Arsenal quite interesting this year. I would not put much weight on one game in separation. Arsenal should have lost points today but they did not and got 3 pts at OF, which is far from given even for prime City. They gonna be a threat, although a few questions for me.
Zubimendi. Hes top player generally, but when playing very well pre season i been arguing hes main challenge in PL gonna bo to cover enough ground. Today i thought hes been main reason Arsenal looked so open in the middle. Arteta needs to make some smart tweaks there, both Rice and Zubimendi looked poor in todays set up
Transfers. Again, they have done some risky bets this summer. Madueke/Norgard is questionable for me. Good players, but Arsenal needed to invest at the star level LCM and LW, not only squad supplementing. If they want the best out of LCM position (Rice has some world class attributes, but not really on the ball during the open play) or Martinelli or Odegaard they need to provide real competition. Whose gonna believe that Norgaard has a shout before Rice or Zubimendi. Im gonna give Gyokeres a benefit of doubt, but hes got to the highest football level pretty late in his career and im not sure how its gonna work - for some it did (Vardy, Toni, even Mahrez to some point), for others no (Gilardino, Luka Jovic, Michu, Huntelaar, Kezman). Should not be really judged before few months.
During Mikel’s tenure, there were more controversial transfers. Overall, Havertz’s contribution holds up (I take into account that he is very hard-working and puts in defensive effort), but he is not the kind of star who will make the difference in the final third. Jesus and Zinchenko been of assistance very short term. Calafiori is quite incredible offensively, but injury prone and sometimes a suspect defensively - I would say hes today performance ilustrates it well as on the one hand scored a winner, but on the other Mbuemo first half had often an open channel.
Pressure. That’s why it’s interesting to see how Arsenal and Arteta will respond to pressure. Because it undoubtedly exists, especially from their own fans. It’s a heavy burden to play with the feeling that we have to win here and now, particularly since that feeling has been building for several seasons already.
So my prediction is that if stars alligne for Arsenal they could be in the title rice and could grab a cup, but I think City and Liverpool have just a noticeably higher ceiling as things stand.
