Arsenal top six rival analysis: Man United, Tottenham, West Ham, Leicester & more

7. Leicester

Arsenal not having any European football this season is what gives them the edge over their fellow European rivals, with West Ham, Leicester and Manchester United all having to contend with midweek football. Lucky them.

Of those sides, none have suffered as much as a result of Leicester. Unfortunately, they are at serious risk of missing out on the knockout stages with tough matches to come in order to get out of their group.

Where they look weakest this season is at the back. Still boasting a strong attack – as the Gunners saw – with Jamie Vardy scoring and Patson Daka finding his feet, they will pose most sides issues going forward. But it can’t be understated how damaging losing Wesley Fofana has been for them.

If they are to exit the Europa League at the group stages then it could benefit them in the long-term as they push for a European berth in the league. They haven’t clicked yet but should they sort out their defence then they have every chance of embarking on a similarly decent stretch of form as they did last season.

Mind you, they’ve also bottled finishing in the top four in two successive campaigns and those demons are hard to shake. With just four wins from their opening ten league matches they have some way to go.

It would, however, be wrong to discount them so soon into the campaign.