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3. Breaking down Arteta’s pecking order

While the game is difficult to analyse given its nature and the red card, Arteta’s team selection and substitutions do provide an insight into his thinking. And there are some intriguing conclusions to draw.

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Firstly, David Luiz is no longer a starter at centre-half. Pablo Mari and Shkodran Mustafi started together. Also in defence, Kieran Tierney slid straight into the starting XI at left-back before finishing the match at centre-back. He looked solid throughout.

In midfield, Mesut Ozil was absent from the squad entirely, which Arteta later said was due to ‘tactical reasons’, while Matteo Guendouzi started ahead of Dani Ceballos. Then, Arteta turned to Ainsley Maitland-Niles in central midfield. Maitland-Niles featured in central midfield in both warm-up friendlies and has waited patiently for his opportunity at the position. Perhaps now he will be given a chance to earn more minutes.

Finally, Eddie Nketiah started ahead of Alexandre Lacazette at centre-forward, Bukayo Saka started on the right flank, while Reiss Nelson was introduced ahead of Nicolas Pepe and Gabriel Martinelli. Of course, this is one match and there are lots of factors involved in these selection decisions. But Arteta did provide a little peek behind the curtain regarding his opinion of some of the players in the squad.