On September 7 (CEST), in the third round of the Premier League, Arsenal defeated Chelsea 2-1 at home, securing three consecutive victories to start the season. Following the match, Isaan Khan, a Daily Mail journalist who specializes in covering Arsenal, published an opinion piece expressing his views on the match and the team's current situation.

Opinion Piece

If Chelsea can ultimately become a genuine title contender, Arsenal has proven through their performance that they have every capability to lead – and this is no exaggeration.

From another perspective, Arsenal could have extended their lead even further.

Before the match, this clash was widely described as a battle between "solid defense and sharp attack," with Chelsea's "CPR" trio (Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto, Rogers) initially intending to challenge Arsenal's defense.

However, Arsenal dominated Chelsea with a superior display, which perfectly demonstrated the team's tactical acumen: the other "Big 6" clubs in the Premier League are currently in disarray, and Arsenal must capitalize on this opportunity to surge ahead.

Failing to sign a marquee striker before the transfer window closed has not weakened Arteta's side. They concentrated all their efforts on the opposition's final third, determined to win and creating numerous chances.

Despite winning the league title last season, Arsenal had previously been criticized for being too cautious – fearful of making mistakes when ahead, they hesitated to press their advantage and gave opponents little chance to counterattack.

This match was entirely different: Arsenal's defense left space for Chelsea to counterattack, but the home side showed no concern about it.

They were confident that goals would come, and therefore attacked relentlessly without pause. Ultimately, Martin Odegaard and Havertz each scored a goal. As long as Arsenal maintains this style of play, they will score more goals in forthcoming matches.

Calafiori scored a goal, but it was ruled out for offside; Arsenal also missed numerous chances, most of them falling to Havertz in the first half, but he quickly adjusted and performed well throughout the match.

This recalls the 2022-23 season, when Arsenal could consistently capitalize on opportunities to launch lightning-fast counterattacks against opponents.

Compared to the style fans had grown accustomed to in recent seasons, this approach is clearly more entertaining. Arteta's team previously adopted a "safety first" strategy, which ultimately saw them lift the league title once again after 22 years.

Arteta's post-match comments clearly reflected his desire to build on last season's title and achieve even greater heights.

He said: "This match has proven that we are fully capable of performing at a higher level than last season. It depends on whether we can maintain this hunger and humility, and strive to make ourselves and the team better every day."

"We still have much room for improvement and can contribute more – that is the team's ambition."

All signs suggest Arsenal's style of play is changing. The psychological burden of constantly finishing second has long since disappeared, and Arsenal's players and coaching staff firmly believe they have the strength to return to the top.

We can see a more flexible Arsenal, capable of delivering a fatal blow to opponents whenever the opportunity arises. This is an extremely exciting prospect for both Arsenal fans and neutral supporters.

If Arteta's team can maintain this form, very few sides will be able to stop them.

Arsenal's solid defense is renowned, and the addition of Ezri Kiwior has further strengthened this aspect.

In the 56th minute, Kiwior made an extremely effective tackle on Neto, earning enthusiastic applause from home supporters. Neto was eyeing space ahead and preparing to advance when Kiwior's perfectly timed tackle cleanly stopped him in his tracks.

Arteta described this defensive action after the match as a "very typical English tackle," directly halting Neto's attacking momentum.

Turning back to the attack. In theory, the depth of Arsenal's options at the left-wing forward position may not be ideal, but when the team plays with this level of performance, that weakness is easily masked.

Equally noteworthy is Martin Odegaard's continued form. His league goal tally has doubled this season, and the injury-plagued interruptions of previous campaigns appear to be a thing of the past.

He seems to have a sense of urgency, "racing against time," not only constantly providing excellent passes to create opportunities for teammates but also actively penetrating the opposition penalty area. If Arsenal can maintain this momentum for him, it will certainly be a major boost for the team.

Finally, a word about Neto. When he was substituted off in the 87th minute, home supporters chanted at him, "You should join a big club."

He performed very sharply in this match, constantly using counterattacks to threaten Arsenal's defense. His shot in the second minute of the match also showed early on why Arsenal pursued him throughout the summer.

But as Arsenal demonstrated in this match, they may already possess enough firepower to sweep aside the other contenders in the league.

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