Arsenal show Chelsea, Premier League who’s boss; Inter the team to beat in Serie A
Another European soccer weekend is in the books and we learned a lot about the landscape across the top leagues thanks to some big August games. In the English Premier League, Chelsea roared into an early lead at defending champs Arsenal in what felt like a way-too-early preview of the title race … only for Mikel Arteta & Co. to show them who’s boss with a 2-1 win that very much asserts the Gunners as the only team to beat.
We also got a look at what could be the Serie A title race too, as Inter Milan dug out of a 2-0 home deficit vs. Napoli to win 3-2 in a game that should have gone the other way had Max Allegri not been so conservative with a decent lead. Elsewhere, we have talking points galore for Barcelona (and praise for Fermín López), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (37 years young and as good as ever at Deportivo La Coruna), Man United (whose work-in-progress under Michael Carrick is still a work in progress), Bayern Munich (who didn’t score a goal in a Bundesliga game for the first time in 18 months), and much, much more.
It’s Monday morning, so what better time for some musings? Let’s get into it.
– Chelsea are on the rise, but Arsenal remain kings of Premier League
– Man United still a work in progress after more dropped points
– Man City have given Maresca everything he needs to challenge
Arsenal reaffirm their title credentials with two regenerated stars while Chelsea remain incomplete
When Morgan Rogers beat David Raya from the edge of the box to give Chelsea the lead inside just two minutes, you could feel Xabi Alonso’s path to victory solidifying.
His Blues team can be devastating in transition, defender Ezri Konsa was making his first Arsenal start and there were more opportunities to be had, especially if the hosts opened up. And if they didn’t, if the practicality we saw last year from Mikel Arteta prompted him to conclude that being patient, physical and solid while waiting for something to happen was the way to go until the last 20 minutes, well, Chelsea could ride it out.
That notion soon went out the window as the Gunners equalized midway through the first half, took a 2-1 lead just after the interval, and never looked back.
In some ways, this isn’t last year’s Arsenal. Martin Odegaard had the freedom of the pitch, starring in a more central role. Kai Havertz looks fit, sharp and still with the right amount of nasty, creating matchup problems with Alonso’s back three and inviting teammates into play (sometimes by not touching the ball at all, as we saw with his dummy). You don’t want to get carried away and pull out the “like a new signing” trope, but let’s remind ourselves that Havertz started just seven Premier League games last season — and four of those were in the final two months. As for Odegaard, before to mid-April, he had managed just 13 league starts and one goal due to various injuries.
Remember all the hate Arsenal got last year for winning the title by hunkering down, being physical and scoring what felt like the bulk of their goals on set pieces and counterattacks? It’s probably not a coincidence that this happened when Odegaard was out of form and Havertz was replaced by a less technically gifted player.
Now that the two are firing on all cylinders and back at the heart of the attacking operation, Arsenal are that little bit different. Not quite Arsene Wenger or early Arteta expansiveness, but a darn sight more multifaceted at the attacking end than the side that had one shot on target and 25% possession in the Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain earlier this year.
And yet, in other ways, Arteta has retained the qualities that drove his side last year. The physical intensity remains, the defensive attention too (Chelsea’s xG was a paltry 0.35). The two melees in the box — one culminating in Emi Martinez getting kicked in the head by Gabriel, the other with Riccardo Calafiori’s disallowed goal — were a testament to that, as was Chelsea’s vaunted counterattack only occasionally flickered into life (Pedro Neto hitting the post at the end of the first half being the most obvious example). If Arteta can retain this balance and man-manage his vast and expensive squad, then his side will be better than last year.
1:46
Leboeuf concerned over ‘fragile’ Chelsea defense
As for Chelsea, obviously Xabi Alonso needs time and all that. But there are a number of flaws that are simply down to squad construction (and possibly that this club is operating under pretty hefty restrictions following the settlement agreement and fine with UEFA).
There’s a gaping, Moisés Caicedo-shaped hole in the middle of the park. We can dance around it all we like, but when your best player is injured, you’re not going to be as good. When fit, Reece James is excellent, but he can only perform part of Caicedo’s duties. Romeo Lavia had a rough day. Alonso ended the day with Malo Gusto in midfield rather than Valentín Barco, which speaks volumes.
There are questions up front, too. João Pedro is exceptional, but some situations call for a different profile of striker. Emmanuel Emegha has the physical presence and may or may not be that guy, but it’s worth reminding ourselves that he was injured most of last season and managed just four starts and four goals in Ligue 1. The other alternative is Danny Welbeck, who turns 36 in November. Again, not a coincidence that Alonso waited until minute 86 to send him on.
