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A month ago, Arsenal were being written off as relegation fodder, while Southampton were being tipped as unlikely top four contenders.

It is testament to the fine job that Mikel Arteta has done in motivating his squad that when the two sides met in the Premier League on Tuesday night, the Gunners managed to secure a fairly straightforward win.

In the past, conceding in the opening three minutes might have been enough to down Arteta’s mentally fragile charges. However, on Tuesday this was not the case. Instead, the Gunners rallied brilliantly, eventually securing a 3-1 victory.

The credit for such a result should not go to just one man – whether that be Arteta or a player – as collectively, the north Londoners were very strong. Despite this, someone who is worthy of extra special praise is Bukayo Saka.

Deployed as a right forward, Saka once again impressed. Since being move to the opposite flank by Arteta five games ago, the Gunners form has improved dramatically. Prior to the switch, Arsenal had won just four of their opening 14 games.

Since swapping him, they are unbeaten, with Saka registering six direct goal involvements in as many games. His latest two contributions were very impressive as well. Just before half-time, Saka slipped free of Jake Vokins and raced onto Alexandre Lacazette’s through ball. Despite travelling at ridiculous pace, he showed the speed of thought to skip past the onrushing Alex McCarthy before firing the ball into the empty net.

After the break, he was at it again, this time returning the favour to Lacazette with a tremendous assist. Drifting free of his marker at the back post, Saka was found by Cedric Soares’ long ball. Without breaking stride, Saka latched onto it before putting an appetising ball across the box for Lacazette to bundle home.

The goal put the game beyond Southampton’s reach but it was just the latest, decisive impact that Saka has had while operating down the right-hand side.

Of course, it would be overly simplistic to put Arsenal’s sudden upturn in fortunes down to the tweaking of one player’s role, but his success in the position does suggest that his long-term future could lie there.

Previously this season, when deployed as a wing-back, there was a feeling that Saka could not influence things enough in the final third. There is little danger of that now and the England international’s efficient, yet attractive performances have played a significant role in transforming Arsenal stodgy, predictable approach play.

Considering he has only been able to legally buy a pint for just under 17 months, that is, quite frankly, ridiculous.

It’s been a tough start to life back in North London for Gareth Bale, but an impressive performance against Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup was a hint that he may finally be hitting the ground running.

The on-loan Real Madrid star had netted just three times in his previous 11 appearances and had seen his game-time under Jose Mourinho strictly limited heading into their cup trip. But he looked sharp from the off at Adams Park, forging out chance after chance for himself, with just his end product lacking.

His goal eventually arrived on the stroke of half-time, however, cancelling out Fred Onyedinma’s surprise opener, when he met Lucas Moura’s cross and lifted it over despairing home keeper Ryan Allsop.

It was his first FA Cup goal since scoring against Coventry way back in 2013, and a reminder that he does, in fact, love playing the FA Cup.

Despite the distance between his two most recent FA Cup strikes, Bale’s equaliser at Wycombe was his fourth goal in his last six FA Cup starts. In that same run, he has also assisted five, taking him to nine direct goal involvements in his last six starts in the competition.

The run stretches back to a fifth round replay against Stevenage in 2012, in which he instrumented a 3-1 win with a hat-trick of assists. He then scored in successive appearances against Bolton, Coventry and Leeds – which was his last FA Cup run-out before leaving for Real Madrid.

Interestingly, his strike at Wycombe also meant Bale’s last six goals have been spread across six different competitions for club and country – yet none of them are La Liga.

He has hit the back of the net for Spurs in each of the four competitions they have competed in this season, for Wales in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Croatia, and for Real Madrid in a Copa del Rey tie away to Unionistas.