James Benge

“Sire, the Manchester United players are revolting!” “…”

Great touch by Gyokeres to swing the game but the standard for Arsenal centre forwards was set at the other end. Every serious UCL contender has match-winning strikers. Arsenal have two with 17 shots *combined* from 16 games.

Arsenal average the most passes per goalscoring sequence of any team in Europe's top five leagues and UEFA competition. The average Arsenal goal this season is preceded by 7.3 passes. Manchester City are second at 6.6.

That's a fantastic touch from Gyokeres

Struggle to remember the last time Arsenal faced an opponent playing a high line who weren't applying chokehold pressure to their ball-playing midfielders

Got any more of those three week international breaks?

Amazing thing is a lot of the best PSG and Barcelona players have looked a little way off it tonight. This could have been better.

Florian Wirtz leads the league in chances created, a sign of a player living up to lofty expectations. Florian Wirtz leads the league in fouls committed, a sign of a player who can’t adapt to England’s physicality. Maybe the truth is somewhere in between, in half spaces that aren’t there anymore.

Florian Wirtz created nine chances today for Liverpool. No one has created more in a Premier League match since September 2021, when Bruno Fernandes created 10 against Aston Villa.

1-0, Lewis-Potter. Brentford good value for their lead.

Ooooft, Liverpool clear a corner and the ball bounces to Barcola. Through on goal and he curls the ball wide from just outside the box. A loose finish.

Brentford for me today - one of the league’s best attacks so far this season in action. They host Liverpool.

Not sure that City's one man midfield strategy worked that well against Sunderland. Really not working well at all against the back to back European champs.

Some very quick thoughts from tonight. Sometimes good depth wins you games. Sometimes good depth sets a game up so that your best players can win the match quickly.

Eight games straight in which Saka has had a 'big chance'. That's a subjective stat of course but when he keeps getting those openings, that is something to feel very positive about.

FT Arsenal 3, Lille 0 - It would appear that Arsenal's best attackers are actually quite good.

2-0, Eze

1-0, Timber. Striker's finish.

HT Arsenal 0, Lille 0 - You watched it. You can't unwatch it.

They're getting raided by the Vikings, raided by the Vikings

Part of the reason that Merino has been quite a good substitute for Arsenal this season might be why he has been a bit off tonight. He takes his time before generally making the right call. A couple of occasions so far though where it has meant quashing attacing momentum.

Arsenal giving a few more 4-3-3 looks than they have generally been with Odegaard in the XI this season. Then again this pass network might also just reflect that Bruno Guimaraes is having some deep touches and then getting the ball in shooting spots, averaging out as an 8.

Didn't have Zara going full Pep on my 2026 bingo card. Huge dub for ADUG.

Outside the Emirates Stadium tonight

Today’s Champions League preview starts with Bukayo Saka, supposedly out of form and lacking that burst of pace. It’s just that the data doesn’t entirely agree with that.

Many in the Premier League want a quick resolution to the Manchester City case. Yesterday showed why. And yet there is little that can be done to artificially up the pace of proceedings.

On August 5, a Russian missile hit a warehouse belonging to Puma just outside Kyiv. Among its contents, the home kits Shakhtar Donetsk were going to sell for this season. A familiar headache for the club hierarchy as they try to tell new stories in London. www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/...

This isn’t even a bad Florian Wirtz performance. It’s worse. An off-form Wirtz miscues that pass. He doesn’t take that horrible shot. The decision making with the ball is getting more scrambled every time I see him.

At the end of last season it was legitimate to worry that Noni Madueke was a good stats, bad player type. Here was a healthy sign that good stats very often come from good footballing actions.

At the end of last season it was legitimate to worry that Noni Madueke was a good stats, bad player type. Here was a healthy sign that good stats very often come from good footballing actions.

FT Arsenal 2, Leeds 1 - A strange, strange game. Arsenal rallied well from their sloppy start and could have run up the score late on. Maybe the abiding takeaway from this is that Leeds are going to be a tough nut to crack this season. Arsenal? Harder to read today.

2-1, Guimaraes

Looks like Guimaraes as the pivot with Rice pushed upfield. Rice had been unusually loose with the ball in deep areas and quite leggy too.

1-1, Calafiori

0-1, Justin

It doesn't feel like it but in that first half Arsenal were completing their attacking third passes with greater accuracy (90.5%) than any full PL game since they beat Sheffield United 6-0 in March 2024. Too slow and too cautious. Certainly should have resulted in more shots.

This game is so 12:30 you half expect England to declare war on France

Chant coming from the Leeds away end that Arsenal are "just a shit Crystal Palace". I'm going to need that one explaining to me.

The only way is up, I guess

Mikel Arteta didn’t say much about Manchester City. In fact there was perhaps only one question he answered directly. Asked if his conscience was clear, he said yes emphatically.

Arteta press conference news - City questions get the "it's an ongoing process... no comment" replies - Havertz and Konsa will have late fitness tests before Leeds - Rice "has been with a few issues" since World Cup - Tzolis out for weeks

Speaking at the Leaders in Sport conference, Richard Garlick describes having Mikel Arteta in the dugout as "a competitive advantage over the other teams in the Premier League".

Have to keep this to one per artist don’t you or else it’s a pointless endeavour

How different might the last 18 years have been for the likes of Aston Villa, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City were it not for the takeover? On the Premier League’s sliding doors moment

And now Manchester City thrust the Premier League ever deeper into limbo while they hunt for that “irrefutable evidence” of theirs.

When Manchester City return to Premier League action next month, what will their games mean? Title contenders, fighting against relegation or an utter irrelevance? The league’s present, like its past, has been warped beyond repair.