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Saturday’s win at Aston Villa was huge for Arsenal, especially given the context of what happened against Unai Emery’s side last season.
This was the first away game of the season and with trips to Manchester City and Spurs on the horizon, a win was crucial to give the team a good shot in the arm in terms of belief and confidence.
If Arsenal had lost, everyone would have been talking about Villa getting the better of them again, so there was a lot of pressure going into the game.
So the way they went through it was very impressive. Yes, they had to ride their luck at times and if Ollie Watkins had his shooting boots, they might have ended up losing.
But you have to make the most of the luck you have and Arsenal did just that with those two goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey.
David Raya’s save from Watkins at 0-0 was absolutely huge. Trossard’s arrival changed the game obviously, but if Raya hadn’t made that save early in the second half, the game would have been very different.
It was a great stop. Watkins obviously should have done better, but the speed of Raya’s reaction to recover to make the save was remarkable.
This is the second weekend in a row that Raya has made a crucial save for Arsenal. The Spaniard has had a strong start to the season and is really proving his importance to the side.
Trossard was also excellent after his introduction. He is a ruthless finisher and he proved that again when he scored with his first touch.
It is clear that he is not very happy to start games on the bench. You could see there was some pent-up frustration during his celebration and that’s understandable.
He is an excellent player and is undoubtedly Arsenal’s best finisher. I think he will start against Brighton this weekend but you can see why Arteta likes to bring him off the bench as his record as a substitute is so good.
All in all, it’s been a good start to the season for Arsenal. If they can make it three wins from three against Brighton on Saturday, they will go into the international break feeling pretty good about themselves.
I will be very happy for Eddie Nketiah if the Crystal Palace deal comes through. At the time of writing this has yet to be done, but the move is expected to go through, which will see Arsenal receive up to £30m for the forward.
It’s a good offer for Arsenal, but I also think it’s a good offer for Palace. I can see Nketiah doing good things for them once he settles in.
Obviously, just a few days ago it looked like he would be heading to Nottingham Forest, but Nketiah decided the move wasn’t really for him after the two clubs agreed a fee.
Some of the reactions I saw to this decision were ridiculous, although I really shouldn’t be more surprised by what some people think is okay to say on social media.
A player has every right to decide where he goes. Nketiah clearly didn’t think Forest was a good fit and wanted to hold off Palace, who have been interested in him for some time.
Provided that deal goes through, he will now stay in London as he looks to get his career back on track. Good luck to him, I hope he does well and I think he will.
It’s hard to say right now whether Arsenal will pull anything out of the bag at the end of the transfer window. I think they should be, because I really think they’re a bit light on attackers.
They have let Emile Smith Rowe go and now Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira are expected to follow him out the door. I know they played very little football last season but they were still attacking options that Arteta could have turned to who is now gone.
So I really think someone should come in to give Arteta another option in attack. If that doesn’t happen, it will look like a bit of an underwhelming window for Arsenal in my opinion, despite the decent additions of Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino.
Nico Williams is a winger we know they like, but it would be difficult to do so late in the window. Yes, she has an opt-out clause that makes it impossible to rule her out, but it’s unclear if she would even want the move if that clause is triggered.
So if Arsenal are going to do something, it looks to be one of those surprise signings that can catch us a bit off guard.
Arteta hinted that something could still happen after the Villa game and I’m sure he will push for more as he will want as strong a squad as possible ahead of such a demanding season.
I haven’t really looked at the business other clubs are doing this summer and heard any hint of jealousy.
To be honest, I think it’s been a pretty average window in terms of top teams strengthening their options.
I don’t see anyone who has any hopes of competing for a top four spot and I think he has done a lot to close the gap on City or Arsenal.
I’m surprised Liverpool haven’t done anything yet. If Pedro Neto stays fit I think he could be a good addition for Chelsea, but apart from him, none of his catches have really caught my eye.
It will be interesting to see how Dominic Solanke does at Spurs. I know he cost a lot of money, but he really impressed me last season. He has developed into a good striker in the Premier League and I wouldn’t be surprised if he scores a good amount of goals again.
I’m backing Emile Smith Rowe to be a huge success at Fulham. He’s already showing what he’s capable of there and will get better and better as he goes along.
Another player who has caught the eye in the early games is Savinho. At £30m, it looks like a bargain. Although not really a surprise, given where City signed him from.
