ALEX CROOK: Gunners Banish Ghosts, Amad Misfiring & Imminent Managerial Bloodbath

Star Sports football ambassador ALEX CROOK is back with his weekend takeaways from the weekend just gone of Premier League action…

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👻 STUBBORN GUNNERS ARE BANISHING GHOSTS

Arsenal ended their 14-year Anfield and that is not the only away ground where the champions have already smashed their points tally from last season.

It was another defensive masterclass from Mikel Arteta’s winning machine as they reversed last season’s 1-0 defeat in the same fixture.

The table-topping Gunners have also triumphed at Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland.

In fact, in those four games alone Arsenal have already taken TEN more points than in their title-winning campaign.

That is surely an ominous statistic for their championship rivals.

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🥾 MISFIRNG AMAD NEEDS TO RE-FIND HIS SHOOTING BOOTS

It was hard not to feel sorry for Michael Carrick in the wake of Manchester United’s latest defeat.

Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Chelsea extended the Red Devils’ winless run to NINE matches, their worst run of form since 1984.

But there is only so much a manager can do when his forwards are spurning golden chance and one of his most experienced players, Lisandro Martinez, gets himself stupidly sent off and concedes a penalty.

Carrick must have felt the world was against him when Amad Diallo got the better of the hapless Wesley Fofana to go clean through on goal only to blaze over the crossbar.

It is now a staggering 322 days since Amad last scored a goal. Carrick could do witb the Ivorian ending that run pronto to help keep his job.

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🔵 TIME FOR MARESCA TO THROW OFF THE CHERKI SHACKLES?

Enzo Maresca has repeatedly told us that Rayan Cherki is ‘one of the best players in Europe’, yet he is rarely trusted to play the full 90 minutes.

Cherki is either used as an impact sub by Manchester City boss Maresca, like in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Brighton, or when he does start, he gets taken off early.

Maresca’s call to go with a more defence-minded three-man midfield backfired as City fired a rare blank at the Etihad, with Erling Haaland visibly frustrated at his lack of service.

Halland thrives off the type of deliveries assist king Cherki has made his hallmark and the Frenchman, also criminally under-used by his country at the World Cup, knows where the back of the net is.

Maresca was often criticised by fans of old clubs Leicester and Chelsea for being too pragmatic and that is probably the main reason Cherki is far from guaranteed a starting spot.

With asterisk club City already three points behind league leaders Arsenal it must be time for the Italian to throw off the Cherki shackles.

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🩸 NOVEMBER INTERNATIONAL BREAK COULD BE MANAGERIAL BLOOD BATH

By this time last season, four Premier League managers had already lost their jobs, albeit two of them in Ange Postecoglou and Nuno Espirito Santo had been fired by the same club, Nottingham Forest.

The fact we are awaiting our first managerial casualty is a minor miracle given the lack of patience afforded these days.

Michael Carrick came close to being axed by Manchester United before being given a stay of execution but is not the only Premier League gaffer looking nervously over his shoulder.

Oliver Glasner turning publicly on his players felt like a desperate attempt to buy himself more time with trigger-happy Forest chairman Evangelos Marinakis.

The Sunderland board had concerns over Regis le Bree even when they were qualifying for Europe last season and the Black Cats are rock bottom.

It is common knowledge that Palace chairman Steve Parish is weighing up the future of summer appointment Pierre Sage with the Eagles also in the bottom three.

The November international break could turn into a bit of a managerial revolving door.

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🍒🔝 IN-FORM EVANILSON PUTS CHERRIES ON TOP

One manager definitely not fearing the sack is Bournemouth’s Marco Rose.

After a slow start to his tenure, Rose’s Cherries are in top form, winning their last six games in a row without conceding a single goal.

Rose has hailed Evanilson ‘a proper number 9’ and has been working hard on the training ground to transform him into a penalty box poacher.

That has helped turn the previously profligate Brazilian into a goal-scoring machine.

The Brazilian has netted against Chelsea, Sunderland, Manchester United and now Leeds in Saturday’s 2-0 win and is only one goal fewer than matching his total for the whole of last season.

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