Even the most ardent Arsenal supporter would struggle to convince you they could have envisaged their team making such a brilliant start to the season.
The idea of the Gunners being title challengers in the context of a disappointing end to the previous campaign, in which they were pipped for fourth by fierce rivals Tottenham having looked certainties for Champions League qualification, was pretty fanciful – even accounting for the shrewd signings of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from rivals Manchester City.
And yet, here we are – just two Premier League games to play before the top flight signs off for the World Cup break and Arsenal lead the way by two points from City having lost only once in 12 league outings.
Lovers of caveats will of course point out the blindingly obvious…we're still only in November. And indeed Arsenal do have questions to answer. Is their squad deep enough to take City all the way? Are they strong enough defensively to remain contenders?
But their success so far has been built on two longer term squad members, namely in the form of local favourite Bukayo Saka and the Brazilian flair of Gabriel Martinelli and they perhaps hold the key to sustaining their present position.
Their roles in this Arsenal team have been increasingly important with Arteta having to shuffle his pack following the exits of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette in January and June respectively.
The addition of Jesus has added significant star quality of course, but there is little doubt Saka and Martinelli have stepped up a gear so far this term.
Martinelli making his mark
In the North Bank at Emirates Stadium in August, Arsenal fans' chants were predominantly directed towards Hale End graduates Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
But Smith Rowe's rise to first-team star has been tempered a little this term due to injuries, and Martinelli has grasped his opportunity at consistent playing time.
While the Brazilian made 29 Premier League appearances last season, he only completed 90 minutes on nine occasions and was subbed off in 11 of his 21 starts and received a red card against Wolves in February.
This season, Martinelli has started all 12 of Arsenal's league matches and has played the entirety of the game on eight occasions.
That has resulted in a significant improvement in front of goal, with Martinelli netting five times in 12 matches and sitting just one shy of the six-goal tally he achieved last term, adding two assists to boot.
Martinelli's involvement is up there with the best in the Premier League, standing eighth overall for the most involvements in attacking sequences (67) and ranking second in that regard for Arsenal, behind only Jesus (90).
Saka coming of age
On the opposing side, Arsenal continue to deploy Saka to expert effect, with the England international now in his fourth year as a regular fixture within the Gunners' ranks and showing real maturity at the age of 21.
While appearances have been plentiful, it has taken time for Saka to be integrated fully into his natural role after first making a breakthrough filling in at left-back, then featuring on the left-side of the attack.
Now in his favoured role on the right, Saka has shown his consistency with nine goal involvements in 12 matches (four goals, five assists). Only once in the past nine matches has Saka not registered a goal or an assist in the Premier League.
Managing Saka will be Arteta's biggest challenge given the amount of football he has played in the past four years and it is something that is clearly being considered, with Saka subbed off in seven of his 12 appearances this term.
Eyes will be cast towards the World Cup and Saka's important role for Gareth Southgate's side, which Arsenal fans may not find comfortable to watch given the injury risk to their star man – something that highlights the Gunners' need for depth beyond their first XI.
More to come
Settling into the side alongside Jesus, Arsenal's fluid front-three is one that is attracting envy across the Premier League and, worryingly for their opponents, the Gunners trio are still not at the peak of their powers.
For all their brilliance, neither Saka or Martinelli have quite managed to craft a deadly relationship with Jesus just yet – with Saka and Jesus yet to combine for an assist this season, while Jesus has laid on one for Martinelli.
In comparison, Martinelli has assisted Saka once, with two assists in the opposing direction. Last season, the pair did not combine for an assist.
The chances have been there, with Martinelli and Jesus combining for nine opportunities, while Saka and the Brazilian have combined for five. Improving those numbers will increase the chances of the assist tally also trending upwards.
The performances of Martin Odegaard, Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey have had a major influence on the attack, but if Saka and Martinelli can continue to improve their own output then Arsenal can continue to provide the role of unlikely challengers and, who knows, perhaps even end a wait for title glory that stretches back to 2004.
Raith Rovers keep unlikely title bid alive with narrow victory at Inverness
Raith Rovers rode their luck to keep alive their slender cinch Championship title hopes with a smash-and-grab 1-0 win at third-bottom Inverness.
Caley Thistle, looking for a third successive win to further boost their survival push, hit the goal frame four times and saw visiting goalkeeper Kevin Dabrowski produce a host of stunning saves.
But in the end it was Lewis Vaughan’s 49th-minute strike that settled the contest as Raith, who could have seen leaders Dundee United win the league on Saturday if they had lost at Caledonian Stadium, close the gap on the pacesetters to three points.
Duncan Ferguson’s Inverness created several good chances to take the lead in a one-sided first half, with Dabrowski keeping out Cammy Harper’s 25-yard free-kick before Alex Samuel was denied by a goalline block.
The hosts came even closer in the 21st minute when Harper fired against the bar and then saw Dabrowski fling up a leg and somehow manage to block his follow-up.
Rovers had done little to prove they were the team at the top end of the able in the first half but four minutes after the restart they took the lead, top scorer Vaughan getting on the end of a flick-on to coolly guide the ball past Mark Ridgers.
