Here’s Nick Ames’ report from the Emirates.
Mick gets in touch: “We’re an entirely different team without Phillips, first job in the summer is finding a reliable backup for him. But considering we were getting tonked 6-0 by Wednesday a few years back, I’ll take a competitive loss to the FA Cup winners whilst blooding some youngsters...very astute comparison between Samways and Ceballos; if I’m not mistaken Samways had a career renaissance at Las Palmas, marking Real era Zizou out of a game and coming in for praise?”
Full-time: Arsenal 4-2 Leeds
Arsenal climb above Leeds to seize tenth though this did not feel like a mid-table match. Aubameyang takes the plaudits for his first ever Premier League treble but he was the beneficiary of some great collective attacking play. Odegaard was promising but overshadowed by Smith Rowe and Saka, who was brilliant at times. Leeds played their part but will rue some defensive howlers that cost them the match. Meslier, in their goal, had a game to forget.
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90+3 min: Leeds press on. Shackleton almost barrels through but loses the run of the ball at the vital moment.
90+2 min: Aubameyang has been excellent and it would be a blow if his gala day ended in a bad injury. He does get back on the field.
90 min: Four minutes to be added on. Aubameyang is down with wha looks like an Achilles or ankle problem after a midair collision with Ayling. It looks very painful.
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89 min: Arsenal change. Off goes Ceballos, on comes Holding. That’s a defensive change. Ceballos has played well. He’s reinvented himself as a midfield hatchet man in the style of Vinny Samways.
87 min: Meslier redeems himself a tad with a diving save from Cedric. At the other end, Gabriel buys time by falling over under a Bamford challenge.
86 min: It’s a game of wide-open spaces. And all the better for it. Leeds have made themselves quite the entertainment franchise. Their matches are good to watch on almost every occasion. And who can say that?
85 min: Arsenal do seem to have taken some of the sting from Leeds. But Bamford gets a glimpse at goal as Ayling crosses from the byline. Luiz gets it away.
83 min: Arsenal hit the post! Saka might have been offside but there was another example of his brilliance. He carved through the Leeds defence.
82 min: Into the last ten minutes we go. Ayling is upended and the ball can be launched into the Arsenal area. Raphina can only guide the ball into Leno’s hands.
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80 min: Arsenal pushing on for another. It’s probably the safest policy. Arteta is muttering to himself once more.
78 min: Arsenal change: Off goes Odegaard, who was OK, for Elneny. That’s to shore things up though this game has a frantic quality that would be hard to lock down.
77 min: Justin Kavanagh channels Ian Duncan Smith: “Can I just send a football Valentine to Bielsa for all the fun he and his team of manbunned whirling dervishes (or whatever the hell they are!) have brought to the Premier League? Don’t go Marcelo, English football needs your brand of buccaneering if brittle brilliance. “
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76 min: Aubameyang rattles the bar. That would have finished it. It didn’t go in so it’s not finished.
75 min: Arsenal ragged, and stepping back. With the players they have, best to go forward. Bamford goes on a run, and goes down in the box. There’s a penalty claim. Not much doing other than a word into Bamford’s ear from Cedric who felt the striker went down too early.
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73 min: If this does blow apart, then Willian will be blamed by some. Just because he’s Willian. But that’s not happened yet. Saka is still causing problems and wins an Arsenal corner that’s eventually cleared.
72 min: Leeds a team reborn and Roberts and Costa have caused all sorts of problems. Raphina is down injured, but it looks to be a bruise to his midriff rather than anything else.
70 min: Mikel Arteta looks nervous. And well he might. He’s an Arsenal man through and through after all.
The Arsenal team from that day at Newcastle in 2011: “Szczesny ; Sagna , Koscielny , Djourou (Squillaci 48 ), Clichy ; Walcott 7 (Eboué 79 ), Wilshere , Diaby ; Fábregas , Arshavin (Rosicky 69 ), Van Persie
Can this Arsenal team write themselves into similar infamy?
