Arsenal: champions, second on goal difference, off to Anfield

Arsenal are second on 21 points, level with Manchester City, with Mikel Arteta's champions at Liverpool on Sunday. Form, players, money and the season so far.

Arsenal are champions, and on Tuesday a League Two side knocked them out of the League Cup.

That is the whole mood of their season so far: dominant where it counts, awkward where it does not. In the league they have won seven of eight, lost only at Brighton (3-0 on 19 September) and sit second on 21 points, level with leaders Manchester City, who have the better goal difference (+10 to +8) but have played a game more, according to the BBC table.

The man and the men

Mikel Arteta is still in charge, and the defence is still the identity. Gabriel Magalhães and David Raya lead Arsenal's Fantasy Premier League points, each with five clean sheets in eight league games. Declan Rice has four assists. Bukayo Saka has three goals but has a thigh injury, and the Guardian reports Arteta does not expect him back until after the international break. Christos Tzolis, the £34m summer arrival from Club Brugge, is a Fantasy Premier League doubt with a hamstring problem.

The money, briefly

Kroenke Sports & Entertainment own the club, with Stan and Josh Kroenke as co-chairmen. The summer was busy but not reckless: roughly £199.9m spent against £116.8m in sales, per Wikipedia's tally. Bruno Guimarães cost a reported £75m from Newcastle, Ezri Konsa about £55m from Aston Villa. Out went Gabriel Martinelli to Al-Hilal for £60m, the biggest sale in Arsenal's history. A net outlay near £83m is modest for a champion with a Champions League budget to defend.

How it has gone

They opened with a 3-0 Community Shield win over Manchester City, then beat Coventry by the same score. Konsa, a Villa player in July, scored his first Arsenal goal against Everton last Saturday. In the Champions League they have beaten Napoli 1-0 and Lille 3-0 and drawn 2-2 at Bayern Munich.

The cup tie was the stumble. Arsenal drew 1-1 at Fleetwood Town and lost the shootout 5-3. Sixteen-year-old Max Dowman was sent off in the 85th minute and faces a three-match ban. Arteta's public message, per BBC Sport: "we are not in Disneyland".

What to watch next

Liverpool away on Sunday at 16:30. The Guardian notes Arsenal have not won a league game at Anfield in 13 attempts. Paul Merson is picking Liverpool on Sky Sports. Then comes Slavia Prague in the Champions League on Wednesday, and Hull City at the Emirates on 7 November.

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