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‘A player off with really sharp pain is never good news’ Winger forced off 10 minutes into Arsenal’s 2-2 draw Mikel Arteta made no attempt to conceal his concern over the quad injury that forced Bukayo Saka out of Arsenal’s 2-2 Champions League draw at Bayern Munich, saying it did not “look good at all”. The manager was delighted with the fight that his players showed, Declan Rice earning a deserved point with an 82nd-minute equaliser. Arsenal had led through Eberechi Eze, who came on in the 10th minute for the stricken Saka, before Harry Kane took centre stage. The Bayern striker set up Alphonso Davies for 1-1 before giving his team the lead from the penalty spot. It was Saka’s setback that provided the sour note for Arsenal. He collapsed to the turf after a routine battle with Davies and walked off slowly after treatment. Saka was still moving in a very limited way as he left the stadium. “It doesn’t look good at all but we have to wait and see,” Arteta said. “They [the medics] are a bit concerned. A player who has to come off with a really sharp pain is never good news. Bukayo did not start the game against Lille last Tuesday, then he started at Nottingham Forest on Sunday and it happened very early in this game. The level of intensity that this game requires, as well, is something incredible. “You could see it on Tuesday night, the PSG-Barcelona game, what happened [with players getting injured]. This is man-to-man for 96 minutes in every action. There’s no breathing. The stress, the quality, the intensity, the level that you need … it’s unbelievable. It’s the highest level. And those things happen, unfortunately.” Arteta insisted that he wanted more than the draw. “We take it, although that doesn’t mean we are really happy about it as we prepared to win,” he said. “You could see that right from the beginning – the mindset, the purpose and the intention that the team has, to be very dominant, to come here and cause problems to Bayern. To press them and attack them. That’s certainly what we’ve done. We were the better team in the first 25 minutes, we got the goal … unfortunately we also got the injury of Bukayo, which was a big setback. “The team showed incredible composure, the spirit to keep going, to attack them. The finishers came in and made an impact, as well. After scoring the goal [for 2-2], you see the reaction of the team. We wanted to take the ball and go and attack them again to come and win the game.”

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It is as if Harry Kane cannot get enough of tormenting Arsenal. The Bayern Munich striker has plenty of form from his Tottenham days. He remains the top scorer in north London derby history with 14 goals. He made an impact yet again here and yet it was not a night when he had the final word. That honour fell to Declan Rice, the Arsenal midfielder storming into the Bayern area in the 82nd minute to guide home a low finish that Kane would have been proud to call his own. Arsenal were hunting their latest statement result. Only once had they ever won away against Bayern – the 2-0 in the Champions League last 16 second leg in 2013, although it did not prevent an away goals exit. Mikel Arteta was an Arsenal player that night. When Eberechi Eze, who came on for the injured Bukayo Saka in the 10th minute, gave them the lead midway through the first half, their hopes surged. Enter Kane. He wore his playmaker’s hat; some of his passing was sumptuous and it was his assist for Alphonso Davies that helped Bayern to draw level. He wore his finisher’s one, too, scoring from the penalty spot to put his team in charge. It meant he had scored in 10 consecutive Champions League games; one short of Cristiano Ronaldo’s record. There is a reason why Kane is the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or on Monday. He now has 16 goals against Arsenal; he has only scored more against one club – Leicester, against whom he has 20. Rice loosened Bayern’s grip. It was a lovely goal from him and Arsenal even hinted at a late winner, Jurriën Timber drawing a tip over from Manuel Neuer in stoppage time. That would have been too much because Bayern shaded an absorbing tie in terms of clear chances created. But Arsenal made their point. They were value for it. Arsenal knew they were inside a fortress. Bayern had not previously lost a Champions League group or league phase match at their own stadium since the 3-2 reverse against Manchester City in December 2013, 40 games ago. The following 39 featured 37 wins and two draws. Arteta’s players were not intimidated. They bristled with assurance at the outset and Rice rewarded their never-say-die spirit. Bayern had wanted revenge for their 3-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium in the league stage last season. They did not get it. Arteta’s idea was to go pretty much as strong as possible with his lineup. He made just two changes, Timber for Ben White and Noni Madueke for Eze, albeit the latter was not on the bench for long. Saka had tussled with Davies and it looked innocuous. The alarm bells rang when Saka grabbed his thigh and went to ground, waving his hand in the air. Was it possible for the Arsenal support to think that Bayern had been stripped of their fear factor in the line behind Kane? Michael Olise was suspended, Jamal Musiala was injured and Luis Díaz was a substitute. He came on in the 68th minute only to be forced off before the end. Bayern were without the midfielder Joshua Kimmich for personal reasons. Arteta moved Madueke over to his more natural position on the right wing when he introduced Eze on the left and Bayern will still be wondering how the latter was afforded so much space up the inside channel on that flank to put Arsenal in front. It was a fabulous ball from Martin Ødegaard, who was in the mood, full of sharp turns and urgency, and Eze had the time to let it bounce before shooting first time into the far corner. An offside flag killed the Arsenal celebrations and there was one of those weird waits before the video assistant referee ruled that Eze was in fact onside. Kane was booed by the Arsenal fans. Of course he was. He dropped deep to link the play and there was a moment in the 17th minute when he started a move with a pass from inside his own penalty area. There was a glorious ping over Gabriel Magalhães, who was the last Arsenal defender, for Ismael Saibari on 23 minutes, although his teammate could not control, and Kane’s fingerprints were all over the equaliser. He was on halfway when he sculpted the low through ball for Davies which took Timber out of the equation. The Bayern winger’s finish was clinical. Bayern had other chances in the first half, none better than the one for Serge Gnabry, the former Arsenal winger, in the 21st minute. It was Kane who began the attack, taking a quick goal kick – yes, really – and Gnabry was the man over on the right when the Bayern forwards worked it that way. Gnabry’s shot was too close to David Raya. Kane also saw Ezri Konsa produce a fine block to keep him out. It is never anything other than a pleasure to be at the Allianz for a showpiece match. All the staples were present and correct. The en masse scarf waving. The slightly