The week Arsenal got a decision handed to them
Kai Havertz left the Germany camp on Thursday with a muscular injury and flew back to London for a scan (9)(19). That is the week's real event. Arsenal sit second on 12 points from five games (W W W W L) and have just lost the striker who has kept Viktor Gyokeres on the bench all season.
Gyokeres was already the loudest story, and now he is the answer
Gyokeres said it plainly: "Of course, it's frustrating" (30). He is Arsenal's top scorer from last season and he has been watching Havertz start ahead of him. He also shut the exit talk down: "For me, staying was a given. I'm extremely happy at the club" (3)(8). Read those two quotes together. He is not asking to leave, he is asking to play. Havertz's scan result decides whether Arteta has to answer him.
The 3–0 at Brighton does not explain itself away
Brighton & Hove Albion 3–0 Arsenal, on September 19, is the only defeat in the last five (1). Four clean sheets before it, three goals conceded in 90 minutes at the Amex. Arsenal have kept the best defensive record in that run by playing a controlled, low-risk game, and Brighton was the day the control went. Leeds United at home on October 10 is the reply fixture, and it is the easiest game on the calendar to look good in and the hardest to learn anything from.
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Seven Arsenal players at Wembley, and only one of them won
England 2–3 Spain in the Nations League on Saturday (8)(29). Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Ezri Konsa and David Raya all featured for England, Myles Lewis-Skelly started on his 20th birthday, and Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino came off the bench for Spain (8). Tuchel on Lewis-Skelly: "No presents here for no one. Also not on his birthday" (13). Arsenal's squad is now deep enough that an international break is a load-management problem across two national teams.
The noise around Haaland is worth exactly what you think
Arsenal have reportedly made contact over Erling Haaland, with Manchester City found guilty on 114 of 115 charges and a punishment still to come (4)(11)(14)(34). Real Madrid are in the same queue (11). Nobody at Arsenal has said a word about this. Treat it as speculation until a fee, a ruling or a registration exists.
What to watch
Leeds United at the Emirates on October 10 (1). Havertz's scan lands before that. If it is a few weeks, Gyokeres starts and the whole argument about his role gets settled on the pitch instead of in interviews (9). If it is longer, Arsenal's reported hunt for a striker stops being a January plan and becomes a January necessity (21). Either way, October 10 is the first time this season Arteta has to pick a centre-forward on merit rather than on habit.
Fan view
r/Gunners has spent the week on two threads: how Arsenal look different this season, and the England-Spain team sheet with Saka, Myles and Konsa starting (Reddit 1, 2).
