Arsenal have opened the season with two victories, teeing up a mouthwatering clash against title rivals Liverpool.
Riccardo Calafiori believes Arsenal can win silverware this season, and the start to the Premier League campaign suggests he may not be far wrong.
Two games, two wins, two clean sheets and six goals scored is a pretty impressive start for the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta even has a new signing to unleash after Arsenal completed the capture of Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace.
Eze’s Arsenal debut could come at Liverpool, as the Gunners travel to take on their title rivals at Anfield this weekend.
Arsenal’s preparations have been dealt a major blow, though, as both Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka picked up injuries against Leeds United.
Odegaard and Saka are both set to miss out against Liverpool, though their injuries do not appear to be long-term.
Gary Neville is backing Mikel Merino to replace Odegaard, believing that Arteta will prioritise physicality in midfield.
Eze may come in on the left flank, with Noni Madueke moving back over to the right side to replace Saka.
Madueke is a right-sided winger by trade, but operated down the left at times for Chelsea last season, and started there for Arsenal against Leeds.
Neville has told The Gary Neville Podcast that he actually thought Madueke came alive for Arsenal against Leeds when he replaced Saka on the right flank.
Neville noted that most wingers play on the opposite side to their stronger foot, and playing a left-footer like Madueke on the left flank just isn’t seen as often in the modern game.
The former United man is backing Madueke to start on the right at Liverpool, and feels that he looked ‘a lot better’ after switching flanks.
“I actually thought the minute Saka went off and Madueke went to the right-hand side, I thought, all of a sudden, he looked at home,” said Neville.
“It’s a strange phenomenon, isn’t it, to see a left-winger play on the left side of midfield; we don’t see that too much, they’re always opposite-footed wingers now.
“To see Madueke go over to that right-hand side on his left foot, I thought he looked a lot better,” he added.
Many Arsenal fans were sceptical about signing Madueke earlier in the summer window.
Some simply didn’t want to keep signing Chelsea players, but others had legitimate question marks over Madueke’s quality.
The belief was that Madueke would not improve Arsenal’s starting XI and was too expensive to simply come in as cover for Saka.
Well, just a few weeks into the new season, Madueke may now need to start in place of Saka in one of Arsenal’s biggest games of the season.
Ethan Nwaneri could have stepped up, but Arsenal can now call on a player with significant Premier League experience in Madueke.
The flexibility to play on either flank could be crucial over the course of the season, and Madueke will look to prove his doubters wrong with a big display at Anfield.