slapstick oompah band notes. The fans at either end of the ground calling to each other. The non-stop drumbeat and songs from the Südkurve, who also bounced as one at times. The pre-game surprise had been the sight of Vincent Kompany in the Bayern dugout; the manager made a Lazarus-like rise from his sickbed and the action after the restart kept the blood pumping. Arsenal thought they had gone back ahead when Bruno Guimarães rose to meet Rice’s corner only for Neuer to produce an extraordinary save. The goalkeeper touched the ball up and on to the crossbar and away. Shades of Gordon Banks against Pelé. It was Raya’s turn next; his save to keep out Dayot Upamecano’s close-range header from Gnabry’s cross was of the highest order. It was interesting to watch Kane after the penalty was awarded for handball against Timber. Bayern had worked the ball back to their No 9 and, when he shot, Timber’s arm was outstretched. Kane went through his mental processes. He could see that Raya did not retreat to his line for what felt like an age. Kane delayed even longer. He was in total control. He stuttered before banging the ball hard into the right-hand corner. Bayern were close to putting the game to bed. Konrad Laimer dragged narrowly past the far post when well-placed but it was Arsenal who produced the sucker punch. Eze was dangerous throughout. And when the opportunity knocked for Rice after a pass from the substitute Viktor Gyökeres, he made no mistake.

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Arsenal have beaten Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Leeds this season thanks to goals from players off the bench They say that once is an accident, twice is a coincidence and three times is a pattern. After Mikel Arteta’s substitutes proved decisive yet again for Arsenal, we can say with certainty that his ability to change games from his bench is a pattern worth noting. With Arsenal labouring away at Nottingham Forest and the game drifting towards a goalless draw, Noni Madueke – introduced at half-time – won the game for the visitors, shimmying inside and striking a heavily deflected right-footed shot past Matz Sels. It was hardly a glamorous goal but it secured three valuable Premier League points for Arteta’s side. It continued a recent trend. In each of their past three Premier League victories, Arsenal have won the game thanks to winning goals by substitutes. Bruno Guimarães provided the decisive contributions against Sunderland (2-0) and Leeds (2-1), before Madueke repeated the trick against Forest. They are the only goals Arsenal’s substitutes have scored in the league this season. Five teams have scored more goals via their replacements, with Ipswich leading the way on five, but all of Arsenal’s substitute goals have been winners. The record for the most winning goals scored by substitutes for a team in a single Premier League season stands at six. With three in their opening seven games, if Arsenal maintain their current rate, their subs are on track to score more than 16 winning goals. That would obliterate the record. Clearly, that is not going to happen, but it does show how influential Arsenal’s substitutes have been in changing games so far this season. Funnily enough, that record of six winning goals thanks to substitutes is held by Arsenal themselves. They hit that tally under Arteta in 2024-25. And therein lies the real pattern. This phenomenon is not confined to just this season – it is an area in which Arsenal have excelled since Arteta joined the club. Since his appointment in December 2019, Arsenal have scored more winning goals from substitutes than any other team. Over the course of the past two seasons, Arsenal substitutes have registered more goals and assists combined than any other Premier League side. We cannot solely attribute this success to Arteta’s in-game management. When you have been given the resources Arteta has to assemble a squad as deep and strong as Arsenal have, it stands to reason that the players you are able to bring off the bench are players who would probably be starters in most other Premier League teams. Thirteen different Arsenal substitutes have either scored or assisted a goal across this season and last, more than any other side. Having that quality available inevitably increases the likelihood of substitutes making an impact. Arsenal’s approach to matches is also a contributing factor. They are comfortable controlling games without necessarily blowing teams away on the scoresheet. They are often happy to remain patient and lean on their exceptional defensive strength, safe in the knowledge they will eventually produce decisive moments in the opponents’ final third. That approach naturally creates situations in which subs can thrive. A substitute introduced with the game level after an hour has a greater opportunity to score the winning goal than one entering a match that has effectively been settled already. Close victories have been a hallmark of Arsenal under Arteta. Since his appointment, they have won by a one-goal margin 66 times – at least 13 more times than any other manager. Nevertheless, we still have to give Arteta a lot of credit. Squad depth clearly helps, but there is undoubtedly a skill in knowing when to turn to your bench and who to bring on. You might argue that Manchester City are the only side with a squad that can rival Arsenal’s in terms of depth – yet they do not appear highly on the lists above. One noteworthy aspect of Arteta’s management is the speed with which he makes substitutions. He has already made four half-time substitutions in the Premier League this season, a tally exceeded only by Brentford (six) and Aston Villa (five). Guimarães came on at half-time to change the game at Sunderland, and Madueke’s introduction against Forest was the latest example of that proactive approach paying off. Arteta led the league last season for the number of times the first substitute he made in a game came at half-time (11), while on average he made his first sub after 50.2 minutes in games. That made him the second quickest to act, behind only Enzo Maresca at Chelsea (47.9 minutes). Arteta has also not always had such a strong squad. Arsenal’s current depth is the result of years of meticulous squad-building and coaching, a process in which he has played a central role. Perhaps the clearest indication of Arteta’s effectiveness in his use of substitutions comes when comparing him with other managers across Premier League history. Among the 81 managers who have taken charge of at least 100 Premier League matches, his substitutes have scored 12.6% of Arsenal’s goals. That is the seventh-highest proportion in the competition’s history. And, with the possible exception of Unai Emery, the others above Arteta are less comparable in the sense that they have not had the same resources at their disposal. For Arteta to be as high on the list as he is, despite the overall number of goals his teams have scored, shows there is more to this than simply having talented players to call upon. He has developed a knack for knowing how to change the game with his substitutes. Perhaps that could be the ace up Arsenal’s sleeve when it comes to deciding where the Premier League trophy resides in May.

