ARSENAL X FULHAM! ‘THIS TEAM IS A MACHINE!’

All right, well, let's start with the league leaders, Arsenal, because they have got on paper what looks like quite a tough fixture coming up. They're facing Fulham, who have been excellent this season. But after the drama of last weekend, I mean, what a comeback it was from Arsenal. They will surely be boosted heading into this game. Yeah, absolutely. Look, it showed great character from Arsenal. It showed great determination and great drive as well. There's an honesty about them that I really, really am drawn to. You know, there's something about the way they're going into every game thinking we're going to win this, irrelevant of how we start the game. Now, they started on the back foot nine seconds in, they're one nil down. And it was a great bit of play from Bournemouth managed to catch Arsenal cold, you know. And if you're going to if you're going to show what you're about and if you want to come back and prove that you're actually in it for the title race and you're an actual real genuine contender, you have to react in a positive way. It took them a little while. They went two goals down. But the reaction that we saw from them, absolutely. It was top draw. The thing is, though, is when they went two nil down and they managed to start coming back into the game, when it got to two all, you just knew they were going to go on and win it, didn't you? And is that the sign of a true Premier League title winner? I think it is. I think there are lots of moments when you look at teams that have won the title. There are lots of moments in their campaign where they've come back and they've rescued victory from the jaws of defeat or a point from the jaws of defeat. And I think the reason why they've signed Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko is precisely to instill that kind of belief in the side. And if you look at Zinchenko in particular, there are a couple of moments this season where he's given interviews that have shown his leadership. He's learned how never to give up until the very last whistle at Manchester City. That's why he's won four titles. Now he's got the players and the Arsenal squad to believe. And I don't now think there is any game that they play in where they will think the points are lost until that final whistle goes. There's another name to add to that as well, Jorginho. Yes. You know, he's somebody that knows how to win. He's been there. He's done it as well. And he's he's come in there with the Premier League experience. And he's he's just added to this already amazing, confident squad. You know, the interesting thing about that, just forgive me Jules, I think as far as Jorginho is concerned, they moved for him after they couldn't get Mikhailo Mudrik. Now, Mudrik would have been a wonderful signing long term, very flashy and whatever else. But if you look at Chelsea, he hasn't really given them that much. And Jorginho wouldn't have got a game there. Going to Arsenal, he would have been a lower profile signing, but already he scored a key goal. He is provided real calm in that centre of midfield. But the experience that is given the entire dressing room is key because where they are now, I would argue he is more valuable to Arsenal than Mikhailo Mudrik would have been. And what about having a player like Rhys Nelson, who probably no one would have expected to pop up and scored the winner? The fact that they've got the entire squad all chipping in with such important goals this season as well says a lot. It does. It says so much about the strength and depth of the club. But also he got an assist in this game as well for Ben White. I think it was, you know, that's just that just shows you the confidence that they're playing with and to go behind nine seconds into the game, to react in a positive way, not let it get them down. Obviously, once you ask to have scored one goal to half the deficit, the crowd around the place are right behind them. And you can almost feel like they're an added player on your team. You know, it's only when you're in that situation that you realize, wow, we've actually got more than enough here to really benefit us and to move forward. But the confidence for Rhys Nelson here. What a hit. Lets the ball bounce, controls himself, steadies himself, calms himself down, puts his foot right through the ball, his weaker left foot, by the way, as well, while being closed down. Bournemouth had 11 players in the box for the first and third goals. They had 10 players in goal and they still weren't able to do anything about stopping Arsenal. It just goes to show the confidence that Arsenal are playing with at the moment. Yeah, you can see what the celebrations meant, what it meant to the entire squad as well, Darren. But just to play devil's advocate, is there still a concern over the fragility that we've seen from Arsenal at separate stages this season? But to go 2-0 down against Bournemouth, is that a concern in the title running? I think you're really right to raise that. And I don't think it's churlish at all, because I think they've only kept three clean sheets at home so far this season. Now, if you want to win the title, that has to improve. Teams that win trophies have the best defences. 