Arteta’s fresh approach of making the Gunners a much more attack-minded team excites fans

In training and Monday briefings, Arteta has installed a new attack policy. He spends time waving to his players to get upfield during matches this season.

The incoming players, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze, have given Arsenal that extra attacking edge up front. Previously, the tactics relied on Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard to create chances going forward. 

Getting out to the byline and going past defenders has become the new way forward. Saka, of course, always played like that, but plenty of other Arsenal players did not. The game against Nottingham Forest was a prime example of this new approach when Eze received the ball from Riccardo Calafiori and, after letting the ball bounce, he crossed a low ball for Viktor Gyokeres to find the net.

Noni Madueke has been a revelation, and I can’t understand why Chelsea ever let him go. His dribbling down the right, in Saka’s absence, has been a joy to watch. The Gunners have made more dribbling forward moves this season than last year—approximately 18.3 dribbles per game in 2024/25 and 19.8 this season.

Last year, Martinelli topped the chart with an attempted 100 dribbles, but only 33 per cent were successful. West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus dribbled forward 195 times with a 47.2 per cent success rate, and Man City’s wonder whizz Jeremy Doku 177 dribbles with 60.5 per cent success. Madueke is on course to smash Martinelli’s record and, at his current dribbling rate, will score 124 moves forward with 53.9 per cent success.

Mikel Arteta has never before enjoyed the optional luxuries he has in his armoury this season. Madueke and Eze can change wings at any time, and Trossard adds to that with his darting runs, assists and goals.

Saka is back in the team, which further increases their attacking threat. This new direct approach is exactly why Arsenal bought a traditional type of striker in Viktor Gyokeres, who, like Erling Haaland, is a threat in the penalty area, ready to poach any incoming ball and is good with his head. He is far less likely to link play but is more of a traditional centre forward.

Eze could in the future become a strong Arsenal midfielder, but under instruction from Arteta, he often moves out wide, which gives Odegaard, Declan Rice, Martin Zubimende or Mikel Merino more space.

So much to come from Liverpool’s Ekitike 

When Liverpool took the field last weekend against derby rivals Everton, it was astonishing to look at their substitutes’ bench. There sat Alexander Isak, who cost £130m and Florian Wirtz, who cost £116m.

The Reds’ coach, Arne Slot, says he can turn Wirtz into a new Erling Haaland and describes him as ‘an artist with a mean streak’. Retreating from an attacking position is one of Liverpool’s weaknesses this season. You have to admit there are not many weaknesses, and training has concentrated on correcting this.  At the moment,  the champions look to be almost unbeatable, but the strange thing is that Liverpool rarely humiliate opponents, and rarely do they score three or more goals. 

Mo Salah had a heated argument with a supporter who suggested that Isak and Wirtz are upgrades on the outgoing Darwin Nunez, but to be fair, I do think Hugo Ekitike is better at converting chances, taking on players and showing that magic quality, and he is still improving as he moulds into the Slot style of football.

 In one move last weekend, he calmly placed the ball between the ever-reliable Jordan Pickford’s legs to score. Nunez, on the other hand, was in the same position many times and often snatched at the ball and wasted the chances despite all his energy and commitment.

Arne Slot said, “I am impressed with Florian, but every top team has two No.9s, and we have a special pair. Hugo is not ready to play three matches in a week, which we often have to play, because we have a high press putting pressure on the forwards, and Alex has only been with the team for three weeks. Ekitike brings much to Liverpool’s attacking options, linking with midfielders, dropping deep and moving out wide to run at defenders. There is so much to come from him this season.

Main injury updates

**Arsenal latest on Madueke injury: Mikel Arteta said in midweek that the winger could be out for several weeks after suffering hamstring discomfort, and he is having extra scans next week to determine the extent of the damage.

**Sunderland midfielder and record £30-million signing Habib Diarra will be out of the team until December following a groin injury. The 21-year-old had an operation after being taken off the field in the 1-1 draw against Aston Villa last weekend.

**Chelsea star Cole Palmer left the field before half-time in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, and coach Enzo Maresca explained, “He did a test that morning and wanted to play the game. The effort was huge from him, but then after 20 minutes, he started to feel something, so we decided to change him.”

**Manchester City striker Erling Haaland suffered a painful back problem in the 1-1 draw with United at the weekend, but Pep Guardiola said late this week that he should be back for the Burnley match this weekend.

**Newcastle striker Yoane Wissa is currently sidelined with a knee injury, and coach Eddie Howe said on Friday, “He’s receiving treatment and no operation is needed. I think we’re looking at the other side of the international break. We hope he can be fit and available for that first game.”

Mbappe’s verdict on who will win the EPL title

Kylian Mbappe was asked which team he thinks will win the Premier League this season. His prediction is Arsenal. Despite Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze joining the Gunners, they are not favourites to win the title this year. Liverpool have strengthened their squad with great effect and remains the bookmakers' shortest odds. When asked who he thought would win the Champions League, Mbappe was predictable and said, “I always say Real Madrid,” he said.

“But there are many good teams in Europe, a lot. We saw that last year was great with the new Champions League format. This year will be even better.” 

Last season, it was Arsenal who put an end to Los Blancos’ chances of winning the competition after defeating them 5-1 on aggregate in the quarter finals.

