Premier League 2018-19: Arsenal season preview

Arsenal Football club has gone through a major change in management in the past few months. There is optimism around the club ever since the arrival of former PSG boss Unai Emery.

The Gunners finished 6th in the Premier league last year, much lower than everybody's expectations. Can the new boss turn things around?

What are the changes since last year?

There have been a few important changes in the club's management. Emery was announced as the Head Coach, while former club captain Per Mertesacker was announced as the new academy coach and Sven Mislintat as Head of recruitment.

Emery also cleared the back room staff, adding Juan Carcedo as the Assistant Head coach and Pablo Villanueva as the first team coach.

What are the transfer market updates?

Emery has done plenty of transfer business since his arrival at the club. Last season, the first team was short of defensive recruits and they managed only 11 clean sheets. There have been measures implemented to correct that.

Goalkeeper Bernd Leno has joined Arsenal from Bayer Leverkusen, Greek defender Sokratis has joined from Borrusia Dortmund, midfielder Lucas Torreira has joined from Sampodria, veteran defender Stephen Lichsteiner has joined from Juventus and young midfielder Matteo Guendouzi has joined from Lorient FC.

It can be argued that Arsenal still needs experienced defensive recruits, but who are we to decide?

Defensively, this team fits a 3-4-3 formation with the central defensive midfielder falling into the back line and the full backs pushing into the final third.

What can we expect from Unai Emery's style of play?

Emery has been known to set up his team in the 4-3-3 formation. His PSG and Sevilla teams were seen to counter-attack in numbers; he likes to press higher up the pitch and play one touch football.

As far as football is considered, his teams have usually played beautiful, entertaining football.

Who are the players to watch out for?

The attacking prowess of Arsenal as a whole is to watch out for, with Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan, Ozil and Lacazette in the forward ranks.

The defensive midfielder Torriera needs to be the linking piece of Arsenal's transition from defense to attack. Moreover, youngster Matteo Guendouzi has had a terrific pre-season and has caught eyes of Arsenal supporters.

Petr Cech faces tough competition for the goalkeeping spot from the new signing Bernd Leno, and that will surely be a battle to watch.

Premier League Expectations: Top 4

Transfer market activity: 8/10