1-0s and clean sheets are more important to you than spectacular 4-3 victories, 3-2 victories. They're great for us, exciting, pulsating, compelling, all the adjectives. But the bottom line is that the boring teams, the teams that are able to keep out the opposition, are the ones that go on to win trophies and titles. So how are we looking at it now? We've just seen, as we saw there, an incredible comeback to go and win the game. Huge boost for the fans, huge boost for the players, showing great mentality and spirit to come back and turn the game around. But are Manchester City still favourites for you? Do you know what? Arsenal are favourites for me. Oh, they are now? Arsenal have been favourites for me for a little while. I've always said I can't see City losing a game, but I'm almost the same with Arsenal. If they do, I can't see them losing more than one game. You know, so the two teams are going to go toe to toe. And I think the game Arsenal will lose is the one against Manchester City, which is creeping up. I think it's in April. I think that will be the one that is a very telling game. Five points in it. Who's your favourite, Darren, at this point? I've got to go with City. I know that the nice lady in my ear who always puts up the fixtures every time I start talking about what's happening. I know she's going to help me with this very soon. But I do think Arsenal have got some very difficult fixtures to come. There's a lot of nice ladies in there, Darren. You're going to have to ask nicely. They're all lovely. No, no, the lady always helps me. She's really nice. And thank you very much for doing that. Right on cue. Here we go. Thank you. Thank you so much. But when I look at those fixtures, they've got to go to Liverpool. They've got to go to West Ham. They are two very difficult fixtures. But look at the top. Fulham, don't take them for granted. They're in contention for a place in the Europa League next season. Marco Silva's got them scoring goals. Craven Cottage, one of the hardest places to go in the Premier League. I don't think this is going to be easy for a side like Arsenal who haven't won the league for 20 years, whereas City know the course, they know the distance. Yes, they haven't put together more than three wins in a row so far this season. But you know, they have it within them to do that. That's why I've got to make them favourites. OK, well, shall we hear from Marco Silva now then? Because he says his players have to be confident about facing the league leaders this weekend. At least to believe in ourselves is the main thing for us. And the most important thing to believe in ourselves, the way you are going to play. We know that in some moments they are going to and to obligate us to do some things that we don't like really, even playing at home. But we have to be able to to handle that situation and after to play our game. Well, you mentioned it there, Darren. They're fighting for a place in Europe next season. They've only just been promoted, Jermain. They're having an extraordinary season. And they will look at this game as just as important as Arsenal will be looking at it as well. Yeah, absolutely. Look, Arsenal, Fulham will be doing everything they've been doing all season against Arsenal. Their two fullbacks, Robinson and Tete, have been brilliant. They've shown so much energy, confidence going up and down those channels. They freed up the wingers to give them the opportunity to express themselves as well as they need to. Paulinho has been incredible. Yeah, he's been absolutely phenomenal in the middle of the field. He's banned for this game. And I think that Arsenal fans are delighted about that because it's so important. He's offered the freedom for a lot of the other players to really get beyond Mitrovic or put the balls into Mitrovic, et cetera. So they've got ways of playing, which has been brilliant, full of confidence. They've taken it on from the back, from last season. Look, you can see the stats there. Granted, they've played two games more than Newcastle and Liverpool, but they're right up, right behind them. So, you know, they're in with a chance at getting into a European spot. I think you're right. And I think at this stage, you want points and a ball, rather than games in hand. This time last season, Arsenal were in fourth place. They had three games in hand on West Ham and Manchester United, and they still blew fourth place because the pressure is on you to win those games. Whereas Fulham, with those 39 points, they are breathing down the necks of Newcastle, who can't score goals. Liverpool is still very fragile and spurs all over the place. I still think they're in a great position. I just wanted to ask, can I ask Germain a question? When you're a player in a side and you're up against the big team, the team that rolls into town with all the pressure on them, do you feel that the pressure is on them, that you've got nothing to lose? So you've got the freedom to play. Yeah, absolutely. Look, they've got everything to play for and you're the underdog. So win, lose or draw. You come away from it with there's no pressure on your shoulders. You can you can literally enjoy the game. You can play with freedom. Do you have a game like that where you think? Yeah, many times, many times, many times. I thought you scored, didn't you? Well, when there's no pressure, you tend to see the best of people, you know, and that's that's exactly what happened with myself in a load of situations. But also Fulham are not expected to win this game against Arsenal. Both