Some men graft their way to the top thanks to the fruits of their relentless labour, a graceful demeanour and a healthy slice of acknowledged luck. And other men are Alan Pardew - because when you're the king, you can do anything.

Spellso, Mooresey, Jimbo and Dono settle in for a thorough assessment of the perennial FA Cup bridesmaid, as we try to separate the art from the artist. How does Pete feel about his one decent season at Newcastle? Should he have managed England? Can he headbutt?

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Kevin De Bruyne has claimed that he isn’t surprised about Arsenal’s early form this season, before likening his style of play to Manchester City’s.

The Gunners have won eight of our opening nine matches of the league term thus far, and could make it nine when they take on Leeds United tomorrow, while a win could well see them build a gap over the Citizens, who face a potential banana-skin against Liverpool at Anfield.

De Bruyne has spoken to Sky Sports ahead of tomorrow’s big clash however, and during that interview he was asked about Mikel Arteta and his uprising at Arsenal.

“Not really, no (if he is surprised with Arsenal’s performances),” De Bruyne said.

“I think I see a lot of similarities with the way that we [City] play and that’s always been his [Arteta] style. When he stopped playing football and had the opportunity to come here it was, for him, a good learning school and obviously we had great years together. I saw an evolution from the beginning of Mikel and after three years when left.

Arsenal have been ruled out of any potential move to try and sign Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain, despite rumours of the Frenchman being unhappy at present.

The superstar is currently claimed to be unhappy with his current club and wants to leave, sparking numerous rumours surrounding his potential next club.

While the Gunners have a great record with French players such as Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira and others, Ben Jacobs insists that we will not be entertaining a move to try and land him despite his current situation.

“Arsenal are not in the race for Mbappe,” Jacobs told the Football Terrace podcast. “They would not seriously entertain any kind of offer or bid for him, that one is a complete non-starter. And Newcastle, as I mentioned is another possible destination in the sense that PIF want a marquee signing. But there’s absolutely nothing in it at the moment.”

While we could hope to have bigger aspirations in the transfer market next summer with an expected return to the Champions League, I don’t believe anybody is expecting us to to battle for Mbappe.

Arsenal will make the long trip north to Yorkshire to take on Leeds United on Sunday, with the visitors currently unbeaten at home this season.

The Whites have been a mixed bag this term, but have continued to play with a high intensity regardless of the challenge in front of them, and they have enjoyed some fine wins this term, including an impressive 3-0 win over Chelsea.

We go into the game as strong favourites however after winning eight of our opening nine in the division, but the boss is not taking anything for granted as he praises our opponents style of play.

“With Jesse and the teams that they have already played, it is very clear what he wants to do – be a really intense team, a really dynamic team and a really good team when there are spaces to attack,” Arteta told Arsenal Media in his pre-match conference.

“There’s some similarities [to Bielsa’s team] but every coach has his own book, but what Jesse has done over the time he has been there is really impressive.”

Arsenal has had joy shopping for talent in Brazil recently and they could return for a new man there.

The South American nation has blessed the Gunners with the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Magalhaes.

The trio are regulars in Mikel Arteta’s squad now and they are one of the reasons the team is at the top of the league table.

Marquinhos joined in the summer and has done well when he plays for the Gunners.

They could have another countryman as a teammate soon as Arsenal explores the Brazilian market once again.

Former Arsenal man Ray Parlour wants the club to show they have learnt from losing key players in the past by getting the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and William Saliba on new deals.

These youngsters have established themselves in the current Arsenal first team, and they are one of the reasons the club is at the top of the Premier League table.

In the past, the Gunners have lost key players because they delayed offering them new deals or offer them less than another suitor is willing to.

A famous case is when they lost Ashley Cole to Chelsea because the Blues offered him more money.

Saka, Martinelli and Saliba are being watched by the best clubs around the world, and they will pounce to sign them if we don’t act fast.

Gabriel Martinelli has around 18 months left on his current Arsenal contract and this should worry some of the club’s fans.

Since he broke into the team as a relatively unknown player, the attacker has grown in leaps and bounds playing with the senior side.

Unai Emery handed him his debut, but Mikel Arteta has also found him very useful to his team too.

This means he has remained in the Gunners’ first team for the time the Spaniard has been boss.

Martinelli keeps getting better, and he is one of the masterminds of Arsenal’s brilliant season so far.

Arsenal has been handed a tremendous blow to their hopes of signing Douglas Luiz after the midfielder signed a new contract at Aston Villa.

The Brazilian has been the subject of transfer interest from the Gunners for a long time and they submitted at least two bids for his signature on deadline day.

Villa rejected the offers, even though they knew he would be a free agent at the end of this season.

Arsenal had hoped he would not renew his contract with the Midlands team and join them for free in the summer.

However, that plan can be buried now because Steven Gerrard’s side has announced via their Twitter page that he has signed a new long-term contract.

Arsenal has one of the finest stadiums in the Premier League, and the Emirates is a favourite destination for some players and fans.

The ground was built to become a modern destination for fans and people who love football.

It was one of the best grounds in the world when it was first built, but other stadiums have since been erected to a better and higher standard.

Nevertheless, it remains a fine stadium to visit, and its hospitality is one of the best in the Premier League.

A report on The Sun says, however, the Tottenham Stadium has beaten them to become the ground with the best away experience.

Like everyone else in the League, we are going into an invedible month where we play every single 3/4 days, and there is the clear and obvious danger of fatigue and injuries setting in, and for Arsenal our treatment list was pretty bad before the glut even started.

