According to reports, despite winning the Premier League title last season, Arsenal's hunger to win it again has not diminished, and they will be the target that other teams aim to challenge this new season.

The question is being asked: can anyone stop Arsenal in the Premier League?

It seems too early to answer that now. The new season has just begun, with a total of 380 Premier League matches starting this week under the lights of the Emirates Stadium and ending next May. There is still plenty of football to be played this season.

It is also worth remembering that over the past 34 years, only three managers have led their teams to back-to-back Premier League titles: Sir Alex Ferguson with Manchester United, Jose Mourinho with Chelsea, and Pep Guardiola with Manchester City.

Generally, rivals regain their motivation and are eager to make up for last season's disappointments. For the defending champions, beyond the fact that everyone wants to beat them, the biggest question is whether the players—and even the manager—will be as committed this season as they were last season. In other words, is the hunger still there?

Arsenal's 3-0 victory over Manchester City in the Community Shield last Sunday provided some answers, and not just because of the goals and the scoreline.

The movement, body language, and every tackle from Arsenal's players without the ball were exceptionally sharp, and these details tell a story. Though this competition still stirs debate among many fans: does winning it count as a trophy?

After the match, when a journalist mentioned Gabriel, the defensive partner, alongside new signing Bruno Guimarães and Ben White, who all seemed eager to tackle and block, Arteta smiled.

Arsenal's manager declared: "When you put your soul and heart into it, this is the result."

During the Community Shield, the message was clear: Arsenal's fans may still be savoring winning the title after 22 years, but Arteta and his players remain full of fighting spirit and ambition, determined to retain the trophy the club took so long to reclaim.

Arteta explained: "Because you want to experience it again. When that desire comes, I want to relive that moment, I want to relive all those moments, even more intensely than last time. We know what it takes, and we know how difficult the task is—that's why we've never done it before at this club in the Premier League era. So we know it requires something special, and we're ready."

But are the other Premier League teams ready? With so many changes this summer, can genuine challengers emerge from the usual title contenders? Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea have all changed managers, and Carrick is about to begin his first full season managing Manchester United.

In stark contrast to Arsenal, Arteta is now the longest-serving manager in the top four tiers of English football.

Against Manchester City, Arsenal played as they should: a well-oiled machine, with each player's role clearly defined and established movement patterns—Calafiori overlapping infield on the left, Ben White overlapping from the outside on the right; at one point, these two fullbacks nearly combined to create a goal. The team maintains long-term competitiveness with a stable winning formula. If you're wondering whether they scored against Manchester City from set pieces, the answer is no.

It's true that the Community Shield doesn't always accurately predict the season's outcome—before Sunday's match, only 8 of the 34 Community Shield winners went on to win the Premier League title. In this season's opener, many players made their first club appearance since summer due to the World Cup. What's certain is that Haaland was one of them, and barring injury, it's unlikely he'll be substituted after 53 minutes this season.

Similarly, on the pitch at Cardiff, certain practical concerns cannot be ignored—particularly the significant drop in Manchester City's midfield performance when Bernardo Silva and Rodri, both in form, were absent. To call it a "different style" would be an understatement; more plainly, not only did the team's overall strength visibly diminish, but the midfield also lost crucial leadership and organizational capabilities.

If Manchester City lets Rodri leave this summer without making targeted signings to fill his position, the team's competitive prospects are almost unimaginable. Whether it's Chelsea's Enzo Fernández or other suitable candidates, the club must secure reliable replacements.

By contrast, Arsenal has already strengthened this key area, signing Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle for £75 million. Days ago, Merino publicly commented that Arsenal now has a world-class midfield, and Arteta smiled at this assessment, showing the club hierarchy and coaching staff's approval of the midfield improvement.

Guimarães already looks very comfortable in an Arsenal shirt, showing both intelligence and bite against Manchester City. However, the two players beside him were key to the goals: Lewis-Skelly delivered a brilliant disguised pass after just 24 seconds for the first goal; and the outstanding Odegaard was involved in the second and elegantly finished the third.

Odegaard brilliantly feinted a shot, sending Donnarumma the wrong way and leaving Manchester City's goalkeeper stranded, before sliding the ball into an empty net. Arsenal fans chanted: "Can we play you every week?"

Minutes later, they sang: "Are you Tottenham in disguise?"

That summed up Arsenal's day. Fans shouted "ole" at every pass before the 60th minute and even joked about Manchester City's new manager Maresca's immediate prospects. What made them even happier was that Christos Tsolis, signed from Club Brugge for £34 million, delivered two assists on his official debut. Aside from the fact that French referee Clément Turpin seemed to play as an improvised left winger, it's hard to imagine Arsenal finding a more perfect replacement for Trossard than Tsolis.

Meanwhile, David Raya continued to remind everyone with his feet and hands why he is among the Premier League's best goalkeepers. He could send a 40-meter pass to Tsolis with his feet, comfortably collect crosses with his hands, and made a brilliant save to deny Semenyo's shot in the closing minutes.

As the match slipped away, Arteta began rotating heavily, and Arsenal's squad depth was on full display again.

Saka, Rice, Zubimendi, Hincapié, Vinícius Júnior, and Eze all came off the bench. Merino, the World Cup winner, didn't appear; young talent Douman also remained on the bench. Martinelli, Nwaneri, and Gabriel Jesus were not in the squad.

Nevertheless, Arsenal still has work to do in this transfer window. In defense, Mosquera and Gabriel paired well together, but Arteta wants a more experienced center-back to cover for the injured Saliba; in attack, they haven't yet signed a top striker, and if Arsenal wants to take the next step in the Champions League, this is almost certainly a position that needs strengthening.

But at the Premier League level, Arsenal will once again be the team everyone wants to beat, and that feeling is hard to shake.

Traduit par IA.

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