teams are going into it with with off the back of really good runs. You know, they've done really well in the last five, six, seven games. So there's no pressure on either side to to really win the game. Both sets of fans will be happy with with a result here. Yeah, well, Arsenal are five points ahead of Manchester City heading into the weekend. So let's talk about Pep Guardiola's side now. They face Crystal Palace. I think when we talk about Manchester City and all of their previous seasons where they've won the title, Darren, it's always in the second part of the season. They really go into another gear. Are we starting to see that with City now with more players sharing the goals about and that depth in the squad? Is that why they tend to be so good in the last part of the season? Yeah, absolutely. They've got the experience. I'm talking about the course in the distance, but they've got goals scored throughout the side. They scored nearly 100 goals last season. That was without Haaland. Now already Haaland has broken the record held by Torres and Cristiano Ronaldo for the most goals in a Premier League season. And they are going... The funny thing is, when you look at that graphic, they're not actually going as great guns as they were before because you would expect them to beat Nottingham Forest easily. You'd expect them to beat Leipzig easily. But the point is that we are reaching a stage that they know so well. They're so good at handling the pressure. For us in newspapers, it's brilliant because what we didn't want this season was a procession. Liverpool aren't what they were last season. And the concern would have been that City win it by a streak. That's not good for the Premier League. That's not good for the competition. Arsenal coming from the clouds, as they have done to launch this title challenge. And Manchester United researching, and I'm going to talk about them later, but in terms of the title race, it's brilliant for us, for everyone watching at home, for everyone around the world who's watching us and enjoying us. Hello. It's fantastic. And I think the Manchester City ability to find a way to win at this stage of the season, I think the difference between the two sides is that Guardiola is a psychologist and he's used that psychology many times for the last five seasons. Arteta's been the good guy. He's helped Arsenal through difficult moments. But has he come through this, the equivalent of the final furlong if you're a racehorse, that last lap if you're a motor racing driver. I think he's at a disadvantage to Guardiola. That's why I think they'll do it. Five points right now. We've all watched enough football to know five points right now is nothing in title winning terms. I don't know because I think you can see Manchester City going on and winning every game. I don't think anyone doubts that. But can you see Arsenal dropping more than five points? 100%. I think both sides will drop points. Whether City lose games is a different story. I see both sides dropping points. Arsenal could drop points at Liverpool. Liverpool right now... City didn't beat Forest. Yeah, I know. But I look at Liverpool now. Liverpool have scored. I wouldn't look at this. They had a blip in Europe as well, don't forget, in between a very good run. So there are moments during games, if they don't take the chances, they will get punished for it. And teams that will make you pay for it. Here's another interesting thing with this weekend is that yet again, Manchester City play their game first before Arsenal do. So they've got the opportunity to close the gap to two points again ahead of Arsenal playing on Sunday. Psychologically, the players surely they're watching that, aren't they, Arsenal? Yeah, they'll be getting frustrated with that. Every single weekend, it seems almost, you know. But what they're doing really well... The way the European games fall, because obviously because Arsenal play on Thursday, they don't play till Sunday. And the thing is, if Arsenal were playing first, they'd say, why are we playing first? They've got to be where they are. Yeah, absolutely. I think the pressure is on Arsenal more so than City. City can go into it and say, right, win, lose or draw. At least we've played the game. We've done the best that we can do and picked up as many points as we possibly can. Whereas, you know, if they win the game, Arsenal have to pick up the points. According to Calcio Mercato, Arsenal are still interested in signing Real Madrid star Marco Asensio in the summer. Asensio is currently in the final months of his contract with Los Blancos. The Spaniard has made 31 appearances for Madrid this season, scoring six goals and providing five assists. Since joining the club in 2015 from Real Mallorca, Asensio has scored 55 goals and has provided 29 assists in 266 matches for the Spanish giants. The 27-year-old is currently in the final months of his contract with Real Madrid. Hence, Arsenal are exploring the possibility of signing him in the summer. Given the Gunners' attacking brand of football, Asensio could fit seamlessly in Arsenal. Mikel Arteta's team already have the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Rhys Nelson, and more to operate from the wide positions. Former Brighton and Hove Albion player Leandro Trossard was also signed in January. However, Asensio's addition might further enrich the Gunners' attacking unit.