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Kompany told to rest after struggling with infection His assistant poised to oversee Champions League game Vincent Kompany is touch and go to be in the Bayern Munich dugout against Arsenal at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night as he battles a debilitating virus that has affected his legs. Kompany was unable to attend his team’s training session on Tuesday before the Champions League tie, ceding the responsibility for the pre-match press conference to his assistant, Aaron Danks. Kompany has been told to rest after he struggled through Bayern’s 6-1 home win over RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga on Saturday, after which the club’s sporting director, Max Eberl, addressed the media instead of him. There have been reports in Germany that Kompany needed to lie down on his sofa at home after the Leipzig game and that the viral infection had affected an existing hip problem which meant he could hardly walk. “It has affected his legs at times,” Danks confirmed. “He’s felt some pain in his legs. I’m not sure about the reports about him lying down on the couch. I think we can all have a lie down on the couch after a game. It’s just a virus. The doctors and experts know way more than I do. The most important thing we have encouraged is that he rests; he takes the time he needs – however long that may be. “Unfortunately, I can’t give you any more – whether that’s tomorrow or whether that’s two or three days’ time. I don’t know. We just take it day-by-day and see how he is. Getting Vince to rest is a challenge. You know him as a person. He’s a real leader. He works hard.” Danks will take the team against Arsenal if Kompany cannot make it, just as he did last season during the epic Champions League semi-final, first-leg against Paris Saint-Germain when Kompany was suspended. PSG won 5-4 at the Parc des Princes that night before progressing 6-5 on aggregate. They beat Arsenal in the final on penalties. Birmingham-born Danks, who briefly took caretaker charge of Aston Villa in 2022 and has coached at various clubs including Anderlecht and Middlesbrough, said he would be in communication with Kompany “in some shape or form” if the manager was not able to come to the stadium.

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Centre-back has settled right in at Arsenal and is looking ‘to win everything’, starting with his duel against Harry Kane For Ezri Konsa, it was just a wonderfully satisfying challenge. The Nottingham Forest striker Liam Delap had stolen in behind him up the inside left channel on Sunday. There were 93 minutes gone, Arsenal were 1-0 up and it was now or never for Forest. Konsa decreed that it would be never, curving his covering run back, matching Delap for pace and stretching into the perfect block tackle. So, another win for Arsenal: their 10th in 11 matches this season. Another clean sheet. And for Konsa, a continuation of what has been a dreamlike couple of months. Do points-saving last-minute challenges mean more when the defender is actually a fan of the club, too? Basically, yes. “I’ve been asked this a lot,” Konsa says with a smile, when the subject of his boyhood allegiance is raised. “And, yes, I was [an Arsenal supporter]. I had a lot of Arsenal kits when I was younger. You dream of playing for big clubs like this. When you’re a kid, you see the likes of Arsenal, growing up, and the amount of quality players they’ve had throughout the years and to be here – and not only to be here but to be here with close friends – makes it even more special.” Konsa is talking about Eberechi Eze, in particular; another boyhood Arsenal fan, with whom he is especially tight. Everybody has seen the clip of Eze greeting Konsa at the training ground after the latter had completed his £51m move from Aston Villa and how they crack up with laughter before embracing. It is infectious. But Konsa knows a clutch of other Arsenal players from England duty – Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ben White – and he credits them with helping him to settle in. Konsa’s adaptation has been quick and it has needed to be with William Saliba injured. After making his Arsenal debut as a substitute at Villa – Konsa’s scriptwriters have been hard at work – he has played in every minute of the club’s Premier League and Champions League matches. The victory at Forest, where Arsenal had drawn 0-0 in each of the previous two seasons, was significant. It was not a performance of any attacking pace or spark. Perhaps it made the points feel more precious. “We hadn’t won here in two seasons, the boss was going on about it,” Konsa says. “It’s something we wanted to change as players and these are the games you have to win. If you want to win titles, you have to come away to tough places like this and get three points.” Things are about to get even more interesting for Konsa and Arsenal because on Wednesday they face Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League. “It’s against my international teammate as well,” Konsa says, and he is straight into an appreciation of Harry Kane, the England captain, who has been on fire since joining Bayern from Tottenham in 2023. Kane’s scoring record for the club bears repeating: 155 goals in 157 appearances. Konsa has a good record against Kane, having faced him seven times, six of them for Villa against Spurs. The seventh and most recent came in October 2024 when Konsa was in the Villa team that beat Kane’s Bayern 1-0 at Villa Park in the Champions League. It was Villa’s first home match in the competition for 41 years. Konsa has four wins against Kane’s teams and three losses. Kane has only scored twice against him, both from penalties. “The Villa-Bayern game … to beat them at home and keep a clean sheet … it was very special for the players and the fans,” Konsa says. “I don’t really look much at those kind of stats [against individual players] but I am relishing the challenge.” The dynamics against Bayern appear different for Konsa this time. It was a famous victory for Villa that night, in part because of the tie’s history; the club beat Bayern 1-0 in the 1982 European Cup final. Villa were underdogs as they felt their way back into Europe’s elite competition. Arsenal will kick off as Bayern’s equals and among the favourites to win the tournament, having lost on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s final. Konsa won the first trophy of his career a week before that when he was in the Villa team that defeated Freiburg in the Europa League final. He says he has felt the determination of the Arsenal squad to go one step further in Europe. “One hundred per cent,” Konsa says. “As players, the standards we have, the goals we have … we want to win everything – the Champions League, the Prem. Whatever trophies are in front of us. When I came to Arsenal, I wanted to win. I was hungry to win. Last season I got my hands on the Europa League and this season I want more.”

