Mikel Arteta could scarcely have imagined a more impressive start to the campaign for his Arsenal side. They matched a club-record streak of eight consecutive clean sheets with Tuesday's 3-0 Champions League triumph over Slavia Prague away from home.
Soaring in both European competition and the Premier League, cautious optimism that this might finally be Arsenal's season continues to grow amongst supporters in the red half of north London. The painful memories of previous campaigns will inevitably linger in fans' thoughts, however. And Gary Neville anticipates a possible stumbling block ahead of Saturday evening's fixture at Sunderland, who occupy an impressive fourth position in the standings after 10 matches. A recognisable figure will be facing them in Granit Xhaka, who has revealed new insights into the impact Arteta had on him - whilst a current Gunners player is providing his manager with something of a selection headache.
Neville predicts dropped points
Only Liverpool and Manchester City have claimed points against the table-toppers thus far, but Neville believes Sunderland - who remain undefeated on home turf - could join that exclusive club at the Stadium of Light.
The Manchester United legend remarked on the Stick to Football podcast: "They're awkward Sunderland, aren't they? I'll go with 1-1. I don't really know why I've done that – I fancy Arsenal but Sunderland are tough there."
The Gunners head into the match as overwhelming favourites based on their recent form, though historically it's this type of fixture that may have proven problematic for them. The clash therefore represents a genuine examination of their title credentials.
Arteta's first act revealed
Xhaka will undoubtedly draw upon the insights gained whilst working alongside Arteta to challenge the Spaniard when Sunderland visit this weekend. The Swiss midfielder praised his former manager ahead of their upcoming encounter, remembering the instant impression he made at the training ground upon his appointment back in 2019.
"I will never forget the first day Mikel came in," Xhaka told the Athletic. "At the training ground, we had a big room and there were some chairs in there, but the chairs were everywhere - chaos. He took all the people who were working in the building into this room and said, 'Guys, from the outside, you look like this. Chaos.'
"So everyone takes a chair and puts it in the right place and he says, 'I want you to be like this every day.' You think, 'Wow,' he's started already with these standards - the first day. After that, he was building our mentality, standards in training, pre-training, activation, recovery. He brought people in who did a great job. It was unbelievable to work with him because he saw football in a different way."
Record-breaking Hincapie
Arsenal's defensive options have been significantly strengthened, with Piero Hincapié emerging as a standout performer since his summer loan arrival from Bayer Leverkusen, which includes a £45million purchase option. The defender broke a decade-long record in Prague, becoming the first Arsenal player in the last 10 seasons to contest eight or more duels in a European match whilst winning them all.
Miguel Angel Ramirez, who handed him his professional debut at Independiente del Valle, won't have been surprised by this achievement. "He was breaking the GPS data every single day," Ramirez told Sky Sports about the then 17-year-old Hincapié, now 23. "Piero was more ready. He was amazing physically, a beast, much better than any professional in the first team. He was really impressive technically and tactically as well."
With Riccardo Calafiori establishing himself at left-back and Myles Lewis-Skelly also competing for game time, Arteta faces a welcome selection dilemma as fixtures intensify following the international break into the Christmas period.