Fitter, happier, more productive: Arsenal could hardly have started better

Fitter, happier, more productive: Arsenal could hardly have started better | Jonathan Wilson

It’s still very early but Mikel Arteta’s side are playing with an authority and freshness that eluded them at times last season

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Three league games played, three games won. For Arsenal this season could only have started better if Manchester City, who look like being one of their two most serious challengers, had dropped points. But it’s not just about results: Arsenal have been comfortably the better side in each of those three games, approaching each of them in very different ways.

After the controlled victory over Coventry City and the tight game against Aston Villa that was won thanks to ratcheting up the pressure in the 15 minutes after half-time, came success in a far more open game in which they conceded for the first time this season. Chelsea tested Arsenal on Sunday, went ahead, and yet Mikel Arteta’s side still always looked like they would win – even if it did take a superb late save from David Raya to keep out an Estevão shot. But the goalkeeper too is part of their strength; even if an opposing team can work a shooting opportunity, Raya has the capacity for spectacular saves that can dispirit opponents.

This is an extract from Soccer Desk, a newsletter from the Guardian US. Subscribe for free here.