Arsenal returned to winning ways against relegation threatened Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday, keeping their title hopes alive ahead of a huge clash against Leicester City next weekend.
First half goals from Mesut Özil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were enough to end Arsenal’s goal-scoring drought in the league and gave them their first league win since the first game of 2016.
With that massive game against the leaders coming up, what could the Gunners learn from their win against the Cherries then?
The Arsenal midfield can score goals
Since Arsenal’s goal-scoring drought began, there’s been a lot of talk of the lack of goals from midfield.
Leicester can boast the goals of Riyad Mahrez, Manchester City have been fortunate with goals from Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, whereas Arsenal have had to rely heavily on Olivier Giroud, especially during Alexis Sanchez’ injury lay-off over Christmas.
Although Giroud didn’t get on the score sheet this week, it’s almost helpful just to show he doesn’t have to be the only player relied on to score goals, which will also be helped when Danny Welbeck returns to the first team in a few weeks' time.
The second goal will only increase the confidence of Chamberlain, who has been very poor this season since scoring the only goal in the Community Shield win against Chelsea.
He faces tough competition from Joel Campbell and, to a lesser extent, Theo Walcott for the starting spot on the right, but the goal against Bournemouth gives him some hope of retaining it.
Flamini is remarkably still picked
Despite Francis Coquelin’s return from injury, Mohamed Elneny signing and even Calum Chambers being able to play in midfield, Mathieu Flamini remains first choice alongside Aaron Ramsey in the middle of the park.
Flamini was a decent backup whilst Coquelin was injured but, since the New Year, he’s overstayed his welcome - especially with the return of Coquelin and the bright debut against Burnley by Elneny.
His early two-footed lunge on Dan Gosling was disgusting and should have seen him sent off, which could easily have cost the Gunners the game.
Against the hard-working duo of N’Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater next week, Flamini’s place in the team needs to be re-evaluated, as he’ll surely look off the pace against the Foxes' tireless partnership.
Mertesacker may not recover from his Chelsea error
Per Mertesacker has served his suspension for his red card against Chelsea for the last man tackle on Diego Costa, but that hasn’t meant an instant return to the first team.
He’s been on the bench for the last two games against Southampton and Bournemouth and, although the former was understandable given the tough time he had at St. Mary’s on Boxing Day against Shane Long, not being recalled for the trip to Bournemouth may be signs of the end of his first choice partnership with Laurent Koscielny.
Again, this could have been a tactical choice to ensure Mertesacker was not torn apart by former Arsenal youngster Benik Afobe, who himself possesses considerable pace and strength, but if the Costa tackle has meant Mertesacker isn’t chosen against pacey strikers, he isn’t going to see much action.
Arsenal come up against Jamie Vardy next weekend and have a two-legged against Barcelona's trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez to face in the next month, and so the big German may have to get comfy on the sidelines.
Alexis Sanchez adds so much to this team
It's no coincidence that Arsenal have looked a lot better since the return of Alexis to the side.
The Chilean adds flair, something the team severely lacked over the festive period, and he showed how effective he was in the victory over Burnley - as well as being one of the better players in the frustrating draw against Southampton.
Another impressive performance yesterday shows how vital he is to this team’s success and, even though players like Campbell have attempted to fill the void, Arsenal have to ensure Alexis is available until May.
Arsenal can still win the league
It was all doom and gloom after the draw against Southampton, but returning to winning ways does keep Arsenal in touch with the title race.
The real test is next weekend against Leicester, as winning that would reduce the gap back to two points - with it imperative Arsenal don’t lose.
The Foxes will be buoyed by the 3-0 win at the Etihad against Manchester City, but Arsenal can beat them, as shown when they became the first team to defeat Claudio Ranieri’s team at the end of September.
Arsenal can still win the league, but they have to win next weekend if they want to be crowned champions.