Looking at the bench, with the three high-priced young wingers, you can’t help but wonder if Alonso won’t end up rejiggering his 3-4-2-1 setup. Geovany Quenda has played wingback before at Sporting, so maybe he can do what Neto does, but Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian don’t fit without learning a new role. The good news is that these are gifted players — Estêvão created Chelsea’s best chance of the second half after coming on, though again, it was an individual move, not a pattern of play — and that with no European football, Alonso has time to work. But it’s going to take time.
Final thought on the Gabriel-Martinez incident. As I saw it, the keeper had both hands on the ball and he got kicked in the head. Plain and simple. It wasn’t evident in real time because of the mess of bodies, but the replays were pretty conclusive. I’m all for “light touch” VAR, but when it’s obvious the referee can’t see it clearly, surely it’s their job to step up?
Internazionale‘s comeback vs. Napoli reinforces their title credentials
If you’re going to win 3-2, this is the way to do it, from a two-goal second-half deficit, with an injury-time winner after a performance that leaves no doubt who the better team was. That’s probably why, after Lautaro Martínez scored the winner, even typically sedate manager Cristian Chivu ran on to the pitch to celebrate with his players as if they’d just won the UEFA Champions League.
The win didn’t just validate Inter Milan’s approach — they racked up 3.42 xG and 69% possession, hit the woodwork twice and were somewhat unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty — but it also gave the fanbase and the players the sort of emotional lift you can’t engineer. It doesn’t mean they can’t grow. In fact, they must grow, becoming more clinical on the attacking end and cutting out the absent-mindedness at the back. Which, by the way, is how Napoli scored both their goals. The first was a sloppy pass from the otherwise excellent Nicolò Barella, the second was a collective switch-off that gave Rasmus Højlund all the time in the world to make it 2-0. You can’t have that with a veteran back four, and Chivu knows it better than most.
Inter can also draw solace from individual performances. Newly acquired Curtis Jones came off the bench and looked like he’d been at the club for 10 years. Marcus Thuram scored a thumping header, reminding you that he’s getting stronger by the day after his injury. Andy Diouf sparkled on the right flank. And then, of course, there was Lautaro. His two goals moved him into third place on Inter’s all-time Serie A goal-scoring list. Another four and he moves into second place, behind only Giuseppe Meazza (and all they did was name the stadium after him).
As for Napoli, Max Allegri set up in lockdown mode early (which meant, once again, no room for Kevin De Bruyne) and for a while, it sort of worked. They had chances on the break and capitalized on Inter’s mistakes to go 2-0 up. Leopards rarely change their spots, though, and after Inter clawed one back, Allegri retreated into his 5-4-1 bunker and did so in a silly way, chucking on Benoît Badiashile (who just arrived on loan from Chelsea and hadn’t played since March) instead of Sam Beukema.
Once again, the new Napoli boss’ conservatism was punished. Had it worked, and had André-Frank Zambo Anguissa not given us a miss-of-the-season contender, the usual suspects would have told us what a genius he was.
Quick hits
1:19
Garcia expects Lamine Yamal to win Ballon d’Or ‘very soon’
10. Fermin shines as Barcelona beat up rudderless Valencia: It wasn’t that long ago that Barça was looking to move Fermín López to raise cash. He wasn’t a starter, he wasn’t on a par with some of his teammates technically (kinda hard to do when your teammates are Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Dani Olmo), and as a homegrown player, transferring him out would mean — to use that hideous accounting term — “pure profit.” He ended up staying, in part due to injury, and it’s a good thing he did. For while he may not be a “starter” in most people’s Barcelona Best XI, odds are he will get a ton of minutes and prove to be extremely influential.
He certainly was in Barcelona’s 5-0 thrashing of Valencia, scoring a goal, dishing out two assists and forming a devastating one-two punch with Raphinha through the middle. Barça looked impressive top to bottom (Yamal also bagged two goals, the first an exquisite touch) but it’s also true that Valencia are once again a mess running on a shoestring. There’s a clear villain of the piece — majority owner Peter Lim, who has been haunting this club for nearly two decades now — and the Mestalla crowd let him have it. If there’s an argument to be made that football is a social trust and that owners need to be first and foremost stewards, Valencia are it.
9. AS Roma are Gasperini’s team … and they look really good: The goals came late, but don’t let that fool you. Roma dominated Atalanta en route to a 2-1 win. In fact, but for a spell after the break, when Éderson gave the visitors the lead against the run of play, we saw very little from Gian Piero Gasperini’s old team, largely because they were stifled by his new team.
