Arsenal's Premier League title rivals Liverpool would have put four or five goals past Manchester United on Sunday, and the Gunners' performance was far from a typical Mikel Arteta display, Charles Watts has told Sports Mole.
The perennial second-placed finishers began their bid for 2025-26 top-flight glory with a 1-0 victory over the Red Devils at Old Trafford, where Riccardo Calafiori's header from a first-half corner made the difference, but their performance left a lot to be desired.
Arsenal had just 39% of the ball at the Theatre of Dreams, in addition to generating just nine shots to Man United's 22, as newly-signed Red Devils duo Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo sought to run the Gunners' defence ragged all afternoon.
Arsenal were indebted to a man-of-the-match display from David Raya, but they nevertheless came away with a hard-earned three points, and expert Watts has affirmed that the performance mattered little so long as the scoreline in the top left-hand corner favoured Arteta's side.
“Brilliant result," Watts said. "Yes, the performance wasn't great, but result-wise, superb. Old Trafford has just been a miserable, miserable place for Arsenal over the years. Arsenal very much spoilt the party.
“There was a lot of narrative about the money United spent. This was going to be a new Man United. The excitement levels were there; you could hear it in the crowd, they were up for it. The new players were up for it. And Arsenal won. It's a fantastic result to start the season.
Man United 0-1: "All about the result" for Arteta
Riccardo Calafiori and Declan Rice celebrate after scoring for Arsenal on August 17, 2025
“Given the start Arsenal have got as well, how difficult the fixtures are in the next month or so, it was so important to get some points on the board early. You could see how happy Mikel Arteta was afterwards. It was all about the result at the weekend and Arsenal got that.”
Arteta started 10 of the 11 players who were named in the first XI for the 3-0 Emirates Cup win over Athletic Bilbao two weekends ago, including new signing Viktor Gyokeres, who joined forces with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli in the final third.
Behind them, captain and creator-in-chief Martin Odegaard led a few promising forays forward, but the Norwegian only managed to create one chance and lost possession 18 times as the final pass often eluded him.
As Man United committed bodies forward, Arsenal were not bereft of chances to hit the Red Devils on the counter-attack - situations that Gyokeres thrived in for Sporting Lisbon - but the Swede was either wasteful on the ball himself or did not receive the required service from his teammates.
Had the Gunners made the most of those situations, they could have put the tie to bed in the first half - Watts feels - and Arteta has been warned that Arsenal's title rivals will not be so profligate.
“It was a very different performance, especially the first half," Watts added. "They didn't create that much, but they should have done. The amount of transition moments they had, breakaways, three-on-threes, four-on-fours, and they just got it wrong each time in terms of the runs or the final pass. Mikel called it a basketball game afterwards and that's what it was. And that's not typical Arsenal.
Man United 0-1 Arsenal: "Liverpool would have scored four or five"
Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres on August 17, 2025
“You go back to last season's games - it was attack against defence. It was low block and the team struggling to break that low block down. It didn't feel like that at the weekend. The second half, Arsenal sorted themselves out a little bit; the basketball style nature of the game wasn't quite as apparent. Arsenal looked a lot more comfortable at the back.
“But first off, it was a different sort of Arsenal. They attack differently and it's very much a work in progress. If that is how Arsenal are going to play, especially away from home, they're definitely going to have to get better at taking advantage of those situations.
“There were literally about six or seven really good opportunities in the game, and not one of them even led to a shot on goal, which was remarkable. And everyone was running in the same direction, very narrow, weren't stretching the play. I'm sure the coaching staff will be looking at those situations.
“We cannot afford not to take advantage of these situations if we get into them. Arsenal could have had that game out of sight in the first half of the season. Liverpool would have scored four or five that day, no doubt about it.”
Next up for Arsenal is a friendlier home fixture against newly-promoted Leeds United on Saturday evening, where Gyokeres may face renewed competition from Kai Havertz for the number nine role.
However, an Arsenal legend recently told Sports Mole that there were two pleasing aspects of Gyokeres's performance at Old Trafford, while also highlighting the poor starts Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp endured at Highbury.
> Click here to listen to the full Man United 0-1 Arsenal reaction
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