Mkhitaryan: why not us?

Arsenal, as you’re no doubt aware, cruised to a remarkably uninteresting yet important 3-0 win yesterday against Östersunds FK in Sweden, bringing what should be an unassailable lead back to London for next week’s home leg. Following the game, new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan was in a fine mood:

Asked if his new team could go on to win the competition he replied: “Why not? We have to keep fighting and in the end see where we’re at.”

I mean, as speeches go, let’s be honest: it’s not “WE SHALL FIGHT THEM ON THE BEACHES” or “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers” level inspirational, really. As rallying cries go, it was more like a shrug emoji, or a glass of warm milk before bed. But it’s still nice to hear the players talk about the need to keep fighting, in a season where that particular quality seems to be sometimes in short supply.

The home leg of the Europa League Round of 32 is next Thursday, and the Round of 16 draw will be held next Friday.