On the Whistle: Arsenal 2-0 Luton - "Rotation and serenity"

Full-time at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal 2-0 Luton. A pretty comfortable night's work for Arsenal. Do you know what? I'll start with this. I was looking back at this time last year, this point in the fixture list, this point in the calendar, where were we? And I think the equivalent of this game, the ninth game out, was the 2-2 draw at Anfield. And we all remember that. It was a helter-skelter game, Arsenal fully in control, 2-0 up, and then really under the cosh, might well have lost it in those final few minutes. And sort of precipitated the beginning of the end in some respects. We went straight from that into the West Ham game and then the Southampton game. You don't need me to tell you any more than that. But I think tonight, relatively serene by comparison, and Arsenal do look to be in a more serene place. An impressive demonstration of depth today with the changes made and a very, very comfortable win. I think Emile Smith-Rowe, just behind me down there with Martin Keownan the TNT crew, he was one of the guys who came in. Five changes to the line-up from the City team. Very unusual, uncharacteristic, I would say, for Nicol Arteta to make that many changes. Listen, it's partly about the opposition, home game against Luton. It's a pretty decent opportunity to rotate. I think it also probably demonstrates the fact that Arteta doesn't think there'll be a great many chances to rest players moving forward. The big games keep on coming after this. So this was really his chance to ring the changes. He did that and he got the three points. And to be honest, I think that'll be more than enough for him. Would he have liked a couple more goals for the goal difference? Of course. But I think you can understand the performance dropping off in the second half. A bit of a lack of intensity, given what Arsenal went through against City just a few days ago. And I must say, in those final few minutes, I thought Gabriel was excellent. Luton improved substantially in the second half, but Gabriel seemed the most determined player out there to protect that clean sheet. He's a goalkeeper's dream because he throws his body in front of everything. Gabriel, Saliba, White, they played, they started because they're so integral to everything we do and they provide that foundation at the back. Let's talk about the goals. I mean, Nils-Smith Rowe won the ball back. I think that would have pleased Arteta most about his performance tonight. The out-of-possession stuff. He made a good tackle inside his box. We all know his quality on the ball, but if you're going to play that midfield role, it's the out-of-possession stuff that he probably needs to work on. And I think in that respect, he was good tonight. Won the ball high. Kai Havertz, playing as the target man, lays it off. And Odegaard, lovely strike. Sort of sliced through it, outside of the boot, into that near post. And it was a great goal. As for Nils-Smith Rowe, I think he might have had a goal himself. There was a lovely bit of skill by Martin Odegaard on the edge of the box. A little sort of flip-flap manoeuvre, one foot onto the other. Smith Rowe struck it towards goal, but it was deflected and the goalkeeper was able to save it. What a moment that would have been. I think we're all waiting for an Emil Smith Rowe goal. It's been some time now. We did get that second goal and Smith Rowe was again involved. Trossard playing him in, driving to the byline in that channel. The Granit Xhaka channel, as it became last year. Big round of applause there for Emil Smith Rowe from the Arsenal fans who are still in the stadium. Gets the byline. He's looking for Rhys Nelson, isn't he? And Rhys Nelson would have loved to have claimed it, but it's an own goal. But 2-0 right before half-time. Really important time to score. Just settled any nerves and made that second half as comfortable as it was. Like I say, I thought Luton improved. Thought Arsenal's intensity dipped. Arteta was able to make more changes. We saw Thomas Pate come off, Jorginho came on later. Actually, Declan Rice came on at that stage. Eddie Nketiah came on. Takahiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel Martinelli continued their rehabilitation. Got some more minutes in their legs. So, listen, it was a very comfortable night. And actually, Arsenal set a record tonight for the most goals ever in the Premier League against the three promoted sides. I think they're up to 25 now. Pretty impressive stuff. We've been able to be flat-track bullies when we've needed to be. And when you counter that with the fact that we're top of the little mini-table as well between Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City, then that explains why we're in such a strong position in the league. We're doing well against the teams at the top and we're doing well against the newly promoted sides as well. That's probably a very good sign. Like I say, the second half was fairly straightforward. A couple of moments for Luton, a couple of moments for Arsenal, but not a flurry of chances. It'll be interesting to see how forgiving Arteta is of that in this press conference. I think he'll be very understanding, given the context. The wins that Arsenal got in the early part of the year, the hammerings that built up the goal difference are what afford you the chance to have a bit more comfort and a bit more of a regulation win like we got tonight, 2-0. Like I say, very calm here and that is a big difference from 12 months ago. At the time that I'm speaking to you, Man City are beating Aston Villa. Liverpool have got a pretty straightforward-looking game tomorrow. I expect them both to win, but we don't have to really worry too much about their jobs. We just need to do ours. We did it tonight, another game down and it's on to the next one. It's a big game against Brighton and then Bayern on Tuesday night. Like I said, the big games just keep on coming. I'll leave it there, guys. Speak to you all soon. Take care. Bye-bye.