Carragher: Gyokeres can't define Arsenal title charge, but 3 other players can

Mikel Arteta has more strength in depth than rivals Liverpool and Man City, and may not need a radical tactical shift.

Jamie Carragher shares his point of view for Arsenal's squad this season and also makes the prediction of match between Arsenal and Liverpool. Let's have a look!

Jamie Carragher:

Should Arsenal finally win the Premier League this season, their success will be built on the consistent excellence of William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães and David Raya, not the transformational qualities of new signing Viktor Gyokeres.

As Mikel Arteta’s side head to Anfield for the first title head-to-head, that observation is intended as a compliment to the brilliant central defensive duo and a fine goalkeeper, rather than a criticism of the £64m striker.

Two games into a season is no time for harsh judgments or sweeping generalisations, but the biggest takeaway of the opening fortnight is this: the key battleground appears to be between “typical Arsenal” and a different, transitional Liverpool.

That is one of the biggest reasons why there should be more confidence at the Emirates that this is their time. Arsenal have a great chance to win the league by doing the same things they have done for the past three years.

They need a final step, not a huge leap to get to their promised land. The ultimate triumph might be a consequence of being just a little better, or their closest rivals being ever so slightly worse.

Between 2022 and 2024, Arsenal scored 179 goals in their 76 Premier League fixtures – second only to Manchester City and hardly evidence of a side with serious attacking issues.

Last year’s drop-off when they scored 17 fewer than champions Liverpool led to the clamour for a No 9, who has duly arrived. Over the past 18 months, Arteta undoubtedly focused on making Arsenal more solid than flamboyant. So far, there is nothing to indicate he is rethinking that strategy. Gyokeres’s role is to help turn more of the 14 draws Arsenal suffered in 2024-25 into wins – that elusive final ingredient – rather than introduce a bold new tactical approach with a 25-goal a year striker.

That is why my suspicion is Kai Havertz would have started ahead of Gyokeres on Sunday but for injury. As the season progresses, it is hard to imagine a fully fit Havertz being relegated to a deputy for the biggest Premier League and Champions League games. Gyokeres has the look of a useful alternative – a different profile of striker offering a solution against the less fashionable teams as and when required – not an out-and-out replacement for the German.

No matter how many Gyokeres scores in his debut campaign, the true foundations of Arsenal’s title challenge are familiar.

Arsenal’s defence is a different level to any other current Premier League team. Raya is yet to be beaten, and despite all the premature hype about Manchester United’s improvement in the opening-day meeting at Old Trafford, at no stage did it look like Arsenal would concede.

Their set-piece acumen came to the fore after a frustrating 34 minutes against Leeds United last weekend, and overall they headed into this campaign with more strength in depth than Liverpool and Manchester City – for me the only other contenders.

Arteta cited injuries as the real reason why they finished last season 10 points adrift. The biggest worry for Arsenal fans must be that absences will be the most undermining factor again.

Havertz and Bukayo Saka are expected to miss the Liverpool game, with Martin Odegaard fighting to be fit. The same three key players were missing at critical moments of last season, too. Arsenal have reported 75 different injuries since the start of the 2023-24 campaign. The Premier League average over that period is 54.

There will come a point when questions will be asked – just as they justifiably were at times under Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool and Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur – as to whether injuries are due to bad luck or the intensity of the training sessions.

But for the injuries it would be an ideal time for Arsenal to go to Anfield.

Liverpool have to tighten up after porous start

At the beginning of last season’s title run-in, I declared the race was between Arsenal’s defence and Liverpool’s attack. Arne Slot was victorious because, ultimately, he had more firepower to enable his side to keep eking out wins, while the structure of the midfield trio and back four made them tough to beat.

The first two games have followed a similar attacking pattern, Liverpool winning against Bournemouth and Newcastle United with late goals. The champions are already the league’s top scorers.

The worry from a Liverpool perspective is in their efforts to become more clinical up front, their defence has consisted of Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk and nothing much else. Such is the pressure they have been under in their first two games, Liverpool are averaging 42 defensive clearances per game. Last season that figure was 18. They are proving far too easy to attack. That cannot continue if they want to keep their crown.

We are seeing the impact of Slot taking the team in an exciting direction while struggling to strike the right balance.

Everyone assumed Slot’s first season in England would trigger a period of acclimatisation. He inherited Klopp’s side and imposed his own blueprint based on controlled possession.

His current evolution of Liverpool resembles the Klopp side team prior to the sale of Philippe Coutinho in 2018, when the Brazilian played as a No 10 behind three attackers and the games were often frantic, end-to-end thrillers.

Liverpool’s summer recruitment drive has been focused almost entirely on attacking upgrades.

Slot’s expensive No 10, Florian Wirtz, is naturally more attacking than Dominik Szoboszlai, who thrived in a workmanlike role as the first line of defence more than as a creative force. It means others have to plug the gaps, especially when the wide men and full-backs are flying upfield.

Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong are more offensive than Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Hugo Ekitike is an improvement on Darwin Núñez, and the prime target of Alexander Isak is intended to offer the most lavish new striking option of all.

Slot has to fix tactical and structural problems. However, once the transfer window is closed and the season settles, you would imagine the champions will click. The world-class talent through the spine of Liverpool’s side is the reason why many still believe they are the favourites to retain their title.

An Arsenal win at Anfield could shift that opinion. Such a victory represents a statement at any moment of a season because of the psychological impact. If either side go into the international break with three wins from three, their belief will soar.

Much has been made of Arteta’s impressive league record against the rest of the Premier League’s so-called big six. He has not lost to Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur in the last 22 games.

With respect, only Liverpool and City have been title challengers in that period. It is more significant that Arteta is yet to win a Premier League fixture at Anfield or the Etihad in 11 attempts.

He does not need to win at either venue to lift the Premier League trophy. But he knows that until he does, the suspicion will linger that Arsenal are nearly, but not quite, where they need to be.

The overriding question going into this weekend is not only whether Arsenal are ready to win the title. We will have a clearer insight by Sunday evening into how ready Liverpool are to defend it.