Arsenal were nowhere near their best against Manchester United in their Premier League opener.
A fixture between the two historic English clubs is always an exciting watch, and the Gunners went into that game as the favourites.
Mikel Arteta’s men picked up all three points, which they will be delighted with, but the performance was just not good enough.
Arsenal will have to fare much better if they want to be champions, especially as both Manchester City and Liverpool looked good in attack in their opening games.
Gary Neville doubles down on his Arsenal Premier League prediction
Arsenal have been in the Premier League title race in each of the last three seasons.
The Gunners have come close to the big prize, but for one reason or another, they have ended up as the runners-up in all of those campaigns.
The next step for Arteta and his men is to win the Premier League title, and Gary Neville predicted that Arsenal would become the champions all the way back in June (The Overlap US).
After watching the North Londoners’ performance against Manchester United on the opening day, many people have made up their minds that Arsenal will not win the league this season.
However, Neville has doubled down on his prediction and claimed that the Gunners will pip Manchester City and Liverpool to the crown in May.
He said on Sky Sports: “Honestly, I couldn’t separate them, so I just went with the team I’ve been going for over the last three years, feeling that they are very reliable, solid and consistent, which I think is important.
“They are consistently getting high points totals and finished second to great teams – Liverpool and City. I think, for me, they’ve improved themselves.
“Viktor Gyokeres, I wasn’t actually negative about Gyokeres at all.. I saw some things in that game… I thought De Ligt did well against him, De Ligt had a fantastic match, but there were moments where he was a bit uncomfortable with him, he was wrestling with him, and I think he will do well for Arsenal.
“Martin Zubimendi didn’t have his best game, but I think he will slot in well. Declan Rice couldn’t have been any worse. I think Arsenal have got the right material. They just have to sort the forward bit of the pitch out, and I think Gyokeres will.”
Mikel Arteta applauds the fans after Arsenal's Premier League match against Everton.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Arsenal showed their strongest trait against Manchester United
Every Arsenal player will put their hands up and admit that they were really poor against Manchester United.
As Ruben Amorim claimed after the game, the Red Devils were the better side and deserved to win the clash at Old Trafford.
However, what Arsenal showed once again was their incredible defensive prowess. William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes were not at their best, but they still managed to keep the opposition attackers at bay.
Those two centre-halves, combined with David Raya’s brilliance in goal, make Arsenal an incredibly difficult team to score against.
That is why they will be in the title race again this season, and if they can find a way to be efficient at the other end of the pitch in every game, they have every chance of going all the way.