A win that asked more questions than it answered
Arsenal 2–1 Leeds, at the Emirates, and it took a substitute to drag them out of it. Leeds led, deservedly, before Riccardo Calafiori equalised and Bruno Guimaraes came off the bench to win it (21) (25). Three points, second in the table on 15 points. Read the result alone and it is a routine home win. Watch the match and it is a warning.
Arteta did not pretend otherwise. "What are we made of?" he said afterwards, of the moment his side went behind (21). That is a manager who knows his team flirted with a bad afternoon against a side that sits well below them. Noni Madueke got praise for his shift on the left (11). Bukayo Saka got the opposite, from a club legend rather than his boss (22).
The injuries are piling up in the same place
Piero Hincapie was carried off with an ankle problem after the final whistle, footage of it circulating into the evening (7) (13) (23). Martin Zubimendi then picked up a knock in the warm-down (2). Two fitness concerns on one Saturday, both before a Champions League tie.
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This is the recurring theme of Arsenal's autumn: the squad is deep enough to absorb one absence, not four. The defence, which kept the clean sheet at Napoli and the shutout at Sunderland, is now the thinnest part of the team (7) (31). Lille arrive at the Emirates on Tuesday, then Nottingham Forest away on 18 October, then Bayern in Munich on 21 October. That is the hardest seven days of the season so far, and it starts with a makeshift back line.
Guimaraes has earned the start, and still got a warning
Guimaraes scored the winner and was rated Arsenal's best player at 9 (29). Arteta's response was to tell him he is not at the level yet. "Every week, every game, every minute, every action," was the standard demanded (18).
That is a manager setting a bar, not a man unhappy with his midfielder. The real question is selection: does Guimaraes start against Lille over a fitter Declan Rice or Mikel Merino, or stay the impact option? The predicted XIs have it both ways (8) (17). Rice, meanwhile, is close to a new contract, which secures the spine Arteta is building around (28).
What to watch
Viktor Gyokeres is not starting, and Arteta has said plainly that chances will come when he takes them (4). Tuesday against Lille is where he gets one, with Kai Havertz's hold on the number nine already loose after a 5 rating against Leeds (29). Then the trip to Forest, before Munich. Arsenal are second, and the next ten days decide whether that flatters them.
