The Gunners' dynamic duo were brilliant against Wolves, but they'll need back-up over the coming months
With the Emirates glistening in the glorious August sunshine, Arsenal treated their supporters to a dream Premier League opening day on Saturday. Their 2-0 victory over Wolves hardly came as a surprise; the Gunners don't tend to lose many games these days, particularly at home. However, that did not make the result and performance any less satisfying, even if they were guilty of some rusty passing as the game wore on.
Kai Havertz got the breakthrough, arriving in the box perfectly to power a header home following a excellent cross from Bukayo Saka. And after David Raya had pulled out a truly astounding save to keep the scores level, Saka got on the scoresheet himself 16 minutes from time. Havertz turned provider for that one, laying off for the England international to pull out his favourite party trick, manoeuvring the ball onto his left foot and curling it into the near corner.
At full-time, Mikel Arteta was largely satisfied, particularly with his side's first-half display. "We were really good – really aggressive, really intense, a lot of purpose to attack, very fast, a lot of threat in the box," he said "We generated a lot – we probably should have scored two or three, and the game would have been a bit different."
Getty/GOALContinuation of last season’s good work
Arsenal's accomplished performance followed their near-faultless end to the 2023-24 campaign, where they won all but two of their final 18 Premier League matches. Ultimately, this was – rather incredibly – not quite enough to lift the trophy, with their sole defeat to Aston Villa during this period opening the door for Manchester City to win their fourth-successive title.
But while things would ultimately end in disappointment, this spell was perhaps the best the team has ever performed under Arteta. Just before this winning run began, back-to-back defeats to West Ham and Fulham had raised serious concerns over the Gunners' lack of goal threat, only for Havertz to emerge as an excellent option up front with Declan Rice filling in his vacant midfield spot.
The fact that the German took just 25 minutes to open his account for the campaign on Saturday, after waiting 20 games last time out, will have been extremely gratifying for Arteta, who backed his £65 million ($84m) man to the hilt throughout a period of criticism. Saka's contribution, despite enduring a disrupted pre-season due to his lengthy Euro 2024 commitments, was cause for celebration too. The same applies for Raya in goal, another player Arteta had to defend at times last campaign.
Advertisement(C) Getty ImagesStill fresh arrivals to come in
There's still new elements to be added to the mix, too. Oleksandr Zinchenko was rewarded for a promising pre-season with a start, but in the long term it would be surprising if Jurrien Timber or Riccardo Calafiori do not rise above the Ukrainian in the defensive pecking order.
It was the former who replaced Zinchenko in the second half, with Arteta providing an interesting update on the situation after the final whistle: "We go game by game. Jurrien has been struggling in the last few weeks and hadn’t played any minutes in the last two or three weeks. Riccardo has just landed and is getting used to a lot of things. They are both progressing really well and we have a lot of competition there, which is great for the team."
Then there's Mikel Merino. It's been a tireless transfer saga, but after the midfielder was left out of Real Sociedad's squad on Sunday, it seems like he may finally complete his long-awaited move to the Emirates this week. The Spain international's arrival will add a fresh dynamic in midfield, likely freeing up Rice to return to the No.6 role after Thomas Partey endured some sloppy moments on the ball in the second half of the Wolves game.
Getty ImagesOverreliance
It's only right that there's plenty of excitement bubbling around the Emirates at present, then. But analysing things from a wider lens, Arsenal's squad heading into the new season falls just short of perfection. Over his past three, full campaigns, Saka has missed just three Premier League matches. Havertz, meanwhile, featured in all but one of the Gunners' league games last season.
So, while the duo's synergy on the opening day was greeted with real enthusiasm, the above does raise the question of how well Arsenal would be able to cope if one or even both of the duo are sidelined for an extended period this term. Gabriel Jesus had a promising pre-season, but his repeated fitness issues will do little to calm these fears.
Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah remain options too, but both Hale End graduates have stagnated badly over the past few years. They are now 24 and 25, respectively, and it seems increasingly unlikely they'll make the grade and contribute regularly to a team chasing the Premier League title.
Leandro Trossard can at least be relied upon, having scored an impressive 16 times last season. Saying that, the Belgian works best off the left anyway, and may end up starting more games than Gabriel Martinelli this season, who's now managed just four goals in his last 23 Premier League appearances.
Getty Images SportArteta digging heels in
This might suggest that bringing in an additional forward – either a striker or competition for Saka down the right – before the deadline closes would be a sensible idea. But it's something that Arteta has distanced the club from in recent times. Instead, the Arsenal boss has backed Saka and Havertz's supporting cast to find an extra gear.
"I already said at the beginning that the main focus is to improve our players and find margins that help them find a level that they probably hadn’t even dreamed about," he said after the Wolves game.
And when asked directly about whether the Gunners would dip into the transfer market to strengthen their forward options, Arteta issued something close to a straight denial. "We have great strikers already; we have a great attacking line," he said.
