Well I know that the result on Saturday evening wasn’t exactly what we wanted, but praise be to the Tiny Totts and Man United this weekend, as both lost at home and that is some sort of consolation I reckon.

What it does show you is that this season, like most, will be unpredictable and have plenty of twists and turns. It’s already happening and that is fine by me. We’ve got a shaky old defence but the looks of an exciting and aggressive forward line who will hopefully bag plenty of goals. Let’s just hope they’re on it at home against that dirty lot from the wrong end of the Seven Sisters Road next weekend.

It’s a funny one because this build up always feels longer when we have to play that lot. It’s just under a week away but it feels like this week is going to drag already. As we count down and get closer to the time I’ll start to feel less and less comfortable about the fact they are coming to our gaff, but right now having seen them toil against Newcastle, fluke a draw against Man City and labour to a win at home to Villa, I’m not feeling that dull ache in my stomach that playing Tottenham gives me.

I just hope I’m not regretting these feelings next Sunday.

The good news is that the club have a whole week of preparation for this win. It’s true that the Tiny Totts do as well, but for me we need to get a few more players with fitness under their belt and it feels like Unai will have yet more options he can choose from.

The start of the season has been weird in that respect. It sort of still feels like pre season because we have players who aren’t fully fit, still being eased back in to the team. One has to hope that Torreira is nearly fit enough to start because he’s the kind of combative player that we could do with playing from the off next weekend. Now that Pepe is playing from the start that’s good too and so I’m hoping to see both from the start next weekend. I think the kids in the middle of the park have done alright but I would like to see the likes of Xhaka, Torreira and probably Özil start to be integrated in to the team. The same with Kolasinac too and if the Monreal rumours are true then almost inevitably that’s going to be something we have to think about.

Guendouzi, for example, has looked decent again but hardly sparkling and it feels to me like we need to be less reliant on him this season. A midfield three featuring Ceballos, Torreira and Xhaka against them for example, feels like it has the experience and composure for a North London Derby. But I guess we just have to start listening our from signs from the club and also noises from Unai Emery towards the end of this week.

It’s a quiet bank holiday here in London so that’s pretty much all I got this week. The countdown to the NLD begins.

Up the Arsenal.