We luckily got a few of our players back during the funeral and international break, but one of those, Oleks Zinchenko, looks like he is still suffering the aftereffects and is unlikely to be available for tomorrows game at Leeds. Arteta was asked if he was still on the unavailable list: “I think so.” he replied. “With Oleks, I don’t know, he has not been on the pitch yet. So we have to be a little bit calm.”

Well, we certainly hope that he regains some fitness before we play PSV on Thursday, as we will need to rest as many first teamers as possible but still get the three points needed to guarantee top spot in the Group Table.

But we still have Kieran Tierney and perhaps Tomiyasu to cover that spot, but a lot more worrying news is that Gabriel Jesus is also a doubt after getting concussed in last weeks physical encounter with Liverpool. Arteta said in the pre-match presser when asked if Jesus was recovered: “I don’t know, obviously he has some discomfort after the game against Liverpool and that’s why we decided not to bring him in [to Norway], so let’s see how he is tomorrow and Saturday.”

This would be a big blow for Arsenal if he misses the game, but we at least have Nketiah in reserve. If we lost both of them we could be in serious trouble.

Matteo Guendouzi completed his permanent transfer to Olympique Marseille from Arsenal this summer.

The midfielder had impressed at the French club on loan last season and merited the move.

However, he could have played in Ligue 1 sooner than that had an offer from Arsenal been accepted by Lyon in 2020.

The Gunners proposed a swap deal that would have taken Houssem Aouar to London in exchange for the midfield hot-head.

However, Lyon didn’t like his profile then, and their director at the time, Juninho, has now admitted he underestimated the midfielder.

If there was ever an XI you wouldn't want to play against, it's this one...

On last week's Patreon bonus episode, we had Marcus, Jim and Vish chose their ultimate shithouse XI. From straight-up hardmen, to downright cheats you know these teams will be... pretty formidable!

Enjoyed this teaser? You can hear the full episode by signing up to our Patreon. For just $5 a month, you'll get Discord access and your own ad-free podcast feed with every Ramble show, including Patreon bonuses like this one!

For $10 a month you can get all that plus a video version of every Monday Ramble show, first access to Ramble merch, and a FREE ticket to our exclusive Friend of The Ramble watchalong event of Liverpool vs Manchester City on October 16th in central London.

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There's good and bad news coming out of Manchester City on this week's Lions Watch.

Marcus and Luke discuss what role Jack Grealish can play at the World Cup after excelling in the Champos! Plus, we wonder how Southgate can replace Kyle Walker if he misses Qatar with injury and decide whether Brother Brendy's take on James Maddison is extra hot or mango and lime.

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Marcus, Luke, Vish and Jim settle in for another blockbuster Barclays weekend off the back of more midweek madness.

We’ve realised that Pep Guardiola’s biggest fan is in fact Erik ten Hag - now that is Manchester, united. We also wonder if Brendan Rodgers’ envelopes can help them to a win over Bournemouth, check in with a miserly Everton defence and see if West Ham can lift their striker curse.

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Florentino Pérez put the European Super League front and centre of his address to Real Madrid’s General Assembly last weekend. Ahead of December’s crucial court ruling, is he quietly gathering more support?

Miguel Delaney joins Dotun and Andy to discuss that, ask how far Luciano Spalletti’s young Neapolitan bucks can go in the Champions League, and assess how screwed Barcelona will be if they don’t make it out of the group stages.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold answered all the critics who have lambasted his defending in recent weeks by bagging a free-kick and watching Rangers huff n’ puff their way out of the Champions League. Justice!

Elsewhere, Marcus, Luke and Lars Sivertsen check in with the various Champions League results, as Spurs stuttered to a draw and VAR unveiled its magnum opus over in Porto. We also wonder how much you could get for a hyperbaric oxygen chamber on eBay - just that sort of show, I guess.

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Becoming a famous professional in one demanding field is hard enough - but what if you’re just as talented doing a cockney impression as you were with a football? Well, you become an actor!

Marcus, Luke, Jim and Pete are here with a rundown of some of the more infamous scene-stealing performances from our favourite footballing thespians. From art imitating Stan Collymore’s life, to Charlie Kane in Blues Brothers and David Beckham as geezers past and present - join us for the crème de la crème!

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When Roy Keane tried to end Alf Inge Haaland's career all those years ago, who'd have thought that Liam Gallagher would eventually have the last laugh.

Marcus, Luke and Vish are on hand to pick apart Man City's victory over those squares Man United and Arsenal's cracking North London derby triumph. Elsewhere, Bruno Lage leaves the pack and we jump to Bolivia for a predictably on-brand update.

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Marcus and Luke are back with Lions Watch as we look ahead to the World Cup in just seven weeks' time! 

Join us every Saturday as we recap the biggest England news, debate some Southgate Selections™ and tackle your questions. Today, we celebrate the impressive Nations League performances of Jude Bellingham, wonder how we can solve England's Harry Maguire dilemma and unveil our Take Thermometer!

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Don’t worry, gang - the Premier League is back! Marcus, Vish, Jim and Andy tuck in to all the latest after waving goodbye to our beloved Nations League.

There’s some North London derby jitters for Jim, while Vish seems much calmer about Man Utd’s prospects against Erling Haaland n’ company. We also celebrate the return of Keeping Up with the Icardis and Kevin Keegan’s latest awards show gig. We did wonder about all that disruption at Dover…

The Football Ramble Preview Show is sponsored by Betfair.

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