Carragher still sees Arsenal as title favourites despite Man City’s perfect start

The Sky Sports pundit says Mikel Arteta’s side lack “stardust in the final third”, but have the best squad in the country. Manchester City lead by three points after seven games.

Jamie Carragher still regards Arsenal as the team to beat in the Premier League, even though Manchester City have taken an early lead in the title race. City stayed perfect with a 3-2 win over Ipswich Town on Saturday, which briefly put them six points clear. Arsenal cut the gap to three with a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. The champions are trying to retain a title they won last season for the first time in 22 years.

What Carragher said

Carragher told Sky Sports that Arsenal are “not the most exciting champions we’ve ever seen”. “They still lack stardust in the final third and didn’t get that superstar over the line that they wanted in the summer,” he said. “There was talk of Vinicius Junior coming in obviously and Julian Alvarez but they didn’t get those deals done. They do lack star power in the final third and we saw more evidence of that on Sunday.”

He added that some people would say Arteta was holding the team back because he values the defence so much. But he said: “They’ve got the best squad in the country and the best starting line-up, I don’t think anyone can go up against that really except maybe Man City. We said all of this last year as well, they didn’t have a game-changer but what they had is two top-quality players in every position.”

He said: “I still see Arsenal as the team to stop. If they dropped more points on Sunday they could have been five behind Man City. We obviously don’t know what’s going to happen with City, we have to take it as it is right now.” He thought Arsenal would have been worried about being five points behind someone like City after dropping points in quick succession, “but they got the win”.

Arsenal’s bench

According to Opta, Arsenal’s substitutes have scored the winning goal in each of their last three league victories. Bruno Guimaraes did so against Sunderland and Leeds United, and Noni Madueke against Forest. All three league goals from Arsenal substitutes this season have been match-winners. That is half the Premier League single-season record of six. Opta also found that since December 2019, Arsenal have scored more match-winning goals through substitutes than any other team. Substitutes have scored 12.6% of Arsenal’s league goals under Arteta, and 13 different substitutes have registered a goal or assist across the current and previous seasons.

Arsenal’s attack has been modest. Madueke’s deflected winner in the 80th minute was their first shot on target against Forest, according to Reuters. Eight of their 11 league goals this season have come after half-time, and their total is the second-lowest among the current top six.

City’s injury worries

City manager Enzo Maresca said Antoine Semenyo could miss up to eight weeks with a knee injury sustained against Ipswich, according to Reuters. Erling Haaland has a foot and ankle problem from the same game and is a doubt for Tuesday’s Champions League tie with AEK Athens. Maresca has mentioned Phil Foden as an alternative in attack.

City’s win made Maresca the first manager to win his opening seven Premier League games, and put them on the maximum 21 points. Haaland reached his 100th non-penalty league goal in 139 appearances.

The financial case

An independent commission found City guilty of 114 of 115 charges, and the club denies wrongdoing. According to the research notes, City lodged an appeal on 2 October. No final decision or punishment has been announced. Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown said on Monday he had heard a decision could come within six weeks, which is not a confirmed timetable. HM Revenue and Customs would not say whether it is investigating City, citing taxpayer confidentiality, in response to questions from Treasury Committee chair Meg Hillier. It said it investigates tax risks in professional football generally.

What comes next

On Saturday 24 October, City visit Aston Villa at 12.30pm BST, and Arsenal host Everton at 3pm. Arsenal face Bayern Munich and Harry Kane on Wednesday. Ezri Konsa, who joined from Aston Villa in a reported £51m deal, told the Guardian he wants the team to compete for both the league and the Champions League. According to the notes, he has played every minute since joining and has covered for the injured William Saliba.