Konsa and Ødegaard saw off Everton
Arsenal 2–0 Everton at the Emirates on Saturday. Ezri Konsa scored, Martin Ødegaard ran the game, and Paul Merson was in no doubt about the captain: "I thought Odegaard was outstanding" (4). Merson was less kind about Viktor Gyökeres, questioning his performance on a comfortable afternoon (4).
The win came hours after Manchester City lost their first Premier League game of the season at Aston Villa (6). Arsenal are second, level on 21 points with City, separated only by goal difference (6). Eight games, five wins, one draw, one defeat. GD +8.
Saka out for weeks, Calafiori a doubt
Bukayo Saka is out for weeks with a thigh injury and misses Tuesday's Carabao Cup fourth-round tie at Fleetwood (3). Riccardo Calafiori is a doubt with a hip problem, rated 75% (3). Saliba and Tzolis are also out. Declan Rice carries no flag (3).
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Kick-off at Fleetwood is 8pm UK time on Sky Sports (2).
Arteta is building a dossier on rival benches
Mikel Arteta picked up his second booking of the campaign during the Everton win. He is now one caution away from a touchline ban with Liverpool away and Slavia Prague away coming up.
He is not letting it go. Arteta says he is logging clips of rival managers leaving their technical areas without punishment: "So I am clipping all of that so I have a massive storage of images" (5).
Liverpool away starts the hard part
Arsenal's next five league fixtures are tougher than City's (6). It starts at Liverpool on Sunday, November 1 at 17:30 CET (6). Hull City at home follows on Saturday, November 7, with Slavia Prague away in the Champions League on Wednesday, November 4 in between.
The margin at the top is goal difference. Nothing else.
PSG want Zubimendi, Arsenal want €80m
Luis Enrique wants Martin Zubimendi and Arsenal's price is €80m (1). Any move would wait until summer 2027 at the earliest. Sport.fr's S.Montero writes that the fee "permettrait ensuite à Arsenal de récupérer un joueur de premier plan" (1). Unconfirmed.
Williams says no to Arsenal
Nico Williams has confirmed he turned Arsenal down. "Poza Barçą miałem oferty z PSG i Arsenalu i je odrzuciłem. Jestem tam, gdzie chcę być," he said after Athletic Club's 4–0 win over Getafe on Sunday (9). The long-running chase is closed.
Mora offer, and a Hull winger on the radar
Arsenal have made an offer for Mexican teenager Gilberto Mora, including a loan-back plan (8). Claudio Suárez: "I know for a fact that he's had offers. Arsenal showed interest, and so did Bayern Munich" (8).
Separately, Arsenal are monitoring Hull City winger Bachir Belloumi (10).
Eze has made up his mind
Eberechi Eze has reached a decision on his Arsenal future after being called "very disappointing" by a former Premier League scout (7).
Fan reactions
The mood on r/Gunners is quietly confident, with the same fixture-by-fixture comparison doing the rounds: Arsenal have gained four points on last season from the same games. David Raya's clean sheet record since his 2021 Premier League debut is getting another airing, and the GW8 table thread is the busiest of the lot. The Raya thread
