Arsenal vs Manchester City: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis, Premier League 2018/19

#5 A day of Premier League debuts at Arsenal

Stephan Lichtsteiner had to come in and play as a left-back on his Arsenal debut

Emery was not the only person making his Arsenal bow. A first fixture against the defending champions that had broken records and won 100 points last season was always going to be tough on the new Spanish manager but it wasn't all bad news for his debutants.

Among the new signings who started were veteran centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos and young midfielder Matteo Geundouzi. While Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi will have a lot to discuss, Guendouzi gave a decent account of himself for a 19-year-old player who was playing in Ligue 2 just a few months ago.

The youngster always made himself available for a pass and looked to control the tempo of the game. There were a couple of nervous moments but he has time on his side and he even took the initiative to start a couple of attacks.

Right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner was forced to come on after Maitland-Niles injured himself in the first half and was asked to play in the unfamiliar role of left-back. The experienced Swiss defender was quite solid at the back and even looked to combine with Ozil on the left flank in attack while also bringing some steel to the defence in set pieces.

Lucas Torreira was given 20 minutes to announce himself to the Emirates crowd and he earned their appreciation by charging down 50-50 balls and almost getting an assist from very deep when he released Aubameyang who was eventually flagged offside.

All in all, the new players will take time to bed in and Arsenal will count themselves lucky not to have been mauled by a City team that is also only just warming up in their title defence.