Goal! Arsenal 4-2 Leeds (Costa, 68)
Well. Roberts makes a nice run, and tees up Costa who has space and time to set Arsenal sphincters twitching.
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66 min: Bamford, who has been quiet, tries to play the ball inside to Roberts. Then Raphina finds space on the left-hand side of the Arsenal box. He drags his shot wide.
64 min: Leeds win a corner and try to repeat the same trick as before: Raphina to Struijk but it’s headed away by Xhaka.
63 min: It takes Raphina rushing back to stop a charge from Bellerin. Leeds are again wide open to Arsenal’s attacks.
62 min: Off goes Smith Rowe, and on comes Willian. That wouldn’t be the most popular change among Gunners fans.
60 min: Ten years ago this month. One of the funniest games of all time.
Goal! Arsenal 4-1 Leeds (Struijk, 58)
It is raining hard in North London. Bielsa has put on a woolly hat, and the water is tipping down his glasses. He continues to prowl the sideline. But he has something to cheer - not that he will - as Pascal Struijk, climbs high above Saka to head in a corner. Game on? Memories of Cheick Tiote abound.
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57 min: Giancarlo Sandoval has his say: “I think it’s easy (because mostly everyone is doing it) to say that this result is down to the changes Bielsa made, but that to me just discredits that Arsenal have outpassed and outpressed Leeds like hounds. Even if Kalvin Phillips was there, he would not stop this onslaught, as Arsenal are following the blueprint (used by Chelsea and Arsenal to great effect) to beat Leeds at their own game.
55 min: Pépé and Alioski share a moment as the Leeds player leaves the field. When last these teams met, Pépé was sent off for a very stupid foul.
53 min: Leeds make a change. On comes Niall Huggins for his league debut. Alioski goes off. Big day for the young Welshman, just 20. He can compare himself to Gareth Bale, another Welshman who was brought on yesterday with his team in a hopeless position.
51 min: Well, this one is done then. Leeds have not defended at all well against an opponent that previously struggled for goals.
50 min: Raphina has a dig from distance and Leno makes a fine save though he had plenty behind the ball.
49 min: It’s fair to say that Bielsa’s half-time changes didn’t bring the desired results.
Goal! Arsenal 4-0 Leeds (Aubameyang, 47 hat-trick)
Another Saka charge, the ball comes to Smith Rowe who digs out a cross and that’s the skipper’s third, his first hat-trick in the league.
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46 min: Something of a surprise that the goalie wasn’t subbed off? A look at the first half suggested he was culpable for all three Arsenal goals. But not even Bielsa is crazy to do that.
Two Leeds changes: Off go Klich and Harrison, and on come Costa and Roberts.
Bill Hargreaves gets in touch: “Great commentary, John. Thank you. Brilliant Premier League to follow this year, with so many slips between lip and cup for the clubs towards the top of the tree. I suspect that Mikel’s Arsenal, now that some of the less well-appreciated players have been moved on, might now begin to gel?Wonder where they’ll be at the end of this and next season? Great when any club can lose to any club, though.”
Jake Lynch has been in touch: “Dark days at the Emirates, but spare a thought for the Kassam Stadium, where kick-off for the 2nd half of Oxford Utd vs Wigan Athletic has been delayed... because there’s a fire in the floodlights. Brigade attending...”
Half-time: Arsenal 3-0 Leeds
Leeds have been taken apart. Arsenal have been quicker to the ball and in possession and Leeds have had no answer to Saka in particular. Meslier, in Leeds’ goal, had a half to forget.
45+1 min: Two minutes added on.
Goal! Arsenal 3-0 Leeds (Bellerin, 45)
Oh Leeds. They just cannot get the ball clear. Saka - again - sets it up and Arsenal play keep ball in the area before Bellerin gets the space to finish low. Meslier not great their, either.
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43 min: Leeds have been undone by their own mistakes. Meslier was caught in several minds by Saka. And Ayling allowed himself to get done for the first.
