The loss to Liverpool has certainly made things more complicated, but Arsenal still have a great chance to win the Premier League this season.
Moreover, despite the narrative some in the media are seemingly desperate to spin, Mikel Arteta's side were just as good as the defending champions, and were it not for a freak free-kick, would be level on points with them.
That said, while the Gunners were defensively excellent against the Reds, they were a little underwhelming in attack, although Viktor Gyokeres didn't really get the service he needed to make an impact.
Gyokeres-Arsenal
Fortunately, the team will only grow more familiar with his fame in the coming weeks and months, and if his form over the last few seasons is anything to go by, he should be scoring for fun in no time at all.
With that said, Arsenal may well have been able to save the £68m they spent on him had they not sold a youngster a few windows ago.
Why Arsenal splashed the cash on Gyokeres
While there were several problems Arsenal had to contend with last season, from chance creation to a never-ending list of injuries, one of the big ones was simply putting the ball in the back of the net.
Sporting CP's Viktor Gyokeres celebrates scoring their third goal to complete his hat-trick
Sporting CP's Viktor Gyokeres celebrates scoring their third goal to complete his hat-trick
So, if you were Andrea Berta and you wanted to help solve that problem, you'd probably go out and sign the most prolific player in the world last year, which is precisely what he did.
From January 1 to December 31, 2024, Gyokeres scored a staggering 36 goals in the league alone, more than any other player in any other top-flight league around the world.
Perhaps even more impressive than that, though, is the fact that the Swedish "powerhouse," as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, scored a staggering 54 goals and provided 13 assists across 52 appearances last season.
In other words, the 27-year-old international averaged 1.28 goal involvements every game, which is nothing short of miraculous.
Gyokeres 2024-25 season in numbers (timeless) (1)
In all, it's not his build-up play nor his passing ability that caused Arsenal to splash the cash on Gyokeres; it was his unreal ability to wallop the ball in the back of the net.
Yet, while his transfer will probably work out, it might not have been necessary had Arteta and Co shown faith in a former youngster at the club.
The Arsenal youngster who could have been their homegrown Gyokeres
For all the talents that have made it into the first team over recent years, such as Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skell and Bukayo Saka, Arsenal have let their fair share of young stars leave.
The likes of Donyell Malen and Eberechi Eze were let go as youngsters, but in this instance, we are talking about Mika Biereth.
The Danish poacher joined the club's youth setup from Fulham in the summer of 2021 and, within a few years, had been out on several loans, the most successful of which was at Sturm Graz, who he was sold to for around £4m in the summer of 2024.
mika-biereth-as-monaco
To say the 22-year-old hit the ground running upon making the permanent move would be a massive understatement, as in the first half of this season, he ended up scoring 14 goals and providing five assists in 25 appearances.
Such an awe-inspiring start to the campaign was more than enough to convince AS Monaco to spend just north of £10m on him in the winter window.
Despite now playing in a top-five league for the first time, the "outrageous" talent, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, thrived on the French Riviera, scoring 13 goals and providing three assists in 19 appearances, totalling 1366 minutes.
In other words, the free-scoring forward, whom Arteta sold for a pittance, scored 27 goals and provided eight assists in just 44 appearances, totalling 3337 minutes last season.
Biereth in 24/25
Appearances
Minutes
Goals
Assists
Goals Involvements per Mat
Minutes per Goal Involvement
All Stats via Transfermarkt
That comes out to a monstrous average of a goal involvement every 1.25 games, or every 95.34 minutes across the 24/25 campaign.
Now, we are not claiming that Biereth would be as good a striker for the Gunners as Gyokeres could end up being this summer, but it's clear that they probably would have been better off keeping him around.
mika-biereth-as-monaco
AS Monaco's Mika Biereth celebrates.
After all, his output last season was undeniably Gyokeres-esque.