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Bruised Bundesliga champions hit a supposed rival for six and their flying winger is peaking at a perfect moment When Bayern Munich fail to win for two games in a row, you know what is coming next. Particularly on a Saturday night showcase, against the sort of good domestic opposition that tend to bring the best out of the champions. It had been a frustrating week, domestically and continentally, in two games on the road. On both occasions they had been caught cold, conceding the Bundesliga’s fastest goal at Augsburg and going 1-0 down in less than 90 seconds in Stavanger. Vincent Kompany’s low profile on the Allianz Arena touchline, sat almost motionless in his seat on the bench as his team rattled a flurry of goals past poor RB Leipzig, had nothing to do with any lingering chagrin connected to those slow starts from his team. The sporting director, Max Eberl, who stood in for his coach in the post-match press conference, explained that the Belgian had been ill, not to mention Kompany’s current hip problem that had made the move from dressing room to pitch side slow and uncomfortable. It was good he did not attempt to get up from his vantage point every time his team scored, or he would have been extremely sore in the morning. This was what Kicker referred to as a “ Trainingsspiel in der Allianz Arena ”. Had it not been for the goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt performing creditably, Leipzig’s club record defeat – a 7-0 loss to Manchester City three and a half years ago – would have been comfortably surpassed. This was 6-1 carnage. For Leipzig and their coach, the former Bayern man Martin Demichelis, this was the starkest of reality checks. The media reaction was the same, a sense of disappointment that a supposed competitor to Bayern could offer so little in terms of resistance. Yet there needed to be a recognition too that this was Bayern being their brilliant best; piqued, prickly and poked into action by a potential challenge that they felt compelled to prove wasn’t much of one. This was a furious clearing of frustration on a number of levels; the need to defend Manuel Neuer after his early error at Augsburg, the industrial scale of chances frittered away in that game, the first-half punking by Viking in midweek, the concession of a late equaliser having come back and the red card for Michael Olise (Eberl had memorably called Viking’s captain, Zlatko Tripic, a “scumbag” for systematically winding up the France midfielder to the point at which he picked up two bookings in the blink of an eye, the second for gently lobbing the ball in Tripic’s face, forcing the latter to throw himself to the ground). And how that feeling was expelled from the very beginning. Harry Kane called Vandevoordt into action in the opening seconds, but it was only a temporary let-off for the visitors. Luis Díaz steamed on to a Joshua Kimmich pass to fly through the centre of the Leipzig defence and give Bayern the lead in the 12th minute. The Colombian created a second with a delicious pass for the onrushing Aleksandar Pavlovic just before the half-hour, and just after a stunning collective move finished with Kane carving a chance for Olise to finish imperiously. It was a recital. The move that led to the Pavlovic goal began with Kane steering the ball left from a quarter-back position, maybe 10 to 15 metres in front of his own penalty area. In the second half Díaz fully took centre stage, gathering a Kane pass to chop inside and curl a shot into the far corner, then scurrying the long way around to finish from a central area and complete his hat-trick – not the perfect hat-trick perhaps, but maybe the perfect Luis Díaz hat-trick of centre, from the left and long run around to finish. His first Bundesliga goals since August were scoffed with the demeanour of a famished man. This version of Díaz will be needed against Arsenal with Olise suspended, and the score settling version of Bayern will be the default too, with this the perfect warm up in that sense, even if Leipzig were more compliant than might have been expected. Nobody in Munich has forgotten their first defeat of last season, 11 months ago, when Arsenal stepped up a gear and showed just how good they had become in a comprehensive second-half display at the Emirates Stadium that led to a 3-1 win. “We have memories of that game,” said Eberl, “and we want to translate those memories into energy this Wednesday.” There is a sense of this all just being shadow-boxing, of course, in a league stage that Bayern and Arsenal will be expected to graduate from safely in the top eight. Yet any measure of where they are and where they are headed is useful. Even if this was not a win or go home situation, Saturday’s game could be the season kickstarter for Díaz who, as Kimmich said, is extremely valuable to his team in that he is the most likely to make runs behind the defence; more so than Kane, Olise, or any of their midfielders. “He delivered incredible numbers for us last season,” Kimmich continued (22 goals and 17 assists in Bundesliga and Champions League combined) – and here it was, starting again. Even at this early stage, markers are needed and after Leipzig, Arsenal are Bayern’s next. Bayern ended the weekend on top of the table – ahead of Borussia Dortmund courtesy of, already, a vastly superior goal difference – thanks to previous leader Freiburg’s first loss of the season, on Sunday afternoon at Bayer Leverkusen. Julian Schuster’s side had taken an early lead at BayArena, with the in-form Derry Scherhant concluding a flowing team move but Leverkusen hit back in arguably their first proper test at home. The brilliant Ibrahim Maza quickly equalised and then laid on the second-half winner for Patrick Schick – who has now scored in each of the opening six games of the season – with a sublime assist. Maza explained to DAZN how his escape from a clutch of Freiburg defenders was straight out of his Berlin childhood. “Just playing in the cage, just improvising and going for it.” Level with Schick at the top of the scoring charts is one Niclas Füllkrug, who scored for a fifth game in a row as his brace brought Werder Bremen back from 2-0 down to draw with Paderborn – the third straight game in which Werder have recovered from a two-goal deficit to take a point or more. Daniel Thioune spoke afterwards about how the (maybe soon-to-be-again?) Germany striker is raising the standards of those around him – including the coach himself. “Niclas expects a lot from a coach,” he said. “It’s not just what he does on the pitch, but also what happens in the locker room. Niclas is never too proud to go the extra mile.” Dortmund’s tired performance in a goalless draw with Union in Berlin was a second straight scoreless game but their fellow Champions League participants Stuttgart are in a worse state, glued into the bottom six by a defeat in Hamburg in which they missed a raft of chances. “We’re not a top team right now,” bemoaned Deniz Undav.

