Unai Emery faces a baptism of fire in his first Premier League game as Arsenal coach, with champions Manchester City heading to north London this afternoon.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who finished last season with four goals in three games, had few chances and Alexandre Lacazette wasted one within a few minutes of coming on in the second half.
Arsenal have had a relatively uneventful summer in terms of signings, but there is no denying that reinforcements have arrived all across the pitch. It might just be the best goal we’ve seen in the opening weekend of the Premier League. There’s the promise of a more diligent, alert, tactically-astute brand of football with a higher press – and what better petri dish than a match against the runaway champions, a team that pounces on your weaknesses, insecurities and callowness more ruthlessly than anyone since. well. the Arsenal of 2000-2004.
Guardiola’s side might become more technical at the back this season, with Aymeric Laporte and John Stones seemingly his first-choice combination, with the more rugged Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi back-ups.
Emery’s side continued with their pressing approach and nearly forced an equaliser as Hector Bellerin cut inside and tested Ederson with a drilled effort. “We want to give him confidence”, stated Emery during his pre-match press conference. “Hopefully we can convince him to be calm, to forget a little bit about the social media, and focus on what he has to do”. Last season we were so happy. “The past is very important for this club and the people who work here”. That’s the basic principle.
“We feel that we could have got something from the game”, he said. Manchester City, Winners of EPL 2017/18, Receive Special WWE Championship Belt From Triple H.
Pep Guardiola has also left out Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sané from his starting XI today, with Raheem Sterling and new signing Riyad Mahrez starting in the wide positions, and Ilkay Gundogan joining Fernandinho and Bernardo Silva in midfield. Sergio Aguero hit the ground running with a brace in the Community Shield win and will lead the line against Arsenal.
Where to watch Arsenal vs Manchester City live on TV in India? City beat the Gunners – home and away – with the minimum of fuss last season.
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Mohamed Salah set Liverpool on its way to a 4-0 victory over West Ham in an assertive start to the Premier League season by Juergen Klopp’s side.
