Manchester City 5-0 Arsenal | 5 Talking Points | EPL 2020/21

#3 Cedric is Arsenal’s worst RB

Manchester City v Arsenal - Premier League

When Cedric was signed to a four-year deal, Mikel Arteta said he was the best offensive right-back Arsenal have. Fast forward to August 2021 and the Portuguese international is one of the biggest liabilities in the entire squad. Today, up against a buoyant Jack Grealish and the effervescent Joao Cancelo, the 29-year-old didn’t stand a chance. On defense, he was a target and going forward he was ineffective, as was the whole team.

I'd love to know what Cédric Soares did during his two months on loan to earn a four-year contract at Arsenal. Was it something in training? Was it something during a game? Or was it something more subtle like telling Arteta his hair looked nice today?

— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) August 28, 2021

In a disastrous performance, Cedric had 31 touches of the ball, won 0/8 duels, made an error leading to a goal, got dribbled past once, misplaced nine passes and averaged a shocking 44% pass accuracy. At this point, Arteta may as well recall Hector Bellerin, a man he’s left out of the squad two weeks in a row.

#2 Granit Xhaka loses his head

Manchester City v Arsenal - Premier League

How many times must a player let down a club before he’s deemed as not good enough? Arsenal Football Club is the only club in the world where failure gets rewarded. The Gunners had the chance to sell Granit Xhaka for £12m to Roma this summer, instead, they rejected the offer and tied him down to a new contract. After announcing that earlier in the week, the Swiss international ushered in a new era with the fourth red card of his PL career.

Luckily for Arsenal, starting a match with Granit Xhaka means you’re playing with 10 men anyway

— Chris Dixon (@chrismd10) August 28, 2021

With his team 2-0 down, Arsenal needed the 28-year-old to show leadership and steer the younger ones in the squad through a tough time. Instead, the midfielder completely lost his head and launched a two-footed lunge on Joao Cancelo. Although there was not much contact on the City player, the red card was still warranted. In the modern game, you cannot go into tackles with two feet off the ground, it’s reckless, uncalled for and downright stupid.

#1 Arsenal through the numbers

West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal - Carabao Cup Second Round

It’s the 28th of August and Arsenal have still not won a single PL game, nor have they scored a goal. In fact, the Gunners have only managed seven shots on target across those three games. The numbers don’t get any more alarming than that.

On paper, this is the joint-worst start to a Premier League season for any club in history. Mikel Arteta has seemingly made it his mission to break as many records as possible. This is the first time Arsenal have lost their opening three league matches of a season since 1955.

Pep running to his interview to tell the world Arteta is a fantastic manager that needs time pic.twitter.com/7xGykrf1YC

— Arsenal Presser (@APresserV2) August 28, 2021

Last season, Arsenal were lambasted for their inability to score but this season, they’re neither unable to score or defend. Not only did they ship five goals at the Etihad, but they also conceded 25 shots, the most they’ve ever faced under Arteta in the league. In the attack, they attempted just one shot. Arsenal are bad but the numbers suggest they’re diabolical.