Arsenal are faced with a daunting start to their Premier League title challenge this season, starting at Old Trafford against Manchester United.
The Gunners have finished second for three consecutive campaigns, but Mikel Arteta will want to replicate Arsene Wenger by making the fourth time the charm.
A trip to Old Trafford set up a difficult opening clash, with both teams bringing in some new faces to their teams.
Arsenal signings Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi were the two main changes to the team, as the manager looks to evolve his team into their next phase.
While there were those switches, there is one thing that looks all too familiar from the Gunners that won’t be changing any time soon.
- READ MORE: Jurrien Timber has noticed four things about Viktor Gyokeres that will make Arsenal a ‘big threat’
Arsenal exploited Manchester United’s set-piece weakness again
Plenty of talk surrounding Arsenal heading into the season has been on their ability to create chances and score goals.
Too many draws last season cost the Gunners points in important matches, with a certain bluntness shown at times in front of goal.
While there is a hope that it can improve, Arteta has shown that there is still one part of the plan that won’t change.
Arsenal’s set-pieces have been pinpointed as a threat for some time, and it emerged once again as Riccardo Calafiori opened the scoring at Old Trafford.
An in-swinging corner met the hand of Altay Bayindir, but he could only palm it to the defender for an easy header.
It was the third time in the past four goals against Man United that Arsenal have scored from a set-piece, all three coming from defenders.
Given the importance of set-pieces last season, it’s clear that the strength won’t be ignored, but rather will be added to other ways to score.
The work from set-piece coach Nicolas Jover hasn’t gone unnoticed, and there’s another weapon in the team’s armoury for that.
- READ MORE: Arsenal academy product makes a statement on Premier League debut, Bukayo Saka and Ian Wright react
Arsenal won’t speed up from set-pieces despite complaints
Another thing that Arsenal seemingly won’t change is their speed from set-pieces, which has been described as slow.
The Gunners appear to like taking their time with perfecting positions they take up from corners and free-kicks.
Gary Neville criticised Arsenal’s set-piece speed last season, believing that they took too long to get the game restarted.
However, Arsenal didn’t make any tweaks to their speed and looked even slower in some aspects, with the addition of their long throws.
Last season saw the Gunners start to use those opportunities, but both Ben White and Calafiori have clearly been practising them.
Expect even more slow play from those positions.
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