer is no. Ramsey did get a hat-trick, though, and we waltzed to the win. Who knows? This result—and those signings—might be just enough to launch us a tidy little run. Let's set that aside, though, and rate the lads!

Swansea 3-1 Arsenal—Vote for Player Ratings & MOTM!

Well, that was unexpected. After all of the hype and excitement of adding Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang, Arsenal arrived at Liberty Stadium and promptly laid an egg against the Swans. At least it wasn't a goose-egg, if you don't mind my mixing metaphors. Monreal salvaged a tattered scrap of dignity by briefly putting us ahead. However, horrific defending allowed Swansea an easy equalizer—and without suggesting any blame—Mkhitaryan came on and bore witness to a god-awful comedy of errors as Čech squibbed an easy clearance directly into Ayew's path, and it was 2-1. We never really showed any fightback after that, and we deserved the result—the beating, really. I just hope the ink is dry on Auba's contract. He might be reconsidering his options. Feh. Let's get down to the poll.