Arsenal are bulletproof at the moment, having kept nine straight clean sheets in all competitions. They’ve swept aside teams with relative ease, and come to the Stadium of Light six points clear at the top of the Premier League, seven ahead of Sunderland. They will be the best team we’ve played so far this season, both because of their league position and the fact that no bugger can score past them, but the visit is one that we as a club should and will be relishing. A sold-out Stadium of Light with a 5.30
pm kick off in a game that will be under the lights against a side looking well set to challenge for the Premier League title, and in the Champions League has the makings of a cracking game.
It is also the toughest test that Regis Le Bris and this Sunderland team have ever faced, but they’ve not done too badly in their return to the Premier League. Five wins and only two defeats in 10 games so far will be the envy of many newly promoted teams, past and present.
Arsenal haven’t conceded a goal since the end of September, and have barely conceded a shot in that time either. It’s as big a test as we could ask for as a newly promoted team, with this game and the trips to Liverpool and Man City in quick succession next month adding to this.
At the end of the day, however, this is what we all want as football fans: the chance to test ourselves against the best of the best. Promotion to the Premier League provides this opportunity, and if we are to get anything out of the game, we need to be clinical with the limited chances we might get.
Games against the traditional top six used to feel like an inconvenience, and 90 minutes of Sunderland getting pummelled, usually with nothing at the end. This season, a poor 30 minutes at Old Trafford cost us the chance of getting anything, and then we were incredible at Chelsea in a 2-1 win.
Arsenal is another entire level. That team just does not concede, and they are regular winners. The prospect should be worrying, but at the same time not. This Sunderland team has blown expectations of where we would be after 10 games out of the water, and having got points on the board, games like Arsenal at home are opportunities to not play under the pressure we might face against lesser teams.
It will take an almighty effort to get anything from this game, but if the last three months have shown Sunderland fans anything, it’s that we won’t fear anyone in this division. Even if we can’t stop Arsenal, there’s a decent chance we could be heading into mid-November sitting in the top six and, at the very worst, in the top half with a huge gap between ourselves and the relegation zone.
I’m watching the game on Sky with mates who support top six clubs, including Arsenal, and it just feels so good to be back. Gone are the days of explaining why I was nervous about playing Portsmouth or Rotherham away; we’re in the big time again, and these games are a reminder of that.