New contracts are the kiss of death at Wolves

Before last season, Wolves sacked their coach, Gary O’Neil, just after giving him a new four-year contract, only to see the Amber and Blacks struggle down in 19th place in the EPL. In came Vitor Pereira, who steered the club away from the relegation battle. He was even nominated for Manager of the Season. Now the same thing is happening again at the start of this campaign, and the club sits bottom of the league with five games played and five defeats. Just recently, Vitor was rewarded for last season with a three-year contract, and history is repeating itself. Hands up all those who think he will still be the coach when the festive season arrives.

The difference between Leeds and Wolves

Despite spending £120 million on new players to replace Matheus Cunha, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo, Wolves have gone backwards this season. Daniel Farke’s Leeds spent £90m after their promotion and are 12th in the league and only three points outside the top four. Last weekend, they gave Wolves a 3-1 beating. Incoming players Anton Stach, Gabriel Gudmundsson and Noah Okafor have raised the level of Leeds’ quality, and last weekend, they showed off their new players. That Leeds win, by the way, was without Dan James, Wilfried Gnonto and goalkeeper Lucas Perry. Scouting and thoroughly examining players under all conditions is so vital when buying fresh talent. Leeds got it right, Wolves got it wrong.

Three big tactical differences this season

There are three big differences already on display this season.

Why are we seeing more long throws?

The long throws have featured more this past season than ever before. Team coaches are spending time developing their strongest players who can deliver a ball from the touch-line into the centre of the penalty area. A long throw is classed as the ball travelling 32 metres or 35 yards. 

In the Pep Guardiola era, when players moved the ball out from the back with tight control at their feet, the long throw went out of fashion, with only eight per cent being directed at the penalty area. This went up to 17 per cent last season, with Brentford coach Thomas Frank aiming 63 per cent directly towards their opponents’ box. Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace are also long throw specialists. On the other hand, Newcastle’s Eddie Howe, Liverpool’s Arne Slot and Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca are not fans of the strategy.

Set pieces

The set piece is now an important part of the modern game. Many clubs have set-piece specialists on the staff. At Arsenal, for instance, Mikel Arteta puts in extra time in training sessions to practice set pieces, setting his defence up and shooting long balls into the penalty area. He then does the same thing with his attack, and midfielders feed the ball towards the goal. Set pieces include offensive and defensive corner kicks, wide and central free kicks, long and short throw-ins, penalties and well-drilled play in high blocks after the set piece has been delivered.

Long ball kicked out of play by the goalkeeper

These days, Many coaches select their goalkeepers because they can play with their feet as well as keep goal. One current favourite training move is playing the ball back to the goalkeeper from kick off, and the keeper then kicks the ball as far upfield as he can so that it goes out of play high up the pitch. Many coaches now feel this is superior to playing forward from kick off because opponents are well organised, and it is difficult to get a play moving from kick off. The best goalkeeper with exceptional footballing skills that I have seen is ex-Man City keeper Ederson, now with Super Lig club Fenerbahçe.

Calvert-Lewin back on course

At the end of last season, the three promoted clubs were all sent back to the Championship. Relegation is harsh, but this time around, all three new clubs are holding their own, and none more so than Leeds. 

Their main striker, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, is enjoying a turnaround in his career after a mixed, injury-prone time at Everton. After scoring again at the weekend, he set Leeds on course for their second win of the season, and his experience guided Leeds' strike force. Anton Stach and Noah Okafor both found the back of the net, and Daniel Farke’s team pulled back 3-1 after going a goal down. 

Calvin said immediately after the match, “That’s my game at the end of the day, balls in the box. It’s not the only thing I do.” Farke’s team had failed to score in three matches but said he was “never in doubt” that Leeds would turn this game around. Some supporters are even daring to suggest Leeds for Europe, but that might be a little bit premature.

 Josh King feels the love

Fulham’s Josh King discovered the importance of having good teammates around him in their game against Brentford. The highly-rated teenager gave Brentford a gift of a goal when he sent a poor, blind pass backwards and into the path of the Bees’ Mikkel Damsgaard, who put the ball into the net.

Fulham roared back with goals from Alex Iwobi and Harry Wilson, but it was the way in which these players stood up for young King that impressed me. He was clearly very upset with his mistake, held his head in his hands and was close to tears. Iwobi dashed over to him and was followed by other players who all patted him on the back, gave him words of comfort and told him that it didn’t matter and they would go on to win the game.

King then showed his quality by calming himself and putting his mistake behind him, and the next time he got the ball, he took it on the back foot, beat a couple of players and won a throw-in. Harry Wilson said, “It was up to us a team, to support Josh, and players respond to that, and he did. When we get it right, we can beat anyone and cut through any team. This mistake will make Josh stronger and quicker.

Damsgaard believes Brentford will improve

Brentford are struggling after losing their best players in the summer. Gone are Bryan Mbuemo, Yoane Wissa, Christian Norgaard and coach Thomas Frank. They have now lost eight points from a winning position, and new coach Keith Andrews has plenty of problems. Brentford do not have the quality of last year, which saw them do well. Relegation is even being spoken of, but of course, it is very early days. Mikel Damsgaard, the Brentford midfielder and forward, said, “It’s very disappointing, but we aim to improve and are working hard. We have the talent, and I know we can do better.”