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Florian Wirtz takes on more responsibility in Liverpool’s attack while Pierre Sage is under pressure at Crystal Palace Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s physicality overpowering Bryan Mbeumo in Manchester United’s area at a corner grabbed him a fifth goal in 10 outings for Leeds: a pretty respectable ratio. “I just tried to cause a ruckus,” said Leeds’ No 9. “I make it difficult for the defender. I read the flight of the ball and was quickest to react. I feel really comfortable [here]. I feel the support from the club and the fans and it is a great feeling stepping on to the pitch, particularly at Elland Road.” Of the contenders to be understudy to Harry Kane as England’s centre-forward, Calvert-Lewin may be the lead act – if he can stay injury-free, which has been a difficulty throughout his career. Jamie Jackson After the defeat to Atlético Madrid last Tuesday, Manchester United’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, could at least sit a bit more comfortably watching Michael Carrick’s side battle to a draw at Elland Road. Lisandro Martínez bemoaned, among other things, the lack of squad depth at United in his post-match comments in Madrid, but one area Wilcox did strengthen over the summer was United’s midfield. Carlos Baleba, a £65m arrival from Brighton, started his first game for the club alongside Andrey Santos, a £50m signing from Chelsea, and the pair held their own against Leeds’ combative midfield three. “They’re both young players adapting to life at this football club and I thought both of them were terrific today,” Carrick said. “That’s a massive positive for us.” As for Martínez, he was taken off at half-time with a tight thigh. Billy Munday Florian Wirtz created nine chances during Liverpool’s comeback win against Brentford. The German’s effectiveness grew when Brentford were reduced to 10 men but it was still one of Wirtz’s better games in a Liverpool shirt. The playmaker took on responsibility in the second half. Andoni Iraola was happy and perhaps sees a connection growing between Wirtz and Víctor Muñoz. Both of Wirtz’s assists in the league this season have been for Muñoz, a £34.5m summer signing from Osasuna who hugs the touchline and stretches the play with speed and directness. Iraola plays positive, vertical football. Wirtz could be more dangerous if his passes are hitting speedy wingers such as Muñoz and Bradley Barcola. Jacob Steinberg Ayyoub Bouaddi made his first league start for Manchester City in the win against Ipswich but anyone watching would have thought he was an old hand. The teenager belied his years with a mature performance at the base of midfield, controlling the tempo while keeping things simple in possession and spotting danger when required. The Moroccan cost £85m in the summer from Lille to battle for a place in Enzo Maresca’s revamped side, fighting Enzo Fernández and Elliot Anderson for a spot in the team – and he is looking their equal. “Not bad, yeah?” Maresca joked about Bouaddi’s performance. “I think that the manager is always looking to find minutes and space for good players. Ayyoub is very good. He is very young, coming from France, so we need to help him, not put him under pressure every game. I think he is doing well.” Will Unwin If you were at Craven Cottage on Saturday and didn’t know which three players Álvaro Arbeloa had brought with him from the Real Madrid setup, you would have assumed one of them was Josh King. The 19-year-old has started every league game this season ahead of Emile Smith Rowe in the No 10 position and has already taken on the role of chief creator. King has been in Fulham’s academy since under-nine level and became a regular in the first team under Marco Silva last season. Arbeloa has spoken of wanting to help the youngster raise his level, to help him kick on. “He’s a top talent,” said Arbeloa after King’s all-action performance against Hull that helped Fulham to their first league win of the campaign. “The sky is his limit. He has the talent, the mentality, the character – he has everything to become a top, top player.” B M David Moyes claimed Chelsea got the rub of the green with the two goals that condemned Everton to a first defeat of the season but there was no question it was deserved on the basis of their respective second-half performances. Everton’s response to Pedro Neto’s opener was nonexistent, with Moyes’s decision to introduce a seemingly unfit Christian Nørgaard instead of Hayden Hackney a contributory factor, but they could feel aggrieved about Morgan Rogers avoiding a second yellow card in the 44th minute for leaping into James Garner. With Harrison Armstrong booked for what the referee, Paul Tierney, deemed a reckless challenge on Josh Acheampong earlier in the game, his inconsistency on the Chelsea forward’s tackle was a key moment. “I would love to speak on the referees but I would probably get fined,” said Garner. “All this camera stuff on their heads, you need to keep out of the game. Just let referees ref it and stop making it about them. That’s all I’ve got to say.” Andy Hunter Sven Botman was extremely fortunate not to be sent off for a nasty tackle on Nicolas Jackson as Newcastle lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa, with the excellent Johan Manzambi heading the first-half winner. The rash, high way Botman lunged in on Jackson seemed emblematic of the centre-back’s decline since he suffered a serious knee injury three years ago. The moment has surely arrived for the now under pressure Matthias Jaissle to drop Botman and recall not merely Dan Burn but Fabian Schär, too, in a switch to a more stabilising back three. Newcastle’s failure to keep a clean sheet in their last 13 Premier League games at home – a run stretching back into last season under Eddie Howe – emphasises the need for defensive fortification. Moreover Schär’s ball-playing ability, and particularly his dangerous long diagonal passes, would enhance Newcastle’s pretty dismal threat as an attacking force. Tellingly, Jaissle’s team registered only one shot on target on Saturday, paving the way for Unai Emery’s 100th Premier League win as a manager. Louise Taylor When Arsenal signed Eberechi Eze, it was hard