The numbers are pretty terrifying: 2.97 expected goals, 39 total shots (of which 10 on target) and a staggering 78 touches in the opposition box. That’s vintage Gasperini from the good old days when he was beating Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen with Atalanta to win the UEFA Europa League. It has taken him a year to fully make his mark, but it’s happening, and he’s also getting a tune out of Paulo Dybala, who looks fit (hope I didn’t jinx it) and productive.
8. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 37 years young, is on fire: It’s minute 88 and Villarreal are drawing 2-2 against newly promoted Deportivo. An errant pass in midfield allows a Depor striker to grab the ball and accelerate into space. Even with the ball, he’s actually outpacing Alex Freeman, who is 15 years his junior (and whose dad played in the NFL). The striker slips it past the keeper and Depor win 3-2. That striker is Aubameyang. He is 37 years old and in his first four games this season, he has racked up four goals and two assists.
You know the cliché about what age is, so I’ll spare you that. But it’s still remarkable, even with the tiny sample size. And it’s wonderfully refreshing that after 20 seasons in the top flight (it started at AC Milan in 2007-08), he has the desire to keep going. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised: after all, he has hit double figures in each of the past three seasons (he had 10 for Marseille last year). The upshot is that not only does the Gabon legend have as many goals as Kylian Mbappé, Depor are just one point out of second place.
7. Youthful Borussia Dortmund turn the tables on old habits: They’re supposed to be the guys who throw away leads, crumble under pressure and make silly mistakes. On Saturday, Nico Kovac’s crew turned it all upside down. They still made silly mistakes (Joane Gadou will want to treat his as a “teachable moment”) but also stormed back to win 3-2 on the road at TSG Hoffenheim after finding themselves two down with half an hour to go.
There will be growing pains when you push the kids (six of the players used were 21 or younger, including Arsenal loanee Ethan Nwaneri, who came on after half an hour) but on the day it was two veterans who made all the difference. Serhou Guirassy scored one and set up another with a pinpoint assist, while Waldemar Anton was immense at the back and won the ball high up the pitch after a lung-busting sprint to set up Guirassy’s goal. Maybe Dortmund are growing up after all.
1:12
Hislop: Donnarumma showed he is not comfortable with the ball at his feet
6. Enzo nails his debut, but Manchester City are still very much a work in progress: The “other” Enzo, coach Maresca, called the 1-0 triumph over Coventry City “a little bit ugly win.” It’s hard to argue. Not so much for the incidents — some key ones could have gone the other way, like Gianluigi Donnarumma needing to make a save with his face on one occasion, and getting his feet mixed up and nearly conceding on another — but for the performance, which featured far too much in the way of sterile possession.
There were positives to build on. Erling Haaland‘s finish for the only goal was superb, but hey, we’ve seen it before. Enzo Fernández, thrown into the start because of Nico O’Reilly‘s injury in the warmup, looks motivated and brings a fierceness this team was lacking. Elliot Anderson looks unflappable, but the defensive wobbles are still there and, just as important, Maresca’s patterns of play are not there either. Not yet, anyway.
5. Why Loris Karius‘ heroics denying Bayern Munich might be a problem: It’s not the two points dropped against newly promoted Schalke 04, per se. Early in the season, a newly promoted big side, on the road ahead of the Champions League starting … stuff happens. Vincent Kompany’s crew had enough chances to win, Karius made some huge saves, Luis Díaz squandered some golden chances, and sometimes you just can’t punch it in against a low block. Kompany’s decision to give Lennart Karl and Ismael Saibari a shot ahead of Michael Olise and Harry Kane made sense (you will likely need those guys over the course of the campaign), but it was their failure to seize their opportunities that was disappointing. Both lasted 57 minutes, and against a side happy to leave them the ball (Bayern had 82% possession in the first half), they managed just two shots and three touches in the opposition box. Suddenly some will wonder just how much depth Bayern actually have.
A word on Schalke too, playing their first top-flight Bundesliga game since 2023. One of the side effects of the ultra-rich getting richer in football is that many in the upper middle-class — to which Schalke, based on their support and history, historically belong — drop themselves into the ground trying to keep up. (I’m sure you can think of examples from England and Spain too.) I’m not sure how you solve this, but it’s nice to see them back. Just as it’s great to see Karius — eight years after that Champions League final — back in the big time.
