Three weeks of international football, one Arteta contract and a lot of Man City talk later, Arsenal finally have a game again. The last time anyone saw them in the league they were losing 3–0 at Brighton. That has been sitting in the fridge for almost three weeks. Leeds turn up at the Emirates at 12:30 on Saturday, and plenty of Gooners would like to forget the Amex ever happened.
The club did its bit midweek. Mikel Arteta signed a new deal to June 2030 on Wednesday, subject to the usual regulatory sign-off, and the rooms spent about five minutes celebrating before moving on to the stuff that actually decides Saturday. Kai Havertz picked up an injury on Germany duty. Christos Tzolis did a hamstring with Greece and is reported to be out for around three weeks. William Saliba is still out with his back problem. That leaves a front line built around Viktor Gyökeres and Eberechi Eze, the two men every Arsenal channel has been arguing about since August. Over at Leeds United, they're unbeaten in the league and don't think they're coming to London to get spanked.
"Give him games now"
AFTV have Cecil and Curtis in, and the Gyökeres bit is the heart of the show. Cecil admits he wanted Gyökeres over Benjamin Šeško in the first place, and he still rates that first season: "21 goals in the first season, 14 goals in the league is good enough." Then the catch. "Going forward, we're going to need to see more." With Havertz out, he says, this is Gyökeres's chance to have his moment.
The pair point out he's been scoring for Sweden and scored home and away against Leeds last season, so there's no hiding place. When Cecil asks for a front three, the room ends up at Saka and Gyökeres, and the verdict is blunt. "Give him games now." Pick Mikel Merino up top instead, they reckon, and you've finished Gyökeres off. The Eze bit is less kind. Curtis doesn't want him on the left at all. "It don't work." The pair also spend a minute discovering Leeds haven't lost a league game yet, which takes the swagger down a notch. "It's Leeds, but you can't underestimate them."
No smoke without fire
DeludedGooner brings in Andrew from Arseblog, and it's the most thoughtful room in the pile. Their point on Gyökeres and Eze is that the debate itself tells you something. Nobody's asking where Declan Rice or Martin Ødegaard fit. Everyone in the ground will cheer Gyökeres if he starts on Saturday, but fans are allowed to talk about a player who splits them. And they'd happily eat humble pie if both of them start firing.
Andrew's Eze comparison is the line worth stealing: "I think of Robert Pires when I think of Eze on the left." Pires didn't hug the touchline either. He drifted, arrived and hit it. Andrew wonders if Riccardo Calafiori bombing into that inside-left lane is part of Eze's problem. Merino gets a love letter too. Andrew sees Leeds as a game he could start, and says the Spaniard can play anywhere: "stick the guy in goal if you need to." The host pushes Merino as Arsenal's most clutch player, and nobody argues.
"Don't get too comfortable"
Waffle Don opens with the contract and closes it fast. The message to Arteta is warm and short: "You signed the thing. You earned the right to sign it." Then the warning. "Don't get too comfortable." The real work, he says, starts at 12:30 on Saturday, and the Brighton result needs washing out before anyone starts talking about dynasties.
The team talk is where they earn their keep. Cristhian Mosquera's pace gets the nod at centre-back next to Gabriel, because Arsenal will have the ball and somebody has to cover the space behind. Gyökeres starts for them, partly because he scored against Leeds last season. They also expect Leeds to come and have a go rather than park the bus, and they want Arsenal ready for it.
Need a reaction
TyrellGunnerTV went live just as the Arteta news dropped, and the contract gets a cheer. Leeds is the game he cares about, though. His case is simple. Lose 3–0 before the break and you need a response, and a home game is exactly the right place to get one. "We need a reaction from the players."
He's not nervous, or says he isn't, and lands on a 2–0 win. He's also got the whole perfect weekend mapped out: Arsenal beat Leeds, Chelsea lose at Bournemouth, United beat Spurs and Liverpool beat City. That's a lot of other people's results to rely on, and he knows it.
"No excuses"
TurkishLDN's Loose Cannons podcast is the grumpiest of the lot, in a good way. The injuries are real and the attack is thin, and the panel aren't interested in hearing about it. "You've still got enough to go and beat Leeds." Nobody wants to hear the early kick-off used as an excuse either. "It's a 12:30. It's at home. Come on."
What they're properly worried about is Leeds's intensity. One of the panel can easily see Arsenal "one-nil down after 17 minutes", with the crowd getting edgy, if Leeds start the way Brighton did. They point out Leeds drew with Brighton, which is more than Arsenal managed. The bigger question is whether Brighton was a one-off or a template other teams will copy. They're also clear Gyökeres and Eze both have to start. If they don't, the panel want to know what the summer was for.
The view from Elland Road
Imagine Not Being Leeds isn't scared of Arsenal, and says so. He remembers Leeds losing 5–0 at the Emirates last season and calls that a totally different side. This one is more physical, better drilled and settled in a formation that works. "I think a 5–nil hammering is certainly off the table in this one." Nine points from five, unbeaten, and a defence he keeps bigging up.
His best bit is the scouting report. Havertz missing is "massive" for Leeds, because his clever runs are the hard thing to track. Gyökeres, he reckons, will try to bully the centre-backs, and Tarik Muharemović will "eat him up". He backs Leeds to "get something" at the Emirates, then has a quick think and predicts 10 points from the next five anyway. Nobody said fan maths had to add up.
So who starts up top?
Strip out the contract cheers and the Man City noise and every room ends up in the same spot. Arsenal need a reaction, Leeds think they can spoil it, and the bloke leading the line is the same one everyone's been arguing about. AFTV want Gyökeres trusted for a run of games. DeludedGooner's room says the fact the debate never ends tells its own story. The Loose Cannons want both him and Eze picked and no excuses. Over in Leeds, they're hoping Muharemović wins that fight.
Arteta has his new deal. On Saturday lunchtime his centre-forward needs to give him a reason to keep picking him.