not to be a little suspicious. Though he started his top-level career relatively late, it is rare a player steps up levels at 27 – all the more so given Mikel Arteta is not exactly in love with mavericks and risk. Ultimately, Eze looks better suited to being the main man in a mid-ranking team rather than a cog in a top one which prioritises shape and system above all else. He was anonymous against Nottingham Forest prior to his removal at half-time. Though Arsenal did not explode thereafter, Noni Madueke did offer greater threat, his speed challenging defenders inside and out before scoring a winning goal that, though fortuitous, also reflected the difference he made. There is surely little chance Eze is picked to start Arsenal’s next game, at Bayern Munich, and he is running out of time to establish himself at the club. Daniel Harris Pierre Sage is treading on very thin ice at Crystal Palace after another disastrous defensive display allowed Brighton to equal their biggest win against their arch rivals. A poor start to the season has been marked by Palace conceding 17 goals in seven league matches – the worst in the division. The chair, Steve Parish, admitted during the international break that the Frenchman’s position remains on “high alert” and, judging by the angry reaction of some Palace fans to the 5-0 thrashing at the Amex Stadium, Sage could be in big trouble. But there must be some sympathy given the failure to adequately replace the influential Maxence Lacroix in central defence after he was sold to Chelsea. That is believed to have led to disagreements with Parish, who has shown a tendency to act quickly if things aren’t going his way. It could be a nerve-racking few days for Sage before Thursday’s trip to face Besiktas in the Europa League. Ed Aarons Sunderland’s problems are stacking up. Brian Brobbey’s continued absence with an injury sustained while playing for the Netherlands is beyond Régis Le Bris’ control but defeat at Bournemouth was self-inflicted. The swift journey from the Championship to the Europa League has become a stumble. Kevin Danso’s red card was by no means the only error committed during a performance where cross words were exchanged between befuddled defenders. Granit Xhaka found himself incapable of exerting anything like the influence he showed last season. Instead, Tyler Adams and Lewis Cook dominated midfield. Trips to Poznan, Milan and Anderlecht await for Sunderland but Le Bris’ squad is struggling to straddle two fronts. A horrible performance at the Vitality Stadium came despite five purported first-team players being rested against Torreense. Play like they did on Sunday and a struggle in the bottom half surely awaits. Just about everything that went right last season has taken a turn for the worse. John Brewin

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Champions so risk-averse Forest were lured into thinking they had a chance, until bench was used to see them off Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Sideways. Square. Backwards. Pass. Pass. Recycle. Pass. It wasn’t much of a spectacle. But in the end, for the second week running, thanks in no small part of their bench, Arsenal won. Fireworks in the autumn are for Bonfire Night; titles require relentless accumulation. Since the international break, Arsenal have won three games out of three despite not being in the lead at half-time in any of them. Hammered at Brighton and having endured a drab first hour at home to Leeds last week, there has been a rare sense, for the first time really since Manchester City dropped points at Everton at the beginning of May, of Arsenal not being quite at their best, needing to reassert their quality. This was not a performance that would terrify any opponent, but it did highlight Arsenal’s consistency and it did demonstrate just how deep their squad now runs. There were long periods when they were extremely flat. In the first half the ball was moved too slowly, too risk-aversely, for Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze consistently to isolate their full-backs. There were very few attempts to play the ball in behind an admittedly well-organised Forest backline. It was all very safe, seemingly predicated more on waiting for Forest to make a mistake than on trying to break the game open with a moment of genius. The breakthrough, ultimately, was delivered by Noni Madueke who, when he got a run at Daniel Múñoz, took full advantage, albeit with a substantial deflection off the thigh of Jair Cunha. It was Arsenal’s only shot on target – and it wasn’t even on the bit of the target it ended up going in. Arsenal may have been working with Germán Castaños, a creativity coach who has worked in handball, in designing TV gameshows and with his local council. By challenging the players and presenting them with unusual situations during the week, the theory goes, he can help them to come up with innovative solutions at the weekend. It must take a lot of creativity to make a team as unremarkable as this. Mikel Arteta is a great believer in the sort of team-building techniques that to outsiders might look like high-performance gimmicks but you dread to think how hard a watch his side would be if their collective imagination wasn’t constantly being stimulated. Castaños got a boxer to fight two opponents and a Japanese football team to play against a side with 16 men. You wonder how a team might prepare to face an Oliver Glasner side in full stifle mode. Running headfirst into a line of three brick walls, perhaps? Or rather, given how Arsenal played for the first two-thirds of the game, running parallel to three walls looking suspiciously at them? For an hour, this was about patience and risk aversion, the only occasional flurries of something approaching unpredictability coming via Saka on the right. The England winger perhaps suffers the curse of those who emerge young, that consistent excellence seems somehow not quite enough, a betrayal of that teenage potential. Familiarity in football often breeds, if not quite contempt, then at least a sense that there could be more. He is certainly not playing badly, and he has scored three league goals, but equally, at 25, he is not the exhilarating presence he was at 21. Perhaps that