Well now, that turned out to be a lovely ol’ weekend of football we’ve just had, didn’t it?

It may not have been the most exciting game that we engaged with on Saturday night, but given how serenely we went about collecting our away points at Fulham, it was much preferred over the kamikaze way in which Liverpool are going about their jobs right now. That’s four defeats in a row, that’s Palace, Chelsea and now United who have exposed the Scousers, who are looking quite ropey at the back and I am 100% here for it I have to say. To top that delicious main meal event off, we also had the starters course of seeing the Scum lose to Villa too, so we got a double dose of delight on a Sunday in which I’ll be honest and tell you I didn’t really feel like watching it because I had assumed the reverse of both of those results.

It leaves us top of the Premier League by three points and whilst that’s just a defeat away from evaporating, we’re in good nick at the moment, with all the stats coming out  about how good we are from a defensive standpoint.

There’s no real time for basking, however, because tomorrow night we’re up against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, so I suspect Arteta’s own mind is already looking ahead at that one. He’ll be up in front of the press at some stage today to talk about the game and I suspect he knows as well as we do that this one is going to be a very tricky encounter. Atletico Madrid only just narrowly missed out on a draw at Liverpool last month, who had to rely on a Van Dijk goal in injury time to secure them the points. Atletico beat Osasuna at the weekend to register their fourth win of the season and whilst their form has seemed a little patchy with a few draws, Arteta and Arsenal will be very mindful of the attacking talent they have in the shape of Griezmann and Alvarez.

But here’s the good thing about us; I feel confident that we can get results against anyone these days. I said this on the Same Old Arsenal show with Amanda yesterday, but after we scored through Leo in the second half on Saturday, I said in my own head “that should do it”. The game felt like we’d won it there and then and because of our defensive line, it felt like we were done the second that it hit the net. That’s a good feeling to have and I think Trossard might have even mentioned it in the aftermath of the game.

Of course that defensive stability has come as a result of the consistency of our back line, who look set in stone right now, meaning White, MLS, Mosquera and Hincapie aren’t getting a look in. But I wonder if Arteta might look at this game as an opportunity for us to rotate or not? I suspect not, but he’s shown willing this season to involve the whole squad and so part of me is thinking that we might see maybe one, or even two changes at the back. It’s been working when he has made the change, so long may it continue, but the changes have tended to come – with all due respect to them – against ‘lesser’ teams. Athletic Club Bilbao are eighth in the Spanish League, Olympiakos at home are a weaker opponent and you’d expect that we can afford a little more rotation, whilst the likes of Port Value in the League Cup also allow Arteta to shuffle his playing deck a little. But Atletico at home offers a different proposition altogether and whilst I’m sure Arteta will be thinking about how he can keep his players fresh by potentially looking at a bit of rotation, I’d be surprised if he goes for that tomorrow night.

Perhaps Palace at the weekend offers that opportunity, but then again, they are in form and playing well so he might feel that the game next weekend is also one in which there can not be too much rotation he can engage in. It’s a really tricky balance to get it right and so far we have, but part of it is because injuries have forced the issue of rotation (think of how Mosquera played most of the Liverpool game because of Saliba’s injury as an example), whereas I think in the  coming weeks and months the decisions Arteta has to make will be more based around load, form and also keeping players happy.

It’s what we wanted so I’m certainly not going to complain. It appears as though it is fostering the right kind of competition within the squad and it feels as though everyone is on board. But will that level of rotation maintain when we get players returning back from injury? How long can you keep a squad this big, fit, if some players just aren’t getting the game time?

That’s the challenge that Arteta has and I think he’s relishing it right now. And from our perspective as Arsenal fans, we’re just happy to see our season so far hasn’t been derailed by more injuries like last season.

Right, I’m off for a run, so I’ll see you all tomorrow.