1:10
Leboeuf: Everton made Bruno Fernandes ‘invisible’ in Man United draw
4. Manchester United are still about baby steps and individuals: When you drop points on a long-range strike in the sixth minute of injury time, as United did in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Everton, it’s going to hurt. But if Ainsley Maitland-Niles‘s shot had sailed into the second tier — and, to be honest, I thought it would when I saw him square up to shoot — there would be little for Michael Carrick & Co. to celebrate other than the result, some Marcus Rashford runs and smatterings of play in the first half. This team still needs to grow and if it’s happening, it’s happening at a snail’s pace.
You can parse the incidents if you like. Everton’s goals were low-probability hit-and-hopes, sure, but Bryan Mbeumo‘s goal was an individual effort of the sort you occasionally get when you have good players, not a function of a team that’s growing. And while it was nice (and important) for Benjamin Sesko to score, Jordan Pickford was subpar. Everton are a mess right now and were there for the taking, but other than the goals, United had one shot on target the whole game. Results, rather than performance, are keeping Michael Carrick afloat right now, and that’s not a good thing when you’re in the midst of a rebuild.
3. Juventus and Milan show all their respective limits in a 1-1 draw: Both teams, I guess, have alibis. Ruben Amorim just arrived in Milan. Luciano Spalletti — as he made a point to tell us after the game — has a bunch of injuries (including Weston McKennie, Kenan Yildiz and Khéphren Thuram) and is coming off a goofy transfer window. But when the best part of the game is Alphadjo Cissè‘s close control and Federico Gatti‘s dramatic injury time equalizer, it only goes to show how far behind the title contenders these two sides are.
Amorim was brutally honest (“the opponent was better”) and while his system requires patience to metabolize, I’m not sure you’re ever going to get there with Adrien Rabiot and Alexis Saelemaekers (!) as your No.10s, and you certainly won’t get there when you manage just three shots for an xG of 0.11. As for Juventus, it was nice to see Kerim Alajbegovic get a chance and the back four is growing. But you can’t judge them until the regulars are back, and what ought to be terrifying is the center forward situation. Randal Kolo Muani was a dud (again) and Nick Woltemade, with his unique skill set, is the answer to a question nobody asked. Unless you need more square pegs in round holes.
0:44
Robson: ‘Very average’ Atletico have no game-changers
2. Atleti get sucker punched, but issues run deeper in Bilbao defeat: What’s becoming painfully obvious is that, until they play with a viable center forward, Atlético Madrid are going to win regularly only if they outwork the opposition or if their skill players invent low-probability goals. Away to Athletic Club, they almost managed the latter. Without impressing in the first half, Pablo Barrios and Kang-In Lee both found the woodwork and Álex Baena forced a good save out of Unai Simón. But then came the sucker punch — two Bilbao goals in three minutes just after the break — and there was no coming back, with Atleti defeated 3-0.
It’s not that strikerless system can’t work; it’s just that you need to work on them to make them work. Diego Simeone hasn’t done that and with good reason: Alexander Sørloth will be back by the end of the month, and Julián Álvarez is once again available (he played the last half hour and did very little), so best not to mess with the system too much. The problem is that this can cost you points. The challenge now is getting Sørloth fit again, rebuilding the confidence of Jonathan David (a late transfer window arrival from Juventus), and figuring out what you can get from Álvarez after his summer shenanigans.
2:18
Should Nottingham Forest’s disallowed goal vs. Spurs have stood?
1. Tottenham Hotspur’s drought continues … maybe it’s not surprising: And before we get to that, let’s consider that but for VAR, Spurs would have lost to Nottingham Forest, making it their worst start since the 1970s. You can’t score a goal with your hand, even if accidental, fair enough … I couldn’t tell where the ball hit Neco Williams, but apparently, VAR Peter Bankes could, and he was sure enough to strike it off.
As for the goal drought, I’m not sure why we would have expected it to end here. Sure, Roberto De Zerbi plays attacking football (or tries: Spurs had more possession, but Forest had more shots and shots on goal) but based on Tottenham’s front four, it’s hard to expect much different. The pricy signings from Manchester City — Omar Marmoush and the artist previously known as Savinho — combined for four goals in 45 league appearances last season (the former had a poor World Cup, the latter watched it on TV). Mathys Tel scored four goals in 31 games, while Conor Gallagher struck one in 16 after joining in January.
When help came from the bench, it came in the form of Mohammed Kudus (who, because of injury, last started a game in January and even when fit isn’t particularly prolific) and Mykhailo Mudryk, whose doping woes meant he hadn’t played at all since 2024. Dominic Solanke, who at least is a center forward and has scored goals in the past, got all of six minutes. Spurs won’t start scoring until his reclamation projects come good, until the injured guys return, and until they learn De Zerbi’s football.