is simply how Arteta wants his wide players to play, prioritising consistency and efficiency over the spectacular. Perhaps the fears of those who felt Saka was being played too consistently are being realised and he is experiencing an element of fatigue. Or perhaps this is just what regular mature performances look like in the modern Premier League. There was one delightful early turn that drew Neco Williams into a trip that earned him a yellow card, which it might have been thought would encourage Saka to run at the wing-back, but the pattern remained the patient sideways passing. Saka, though, did at least offer more than Eze on the other flank, and it was no great surprise when the former Crystal Palace man was withdrawn at half-time for Madueke. Staying wider more consistently, Madueke did perhaps offer a greater threat but he did have more space for him to exploit as an encouraged Forest began to push forward more. That, in fact, for a long time seemed Arsenal’s best chance, playing with such an absence of threat that it lured Forest into the thought that there was more for them in the game than a worthy clean sheet and a notable point. Leeds, perhaps, might argue they were suckered by something similar last week. As in that game, what turned things Arsenal’s way was a triple substitution midway through the second half. The arrival of Jurriën Timber, Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyökeres gave Arsenal legs and purpose that Forest could not match. Even as Forest were forced out of their defensive shape to chase an equaliser, the bulk of the game was played in their half. It may not have been especially thrilling, but it was enough and it was, in its own understated way, an expression of Arsenal’s strength. Thrills can come later.

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The theme before kick-off was blanks. Or, more precisely, whether either team could stop firing them at the City Ground. It is a detail to make Oliver Glasner extremely uncomfortable that his Nottingham Forest team had still to score at their home stadium. Arsenal, meanwhile, had drawn 0-0 on each of their previous two visits to this part of the East Midlands. Forest’s frustrations under their new manager go on. It was another spirited performance from them, bits to like, especially a full throttle performance from Liam Delap in the No 9 position. But, for the fifth time under Glasner in all competitions, there was not a goal to celebrate in front of the club’s home fans. It was a game that came to feel increasingly set up for the famous terrace chant. One-nil to the Ars-en-nal. Or, as the travelling hordes would have it, one-nil to the champions. Arsenal did not play well. They created little, finishing with just one shot of target. How Noni Madueke made it count. On as a half-time substitute, the winger took a pass from Declan Rice in the 80th minute and had only one thing on his mind. To cut inside from the left and unload. The connection was pure and that was when he caught a break, which he has worked to earn after a difficult start to the season. The ball deflected off Jair Cunha and flew past the Forest goalkeeper, Matz Sels. Forest refused to accept the inevitable. Chris Wood, on as a substitute, delayed too long and saw Rice block. Murillo, all of all players, danced inside from the left and curled just off target. And Delap was denied at the death by a thunderous Ezri Konsa block tackle. But it did feel inevitable. Arsenal had not forgotten their previous away fixture – the 3-0 defeat at Brighton. It remains the only blot on their season. Arsenal had kicked off six points behind Manchester City, who have been perfect on the field in the league this season. Will it matter when the sanctions for their rule breaches are meted out? All Arsenal can do is play the situation as it stands and there was a boost for them here when the teamsheets dropped, which was about the same time that Morgan Gibbs-White was driving his Porsche into the stadium car park. Forest’s key attacking midfielder missed out with a calf injury. He was a big miss. Glasner said that shooting practice had been a major part of his training sessions during the week and how the home crowd wanted to see something from their team in front of goal. The game was framed from a Forest point of view by the extraordinary number of openings they had blown in the 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace last weekend; they had eight big chances, according to the statisticians. They were never going to get anything like that number against Arsenal. Arteta’s team hogged the ball. As they were always likely to do. Bruno Guimarães looked to push up at the outset and combine with Martin Ødegaard, who occupied the No 10 position. Rice was the nominal holding midfielder. Arsenal were determined to be patient but it was flat and predictable from them before the interval. The lack of incisive movement was glaring. That said, Forest were compact out of possession in what was a 5-4-1 formation and hard to break down. They were resolved not to give up any easy yards. Arsenal played their patterns. They tried to suck the life out of the home crowd, working on the principle that it is difficult for fans to get animated if their team do not have the ball. The first half drifted by in a lazy Sunday afternoon haze, no shots on target for either side. Delap carried the physical fight; the Forest centre-forward was a willing and direct runner and he won a free-kick off Rice just outside the Arsenal box on 44 minutes. Nico Williams thumped it at Guimarães, who went down stayed down. The Forest support were unhappy at what they perceived as Arsenal’s use of the dark arts. “Are you City in disguise?” they chanted. Could a set-piece provide the breakthrough? It felt like the likeliest route. Murillo headed wide from a Forest corner in the 20th minute and was bloodied into the bargain; there was a whistle for a foul in the mass of bodies inside the six-yard box. At the other end, Kai Havertz headed over from a Rice free-kick on 37 minutes. He had a decent look at the ball and was well-placed. It was a good chance. Arsenal have been a little barren in first halves this season. This was the seventh time in 10 matches since