Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United and the battle to make a mockery of the ‘Champions’ League – The Warm-Up

TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES Arsenal Armageddon Ad/> Few stadiums feel like they are one big bounce from caving in like Selhurst Park. And the rickety pillars and uncomfortable seats were creaking big time as the supporters sprung up and down in unison to mark Wilfried Zaha’s third against Arsenal, a goal that confirmed Palace would be going top in the race to finish ninth. Premier LeagueArteta: We have to apologise to our fans11 HOURS AGO Over in the opposition dugout, Mikel Arteta played his role perfectly.

Arms folded. Face of thunder. Mentally rehearsing his “it’s unacceptable” speech for the press.

This was coming. They may have been on a very un-Arsenal-like run of good results but the points have shielded a team that is full of holes. Their main striker hasn’t scored from open play in over 18 hours (incidentally, over in Barcelona, their erstwhile captain, a man they let go for nothing, is banging them in under a manager Arteta not-so-secretly strives to be).

Kieran Tierney’s injury means a weekly roulette with Nuno Tavares at left-back. Even Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard, midfielders we were led to believe are world-class, dropped stinkers at Selhurst Park – and the former now also looks set for a spell on the sidelines. Arsenal occupy a beautiful narrative, lurching from being worse than they actually are to being heralded as the Second Coming after a few above-average displays.