Martin Zubimendi’s integration into this Arsenal side should free up Declan Rice to have a more involved role in the final third for the Gunners this season. Rice was already a regular contributor for Arsenal with 19 goal contributions last season, but there is a feeling that his goal numbers could really rise this season now that he isn’t as bogged down with defensive responsibilities.

Rice had three shots against Manchester United on the opening day of the season which is a perfect example of how Arteta wants him to feature more often at the end of moves for Arsenal. Rice only scored four Premier League goals last season but he is a player that is really capable of double digits, which is a haul that would really take some of the goalscoring burden away from players like Saka and Martinelli who are not natural goalscorers.

Rice averaged 1.52 shots per 90 in the Premier League last season. We can expect this number to rise this year based on the positions that Rice was occupying in the opening game against Manchester United. Arsenal only had nine shots in that game so Rice was responsible for 33% of the Gunners’ total efforts at Old Trafford.

Arsenal should be pretty dominant here. They did look a bit flat going forward against Manchester United on the opening day of the season but still drew a couple of saves from Bayindir in the United net. Arsenal are on the verge of adding Eberechi Eze to their attacking options which would really help the Gunners to ensure that they have a consistent attacking threat throughout games.

Everton didn’t really offer much of a threat to Lucas Perri in Leeds’ opening game of the season with the keeper only tested once in that fixture. He can expect to be a lot busier here but his numbers from Ligue 1 last season show that he’s more than up for the challenge. Perri was forced into making 116 saves last season (3.52 per 90) and he ended the campaign with a save percentage of 72.5%.

I’d expect Arsenal to offer much more of an attacking threat than they did in their opening game of the season here. Leeds are likely to be penned back for large portions of the contest which should see the Arsenal shot count rise, and Perri’s save count with it.

Dan James committed a foul in Leeds’ opening game of the season against Everton. Leeds only committed six fouls in that game, but we can expect this tally to rise here with James in the limelight for his role up against Calafiori or Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Both left back options for Mikel Arteta have their strengths and can cause James a lot of problems with their willingness to get forward and occupy channels in the final third. This will inevitably push James back and force him to contest duels in his own half, or go chasing after scraps when Leeds can get the ball forward.

James averaged 0.76 fouls committed per 90 in the Championship last season but you would expect this to increase naturally with the step up to the Premier League and the transition from being a side that dominates the majority of games, to a side that is the underdog in the majority of games.

Arsenal scored 35 goals across their 19 home games last season (1.84 per game). Admittedly, Arsenal are still a tad short of the firepower of Manchester City and Liverpool so Mikel Arteta will need to get the most out of his side in these sorts of matches to ensure that Arsenal don’t have the same issue they did last season and end up with too many draws to win the league.

Arsenal scored 2+ goals in two of their three games against the newly promoted sides at home last season. The exception was a 1-0 win over Ipswich which was a game played in the heart of the hectic winter period so Arsenal weren’t as fresh as we can expect to see them here for their first home game of the season.

Gyokeres will be eager to get off the mark and Arteta will want a more convincing attacking petrol age from his side to wash away the doubters following their underwhelming attacking display at Old Trafford.

I thought Odegaard was Arsenal’s best player against Manchester United on Sunday. Now the bar wasn’t very high, it was a messy performance from the Gunners but the positives were that they got the three points, and it looks like their captain will have more of an influence on games this season.

Odegaard had a really underwhelming season last year, scoring five fewer goals and registering three fewer assists than he did in the Premier League during the 23/24 season. However, he was able to dictate more of the game at Old Trafford which is a small sign that he could be getting back to his most effective level for Arsenal again.

When Odegaard is at his best, it’s hard to find a better creative player in the Premier League and this should only be aided by the additions of Gyokeres, Madueke and Eze who should help Odegaard’s assist numbers this season in particular. He had two shots and created one chance at Old Trafford and I think he’ll grow back to his best this season as it unravels. 

Bogle was shown 12 yellow cards in the Championship last season. He was lucky to avoid one right at the death against Everton after hacking down Jack Grealish late on and he could be faced up by a few opponents here.

Arsenal’s left side of their attack is easily the weakest part of the side. Martinelli is yet to show he can reach the levels of his teammates which has forced Arteta to look to the market for players that can bolster that forward line. Madueke may play on the left wing (1.10 fouls won per 90) or Arteta may even look to play Saka on that side of the pitch. 

Bogle will also be up against either Calafiori or Myles-Lewis Skelly when they push up the field from left back which both are more than comfortable to do. Bogle could struggle here with the volume and quality of players down his side of the pitch which is something that should see his strong card record from the Championship continue in the Premier League.

Viktor Gyokeres had a tough debut against Manchester United, but this was largely due to the effectiveness of De Ligt who gave a perfect blueprint to every Premier League centre back as to how to manage Gyokeres. De Ligt contested 15 duels and committed one foul against Arsenal with the majority of his duels coming against the new striker.

Gyokeres himself was forced into five foul contributions (three fouls won, two fouls committed) which shows that the best way to manage the striker is to be as overtly physical as possible, a message that will no doubt have been passed on to Struijk and Rodon.

Struijk is the more likely to be in a physical battle with Gyokeres seeing as he averaged 0.83 fouls committed per 90 in the Championship last season. Gyokeres isn’t afraid to run the channels as well which is another area where Struijk could be dragged into and forced to commit a foul against the Swedish forward.