Change of style ecpected from Arsenal tomorrow

By Danong 

Arsenal kick off their title defence on Friday night with a clash against Coventry.

A convincing 3-0 Community Shield win over Manchester City last weekend should have set the tone for how this season ought to pan out.

The Gunners ought to be dangerously sharp in tearing apart opponents while also being rock-solid and impossible to break down.

While Frank Lampard and his side will be looking to upset Arsenal, Mikel Arteta will be looking to stretch his brilliant record against the Chelsea legend.

In the six meetings between the two, Arteta has won four times, drawn once and lost once.

Keen to protect that record and to send a message to the rest of the League, the Spaniard will be setting his team up for a more open attacking display aiming for as big a win as possible. 

Arsenal are expected to welcome Bukayo Saka back into the starting line-up, though Declan Rice could be given more time to recover and may again feature as a second-half substitute.

The starting line-up should look like:

David Raya

White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori

Myles Lewis-Skelly, Guimaraes, Odegaard

Tzolis, Havertz, Saka

Arteta will also have a pretty decent bench to call upon should he need to switch things up. It will be interesting if Martinelli was on it...

Unfortunately, though, Arteta will still not be able to call upon Jurrien Timber and William Saliba, who both remain out injured. 

Understanding between the lines, during his game presser, these two maybe longer term absentees than we thought so. And this may explain our acquisition of Konsa...

Either way, Arsenal go into this game with a strong team and should have little trouble stretching their five-game winning run over Coventry to six.

Arteta makes Vinicius Jr a personal promise as Lewis-Skelly dilemma emerges

Arsenal are closing in on a deal for highly-rated Blackburn Rovers striker Igor Tyjon.

Alan Nixon claims that the Gunners are close to striking an agreement worth around £ 2 million for the eighteen-year-old to sign for them.

Tyjon will prove a fantastic addition to Arsenal's setup, as his pace, movement and eye for goal should see him excel.

Elsewhere, Manchester United look set to test Arsenal's resolve over Myles Lewis-Skelly.

The Red Devils are on the hunt for a left-back and a midfielder, and they may see Lewis-Skelly, capable in both positions, as a tempting transfer option.

Apparently, the suggestion is that a move for Bruno Guimaraes could block Lewis-Skelly's pathway at Arsenal. As a result, the player may grow keen on a move, and a tempting bid could see Arsenal sanction his departure.

However, having let Christian Nørgaard move to Everton, Guimarães would effectively be replacing him rather than Lewis-Skelly. Therefore, Lewis-Skelly should still stay, as he can play a key role. With plenty of games still to come, and with Declan Rice unlikely to feature heavily at the start of the season following a busy summer, Lewis-Skelly can prove useful.

Meanwhile, in pursuit of Real Madrid star man Vinícius Júnior, Arteta has personally told the Brazilian that his Arsenal project will be built around him.

Interestingly, this comes just days after we covered a piece revealing that the attacker had his team assess which club he fits best and Arsenal came out on top.