That proved to be the game’s decisive moment as the Raith goal continued to lead a charmed life, Samuel seeing a curling shot come back off the far post and the brilliant Dabrowski turned over a shot from the same player.
Inverness then hit the crossbar twice in quick succession, Danny Devine and James Carragher seeing headers come back off the goal frame, before Dabrowski tipped over a stoppage-time effort as Raith somehow held on for the three points.
Former Wales winger Leighton James dies, aged 71
Former Wales winger Leighton James has died at the age of 71.
James’ former clubs Burnley and Swansea – where he spent 13 years of a colourful 19-year senior career – were among those to pay tribute to a gifted player who won 54 caps for his country.
“We are sorry to hear the news of Leighton’s passing,” Burnley chairman Alan Pace said of James, who had three spells at Turf Moor and scored 81 goals in 399 appearances for the Clarets.
“He left an indelible mark on this football club and stories of his playing skills still echo around Turf Moor.
“Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.”
Swansea-born James made his Burnley debut in 1970 – his pace and trickery quickly making him a Clarets’ favourite – before joining Derby for a then club-record fee of £310,000 and having a one-season stop at QPR.
James returned to Burnley in 1978 before joining his hometown club two years later and helping their rise in to the old First Division under John Toshack.
“Swansea City is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Leighton James at the age of 71,” read a club statement.
“The gifted winger, widely-regarded as one of the Swans’ finest players, was a key figure in the side that secured a first-ever promotion to the top-flight in 1981, scoring a stunning goal in the victory over Preston North End at Deepdale to complete the club’s rise.
“He went on to star the following campaign as John Toshack’s side took the fight to the elite of English football, eventually finishing sixth in the First Division.
“The thoughts of everyone at Swansea City are with Leighton’s friends and family at this sad time.”
After three years at Swansea, James went on to play for Sunderland, Bury and Newport before taking his career full circle with a third spell at Burnley.
James’ 10 international goals included the match-winning penalty against England in the 1976-77 British Home Championship – Wales’ only ever victory against their neighbours at Wembley.
The Football Association of Wales posted on X: “It is with great sadness that we share the news that @Cymru international Leighton James has sadly passed away.
“Amongst his most famous moments with the dragon on his shirt was scoring a penalty in a famous win over England at Wembley in 1977.
“He was a star of the only Cymru team to top a qualifying group before going on to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 1976.”
James held various coaching positions in South Wales after his playing career and worked in the media, where he developed a reputation as a forthright columnist and pundit.
Both Burnley and Swansea have confirmed they will wear black armbands in their respective matches against Sheffield United and Huddersfield on Saturday as a tribute to James.
Philippe Clement urges Rangers to embrace intense environment of run-in
Philippe Clement has told his off-form Rangers players they must embrace an intense environment where results dictate whether they go to “heaven or hell”.
The Gers were widely lauded after a consistent run of form that saw them wipe out Celtic’s eight-point advantage at the top of the cinch Premiership to briefly take over at the summit in February.
However, they go into this Sunday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final against on-song Hearts having been ferociously criticised after slip-ups away to Ross County and Dundee over the past week left them with just two wins from their last eight games in all competitions and their title hopes hanging by a thread.
“If you win 10 games in a row, you have more belief than when you lose two times but this is Rangers, this is a club where you always have to fight,” said Clement.
“Every point you lose, it’s like you’re going to hell. That’s this world, and that’s good. That’s also the challenge and it’s interesting to see which players can live in that way.
“But it’s an exciting place to be because on the other side you can go also to heaven when you win games and when you win trophies.
“In other teams, where it’s not so important to win points or when it’s not something dramatic when you lose points, you cannot go to heaven also because those are not the clubs that win trophies. This is something you need to embrace.”
Clement insists he is comfortable with the intense scrutiny and criticism he has faced amid Rangers’ recent “bumps in the road”.
“I know it’s part of the job,” he said. “I’ve been now more than 30 years in this world and I’ve been buried a lot of times as a player and as a manager, so I know what I’m doing in a club. I know what I’m doing in this club. I know we are on the right road together.”
Clement described the demands of being in charge of Rangers as similar to managing former club Brugge in his homeland.
“Winning, becoming champion, is the only thing that counts,” he said. “But I’ve been like that all my life. There is nobody who can be more critical than me because I want to win everything.
“Everybody who knows me from when I was a child, whether it was basketball, tennis or table tennis or whatever sport, I want to win. I made a lot of fights with my wife about that, that I wanted that mentality with my children because I did it with them also.
“If I played a game with them and they were three years old, I wanted to win. That is the mentality that is necessary in a club like this, but you need to embrace that.
“It’s also because of that that you can be successful and you can win trophies and have these exciting moments that will stay with you for the rest of your life. That is what Rangers is about and that’s why I love to be here.”
Clement galvanised Rangers earlier in the season after replacing Michael Beale in October.
Asked what he would say to supporters who fear the resurgence is fizzling out, the Belgian said: “The same thing I said in October. I think this team since October did improve in results, in attitude and resilience, and in six months they proved it several times.
“So it’s there, they can do it. They’ve shown it several times with quality. That’s what they need to do again. So, yes, my belief is there 200 per cent.”
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