da 888casino： Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta could be ready to open his cheque book once again, with the Gunners eyeing a highly-rated winger for January.
da betcris： Mikel Arteta’s league leaders, despite conceding a dramatic late equaliser away to Sunderland last weekend, are still the team to beat this season.
Before their trip to the Stadium of Light, Arsenal enjoyed a staggering run of eight consecutive clean sheets across all competitions — equalling their own club record set in 1903. During this historic period, they went 12 hours and 56 minutes without conceding a single goal, with Nick Woltemade coming as the last player to score against them all the way back in September.
Olympiacos, West Ham, Fulham, Atlético Madrid, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Burnley and Slavia Prague all failed to find a way past Arsenal until Dan Ballard, who once plied his trade in the Hale End academy, and Brian Brobbey finally ended their incredible defensive streak.
Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest
Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-1 Man City
Port Vale 0-2 Arsenal
Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos
Arsenal 2-0 West Ham
Fulham 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 4-0 Atlético Madrid
Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton
Burnley 0-2 Arsenal
Slavia Prague 0-3 Arsenal
Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal
Arteta has built Arsenal’s rock-solid title challenge off their imperious defence and exceptional threat from set pieces, with the north Londoners bagging 12 from dead ball situations so far this campaign — more than any other club in the top flight (12).
This also comes after Berta gave Arteta his full backing in the summer transfer window,
Arsenal ended last summer as one of England’s most lavish spenders, investing nearly £270 million into the squad and registering the highest net spend of any Premier League side. Kepa Arrizabalaga, Cristhian Mosquera, Piero Hincapie, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres were all brought in to bolster Arsenal’s title challenge, and Arteta is hoping to have the latter two back from injury to face Tottenham right after the international break.
While Eze can play on the left-wing, with Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard also standing out as key options, reports suggest that Berta could look to bring in another star man for that area of the squad in 2026.
Martinelli and Trossard face uncertain long-term futures at Arsenal with both of their deals expiring in 2027, and the club have been linked with AC Milan’s Rafael Leao as one of many potential targets for the left-wing.
According to the latest reports from Spain, they also maintain a serious interest in Lyon star Malick Fofana.
Arsenal preparing January move for Malick Fofana
The 20-year-old, who scored 11 goals and racked up six assists in all competitions for Lyon last term, commands a price tag of around £52 million with both Liverpool and Barcelona seriously considering a move as well.
Hansi Flick’s La Liga champions have already held talks with his representatives ahead of January, according to one Spanish media source, with it also being reported that Arsenal are preparing to battle Barca and Liverpool for Fofana’s signature in January.
Called a “magnificent” up-and-coming talent by members of the media, the Belgium international enjoyed a fine start to this campaign as well before suffering a recent ankle sprain.
Kevin De Bruyne even compared Fofana with star Man City winger Jeremy Doku, which is high praise considering the latter’s exceptional form this season, having just put Liverpool to the sword in a 3-0 rout at Eastlands.
His pace and directness is complemented only by his versatility, which will seriously appeal to Arteta, with Fofana able to play on the right-wing and at centre-forward when required.
The former Gent sensation would be a stellar option, but it would surely require one of Martinelli or Trossard to leave and free up space — giving Arteta a key decision to make given both of the super subs contributions this term.