Positives and negatives as Gyökeres starts in Arsenal’s 3

Positive 3 - Max Dowman continued to impress

Max Dowman has been the standout player of pre-season by some distance and he showed exactly why at the Emirates this evening. Coming on as a second half substitute for Saka, he gave Pau Navarro a torrid time much to the delight of the home fans.

Dowman won the penalty which Odegaard converted to make it 3-2 after moving the ball quickly and getting tripped by Navarro.

Then he showed bags of confidence, great technique, and tactical awareness in and out of possession. It might be difficult for Arteta to refrain from over-playing Dowman this season – he is that good.

However, Arsenal fans must appreciate that Dowman is still very young and his development must be managed extremely carefully.

Negative 3 - Losing is a bad habit to get into, even during pre-season

Although it was great to see all of the new signings getting some minutes in-front of the home fans today, losing two matches on the bounce is quite a negative.

Whilst everybody appreciates that pre-season is mostly about fitness, neither players, managers, or fans like to lose.

If winning is a habit, losing can quickly become a habit too. Saturday's Emirates Cup match at home to Athletic Club becomes more significant for that reason. As Arteta's starting eleven for the opening match of the season becomes ever clearer, fans will hope that the team are not heading to Old Trafford on the back of three pre-season defeats in a row.