42 min: Saka has done all types of damage to Leeds. His alertness and speed won two penalties, and one goal.
Goal! Arsenal 2-0 Leeds (Aubameyang, 41)
He’s had a few minutes to think about how he will take a penalty against Meslier, and that delay after the previous overrule didn’t put him off. He pummelled it home.
Another penalty!
40 min: Meslier gets himself in all sorts of trouble. Saka robs him of the ball and is brought down. No doubt this time.
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38 min: Odegaard has been quiet. He shows off a glimpse of his qualities in turning Harrison but is kicked for his troubles. Welcome to the PL, rookie.
36 min: Arsenal not happy about that. It looked on first glance like a penalty. On second glance it looked like a soft penalty. But still a penalty. Cooper got away with that.
No penalty!
35 min: What’s this? VAR asks referee Mr Attwell to have a look. He heads to the TV screen and sees that Saka went down softly. Hmm.
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Penalty to Arsenal!
34 min: Saka surges on and Cooper is clumsy. Over he goes.
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32 min: Aubameyang and Smith Rowe keep switching and that’s causing problems for Leeds’ defenders. Bielsa is on his haunches and has some thinking to do. A lack of Phillips in midfield seems to be a factor. There is a lack of control.
30 min: Arsenal really pushing up on Leeds, being given a taste of their own medicine.
28 min: Close for Arsenal. Luke Ayling comes back to clear from Saka’s shot after David Luiz’s charge to the byline. Leeds were sliced open there.
26 min: Lovely skill from Shackleton leaves Ceballos on the floor. It eventually comes to Jack Harrison who can only warm the hands of Leno, but that was a nice attack that switched play from one side to the other.
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24 min: Leeds settle into some possession in midfield. Raphina tries to find Bamford who shows great control but has little room to do anything further.
22 min: Ayling smashes a long pass all the way to the corner and Raphina can’t get to it. The tactics more Sgt Wilko than Bielsea at the moment from Leeds.
20 min: Cooper’s raking pass is headed down by Bellerin. Leeds struggling for rhythm. Saka is fouled in midfield just when Leeds seemed to have pressed the ball out from him.
19 min: Raphina’s skill sets up Klich for a shot that is blazed miles over.
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18 min: Plenty of attacking options for Arsenal. So odd they had scored 12 goals all season at home. Are, though, Smith Rowe and Odegaard working at cross purposes.
16 min: Leeds look a little stunned by that. It takes a last-ditch tackle from Shackleton to stop Odegaard.
14 min: Aubameyang took advantage of Leeds’ lack of organisation in defence. Ayling and Cooper were caught out by his darting run.
Goal! Arsenal 1-0 Leeds (Aubameyang, 13)
The Arsenal skipper cuts in from the left, does a step over that confuses Ayling and drags the ball beyond Meslier. A fine finish, a trademark finish.
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11 min: Leeds not able to exert the dominance they did over Crystal Palace the other night but the excellent Jack Harrison whips in a cross that Bamford can only head straight at Leno.
10 min: Ayling tips up Aubameyang and apologises for his foul. Free kick to Arsenal. Saka and Cedric queue up to take it. It’s cleared away by Harrison.
8 min: Leeds play the ball around the back but Meslier spends an inordinate amount of time on it before launching long. This has been a tad cagey.
7 min: Cedric Soares is found offside. He’s played the last five games since Kieran Tierney got hurt.
5 min: Leeds starting to perform their usual swarming act. Bamford up on his own as ever but with teammates joining him swiftly.
4 min: Ceballos slides the ball across the box and Bellerin whacks the ball over the bar from 20 yards out. He never looked remotely like scoring.
3 min: Both teams have made significant alterations, let’s see what effect they have. It’s Arsenal doing much of the pressing at the moment.
1 min: Off we go at the Emirates. Let’s see what Leeds can do to Arsenal. Their last league visit here end up 5-0 to the Arsenal.
