Premier League 2021-22 fans’ verdicts, part one: Arsenal to Leicester

It’s hard to criticise Arteta given he’s overseen some of the best football since Wengerball peaked – and we’d have bitten your hand off for fifth place when we were rock bottom in September. But there’s a bitter taste about how we’re now on the edge of throwing away the Champions League spot that looked like being gifted to us by rivals’ inconsistency. Will Mikel be left kicking himself for failing to bring in a couple more bodies to bolster our squad and offset his merciless January clearout? 7/10

Stars/flops Saka, Ramsdale, Tierney, Martinelli, Smith Rowe and Tomiyasu have all sparkled at times, while hopefully White and Gabriel will continue to grow into their roles as our two centre-back pillars. But Lokonga and Tavares have so far looked out of their depth and, with the obscene sums needed to replace Aubameyang’s goals, I continue to resent the £72m squandered on Pépé.

Biggest surprise Auba’s ignominious exit. Another twist few saw coming was Ramsdale making such a big impact, leaving Leno in the shadows.

Best/worst away fans Leeds fans showed relentless staunch support in the face of defeat. Worst: Spurs.

Moment that made me smile Apart from the euphoric triumph at Stamford Bridge, it was the debut of The Angel, our new anthem – pretty emotional as it blasted out of the PA the other week. Here’s hoping for a victorious singalong today.

Bernard Azulay goonersdiary.co.uk @GoonerN5

It’s been disjointed with Covid and the usual Sky nonsense – and generally pretty flat anyway. We haven’t seen a sustained uplift in performance since Gerrard joined, but it’s hard to be too critical given these aren’t his players. It just feels like we can’t have much more than guarded optimism about the future. It’s a massive close