Kai Havertz (£7.5m), Bukayo Saka (£9.5m) and Martin Odegaard (£6.5m) all scored in the Gameweek 1 curtain-raiser on Friday, as Arsenal coasted to a comfortable 3-0 win over Coventry City.
Here are our Scout Notes from the game, with stats from our FPL Toolkit.
TZOLIS WATCH
Christos Tzolis (£6.5m) banked six points for his 25% ownership on Friday, but it could easily have been more.
In a comfortable night’s work for Arsenal, the Greek winger was directly involved in seven shots (four of his own, three created for others).
Above: Arsenal’s leading players for shots in Gameweek 1
Tzolis, who was one of Arsenal’s standout players in pre-season, was full of industry and invention from the outset.
Although none of his shots found the back of the net, he did supply an assist when Saka swept home from close range after Coventry ‘keeper Carl Rushworth (£4.5m) failed to grasp his low cross.
Tzolis won’t face the Sky Blues every week. However, given the departure of Leandro Trossard and the uncertain future of Gabriel Martinelli (£6.5m), who wasn’t in the matchday squad here, his prospects look positive.
“I love that a player who has only been with us a few weeks gets this kind of energy whenever he’s on the ball, and I think he’s earned it. I think the way he has performed the last few games has been phenomenal; what he transmits as a player – so direct, constantly incisive and wants to make things happen. He has an incredible variety of actions in the last 30 metres to decide and make the right decisions – even when the spaces are really small. I’m really impressed with him.” – Mikel Arteta on Christos Tzolis
ODEGAARD HAUL, FULL-BACKS ADVANCED
As for Odegaard, he ran the show for Arsenal and looked equally sharp.
His performance in the Community Shield last week had hinted at what was ahead. But it felt like he stepped up another level here, with his right-sided partnership with Ben White (£5.5m) and Saka really catching the eye.
“That’s the goal. Last season was a big struggle for me. I had too many injuries and a lot of weird situations and bad luck. I could never find a rhythm — it’s hard when you’re going in and out [of the team], and sometimes you’re playing not 100% fit. It was hard but I feel good now. My body is good, I had a good summer, a good World Cup, a good pre-season and I’m feeling 100% which always helps. I feel great.” – Martin Odegaard
Odegaard and White, who assisted the Norwegian’s second-half strike, both earned bonus and 11 points each.
White took up some really advanced positions, just like Riccardo Calafiori (£5.5m) on the other side.
Both full-backs banked assists, with the Italians coming from a crisp pass into Havertz after some poor Coventry defending.
“It’s in relation to the opponent’s behaviour, to try to cause them problems so they’re hard for the opponents to handle, they are a big threat in the opponent’s box so we need to use them.” – Mikel Arteta on his full-backs positioning
Above: Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori’s touch heatmaps in Gameweek 1
ARTETA ON BRUNO G
Mikel Arteta made two alterations to his side from last week’s win over Manchester City: Declan Rice (£7.5m) and Saka in for Bruno Guimaraes (£7.0m) and Noni Madueke (£6.5m).
Guimaraes missed out completely after coming off at half-time in Cardiff with a groin issue.
“We expect him not to be out for weeks. Let’s see how he evolves this week – he wanted to carry on and that’s when you start to understand the character of the player, but I don’t expect that to be a big issue.” – Mikel Arteta on Bruno Guimaraes
Despite their truncated pre-seasons, Rice and Saka looked really lively and lasted 67 minutes before they were both handed partial breathers by Arteta.
Notably, they took all of Arsenal’s corners, with Tzolis not involved.
Prior to kick-off, new £55m arrival Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) was introduced on the pitch. He now looks set to be in contention for next Monday’s trip to former club Aston Villa.
“Depth and quality. Obviously, we were extremely short in the defensive line with the injuries of Wilo [Saliba] and Jurrien [Timber]. We only have four, sometimes five, players in the defensive line, so it was a huge risk to take so we were trying to recruit.” – Mikel Arteta on Ezri Konsa
COVENTRY ERRORS, AWONIYI DEBUT
In the end, it turned into a bit of a training exercise for Arsenal. However, Coventry’s poor defending certainly didn’t help the visitors.
Frank Lampard’s men started reasonably well, but Milan van Ewijk (£4.0m) and Rushworth both made costly errors in the first-half, as Arsenal raced into a 2-0 lead.
“The goals we conceded were not great for us.” – Frank Lampard
Thankfully, they won’t face Arsenal every week.
Indeed, Coventry host fellow new boys Hull City next weekend, with heightened interest in that clash for Gameweek 2 Bench Boosters.
Bobby Thomas (£4.0m) was the busiest of the Coventry defenders on Friday. He was the only player from either side to bank defensive contribution (DefCon) points:
Coventry hardly laid a glove on Arsenal, having generated only 0.2 expected goals (xG).
Jack Rudoni (£5.0m), a late substitute as he returns to full fitness, probably had the visitors’ best opportunity, but his weak header went straight at David Raya (£6.0m).
Meanwhile, Ellis Simms (£5.0m) kept his place up top. However, another substitute, Taiwo Awoniyi (£5.5m), caused more problems upon his introduction. You’d assume he’ll be a starter sooner or later.