Charles Antaki has got in touch: “Having Ødegaard in might help solve the conundrum of whether Arsenal are currently a bad team occasionally playing well, or a good team occasionally playing badly. Or, as is more likely, a mediocre team always playing with different degrees of mediocrity. But it probably won’t.”
Marcelo Bielsa speaks about the absence of Kalvin Phillips.
Pascal [Struijk] will play in his position. Shackleton will play in Ayling’s position and Ayling will play where Pascal plays. We’ve been working together for a long time now. Ayling has played as a centre-back, Shackleton as a wing-back.
Mikel Arteta speaks about the return of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
He need a little bit of time. He’s emotionally drained. He’s back and that’s why he starting. [Playing at striker], that’s part of the plan. Let’s see what we can exploit. [On Odegaard] He’s had a good path in a few games so he deserves to start. We need a win. The way we have played in the last few games to not get anything is incredible.
From Opta: Arsenal are unbeaten in their last eight games against Leeds United (W6 D2) since a 3-2 defeat in May 2003 in the Premier League, a result which won Manchester United the title at the Gunners’ expense. It kept Leeds up too, though only for a year.
Arsenal have by contrast made five changes from the side that lost at Aston Villa. Bernd Leno, back from suspension, replaces Mat Ryan in goal, while David Luiz is in for Rob Holding in defence, having also been suspended. Odegaard, Dani Ceballos and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang come in for Alexandre Lacazette, Nicolas Pépé. Thomas Partey has another injury.
Leeds make just one change, with Kalvin Phillips missing, as expected. Jamie Shackleton, who came on during the win over Crystal Palace on Monday, comes in.
Martin Ødegaard makes a first start for Arsenal. Sid Lowe profiled him on his loan to the club.
This has caused a fuss, probably because it’s a rare moment of someone in football taking an interest in something beyond the end of their own nose.
Something has caught Marcelo Bielsa's attention at The Emirates! 🏟
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 14, 2021
Watch Arsenal vs Leeds live on Sky Sports PL 📺 pic.twitter.com/ftg2mrL9Sl
Here are the teams
Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Luiz, Gabriel, Cedric, Ceballos, Xhaka, Smith-Rowe, Odegaard, Saka, Aubameyang.
Subs: Lacazette, Willian, Holding, Pepe, Chambers, Pablo Mari, Elneny, Ryan, Martinelli.
📋 Our team to face Leeds…
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 14, 2021
🇳🇴 Odegaard set for first start
🇬🇦 @Aubameyang7 leads the line
🇧🇷 @DavidLuiz_4 paired with @Biel_M04
#️⃣ #ARSLEE
Leeds: Meslier, Ayling, Struijk, Cooper, Alioski, Klich, Raphinha, Dallas, Shackleton, Harrison, Bamford.
Subs: Roberts, Casilla, Helder Costa, Hernandez, Davis, Gelhardt, Cresswell,
Jenkins, Huggins.
📋 Your #LUFC Starting XI... pic.twitter.com/RmtV1Eiky0
— Leeds United (@LUFC) February 14, 2021
Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
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Preamble
Does Mikel Arteta look at Leeds and wonder if his Arsenal players might learn to run as much? Having learned at the feet of Pep Guardiola, a Marcelo Bielsa disciple, he is an admirer of the Argentinian guru. He is also looking up at him, since Leeds are a place above Arsenal in the table, and have delighted the neutrals while Arsenal have been highly inconsistent, and are on one of their bad runs. They haven’t won any of the three Premier League matches they have played this month while Leeds are coming off Monday’s summary dismissal of Crystal Palace, as part of three wins in four. There seems likely to be no Kalvin Phillips for Leeds, as he has a calf problem, which would be a significant loss. Arsenal will be looking to Bukayo Saka who at 19 has become such an important player for them. This is a mid-table battle, but it’s one to savour.
The kick-off is at 4.30pm UK time. Join me.
