Arsenal are looking to go toe-to-toe with Manchester City yet again this season in a race towards the Premier League title.
Mikel Arteta has brought his side close in the past few years, finishing runners-up in back-to-back campaigns.
The Gunners have incrementally improved on their points tally each season too, but still need that bit extra to beat Pep Guardiola.
Many Arsenal fans will be hoping to go one further this time around and they have every chance of doing just that.
With Edu Gaspar helping to build a squad which can compete at the very top level, it seems as though the Emirates Stadium is merely waiting for that Premier League trophy to arrive one day soon.
It seems as though the team can finally match Man City on relatively even terms once again.
Darren Bent discusses Arsenal and Man City squad physicality
Following the close of the summer transfer market, former Premier League striker Darren Bent has discussed the Arsenal squad.
The ex-forward believes that the Gunners are now on par with title rivals Manchester City when it comes to height and physicality.
It’s something which harks back to the intimidation set by Arsene Wenger and his title-winning teams of old.
Speaking on Premier League productions, Bent said: “I always think about great Arsenal sides, and one thing about them, they were always physically big.
“I remember standing in the tunnel and looking at the Arsenal team and thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, how are we supposed to compete with those?’ It almost feels like Arsenal are going back to that.
“You look at Declan [Rice], Gabriel [Magalhaes], [William] Saliba, now [Mikel] Merino, all big. Even Kai Havertz. Big characters.
“I almost feel like they are matching City in that respect. Manchester City, they are a big side as well. Options I think for Arsenal are the most important thing.”
It’s part of the squad planning that has clearly been implemented at London Colney as the team looks to compete across all competitions.
Arsenal and the importance of duels
Arteta has often been linked with the idea of winning duels in key areas of the pitch, implementing that idea at Arsenal as a coach.
It’s something that is clearly important, with the squad being geared towards that more physical side of the game, while there is still plenty of quality.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot possibly put it best as he said earlier this season: “First thing I said was we don’t have to speak about tactics if we lose so many duels and that’s what we did.”
It highlights the importance of dominating areas of the pitch if you want to control games, more so than holding possession in a certain way.
Once that control kicks in and those key duels are won, then the tactics of breaking down a side can be implemented.
It’s something that Arsenal and Manchester City do well, with others looking to follow.
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