Arteta's vision for Arsenal at a crossroads after Edu exit

Arsenal have become unaccustomed to being underdogs.

- RICHARD JOLLY

But, for the second time in a few days, they may kick off as outsiders at the weekend. A side who were top of the table for 248 days in 2022-23 now find themselves the second club in the capital in the standings. "The way we played tonight, the team can go to Chelsea and win,” Mikel Arteta nonetheless declared after defeat to Inter Milan left him with back-to-back reverses.

The table as it stands is more likely to be an early-season anomaly rather than a sign of a decisive shift in the balance of power. And yet there is also the possibility Arsenal have peaked without quite reaching the desired heights. One interpretation of their awkward start to the season is that the effort of going toe to toe with Manchester City in successive seasons has taken its toll. It did on Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, too, but only after they had become domestic and European champions.

For Arteta’s Arsenal, the comparisons with Anfield past could instead be with the sides of Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez, who seemed primed to take the final step but regressed when they needed to progress.

Arsenal’s own past has assumed a renewed significance this week. Edu’s status as an Invincible lent a romantic air to their renaissance: until, suddenly, he was gone, headhunted by Evangelos Marinakis, taking control of a broader group of clubs, maybe doubling his salary. There was no such role for the Brazilian to fill at the Emirates Stadium but, startlingly as Nottingham Forest have started, there is a temptation to think he is trading down.