the Community Shield that they had failed to score. It has not been a problem. They needed to raise their levels for the second-half. Arteta’s first change was Madueke for Eberechi Eze on the left wing; an admission that the latter had failed to exert an influence. There was also a triple substitution on 66 minutes, the Arsenal manager sending on Jurrien Timber, Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyökeres for Ben White, Guimarães and Havertz. He needed to shake things up because nothing was happening for his team. It was Forest who pushed after the restart, with Delap continuing to put himself about. He asked questions of Gabriel Magalhães, albeit the Arsenal defender tended to have the answers. The minutes ticked down, the contest narrowing to a fine point and we waited to see whether there could be a moment, one big chance. Ødegaard almost provided it in the 72nd minute when he released Timber with a lovely pass up the inside right. When Timber pulled back, Rice lifted wastefully high. Glasner’s decision to introduce Ibrahim Sangaré for Dan Ndoye shortly afterwards was telling. Sangaré’s mission was to bolster the Forest midfield and yet he was slow to react to a half-cleared ball. When Rice played the pass, Madueke took over.

Premier League·0–1

Arsenal spent the summer trying to by forwards and rightly so: they lack elite attacking quality, and well though they’ve done over the last few seasons, it has unarguably cost them. The best summer acquisition though, was not a player, but the Premier League trophy or, more pertinently, the status of champions, also known as freedom. It meant they didn’t need to fritter money on someone they knew at the time wasn’t of the standard they were seeking in the hope they might contribute a key moment or two which pushed them over the edge. Instead, they could attack the season with confidence and without the desperate pressure of flailing failure, developing a style that could made the eyes bleed into a knowing, aggressive flow. Of course they’re still a magician and matchwinner short but, in the meantime, they’re still much better than they were. These days, a tousing at Brighton can happen to anyone, so what’s of greater significance is the response: a comeback win against a confident and physical Leeds, then a Champions League win with a rotated team. Or put another way, Mikel Smugteta is an even better manager than Mikel Angsteta, and just as freakishly intense. Forest, meantime, have made a confusing start to the season, decent performances at Liverpool and Villa undermined by home defeats to Leeds and Coventry, the latter then followed last week by a gubbing at Palace. They are surely far too good to become embroiled in a relegation struggle, but the possibility will linger as long as the identity of those who are not remains unclear, while only Spurs have mustered fewer than their five league goals. All of which makes for some pure, uncut and concentrated “this league” action; let’s get involved.

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Up to 60 roles at risk after cost-cutting review Arteta signed new deal worth more than £20m a season Mikel Arteta has defended Arsenal’s decision to cut up to 60 jobs and insisted it was necessary to ensure they can continue achieving success. The Premier League champions are understood to have informed some, but not all, of the staff whose positions are at risk after a consultation process started by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) before the end of last season. Arsenal hope the number of redundancies can be reduced and will attempt to redeploy affected employees wherever possible, although some job losses may be unavoidable. It is understood the catering and travel departments are among the affected, and that the men’s and women’s first-team performance and coaching staff will not be impacted. The academy, Arsenal Women, Arsenal in the Community, the Arsenal Foundation and site security teams are also exempt, although other areas of the wider football operation are included in the review, which was overseen internally by the managing director, Richard Garlick. The timing of the proposed cuts has attracted scrutiny after last week’s announcement of Arteta’s new contract, worth more than £20m a season. Arsenal say the restructuring process began before the deal was announced and the manager said he was not the appropriate person to answer questions about the redundancies. “It was explained to me about the exercise, and the analysis that has been done across the club, and with the intention always to evolve to improve,” he said. “Some decisions have to be taken, to put people in the right roles, and keep investing to achieve what we want to achieve on the success that we want to create. So that has been explained. Obviously I am not the right person to answer that question. That’s for sure. And hopefully everybody will respect that.” Arteta refused to answer any more questions on the subject. Arsenal’s most recent financial accounts, for the 2024-25 campaign, show that operating costs rose from £148m the previous year to £201m, with the owner, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, keen to cut costs despite winning the Premier League title in May. Arteta was instrumental in reshaping Arsenal’s medical department over the summer, when the former Aston Villa team doctor Arnaldo Abrantes arrived, and is believed to have bolstered his backroom staff in other areas. Arsenal travel to Nottingham Forest on Sunday – the first of four away games in their next five matches – and Kai Havertz is again expected to start ahead of Viktor Gyökeres. The Sweden striker has yet to find the net for Arsenal this season and struggled against Lille in midweek after scoring four goals on international duty. “These are moments in a player’s career, or in a season, I would say,” Arteta said. “And we are trying to help him as much as possible. The other day, I think he had some very good moments. He’s three or four times in front of goal with no keeper and the ball should arrive to him and it doesn’t. But these are the strikers. It’s very small margins. Scoring or not scoring changes the narrative, for sure, not the perception of how much he can help the team.”