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I got a massage on Friday evening. One hour of deep tissue bombardment, focused almost entirely on my upper back. At times the pain seared through my body so intensely that I felt tears welling up in my eyes. Don’t worry, it wasn’t a “something concerning is happening” sort of pain, but more the variety that accompanies healing. Like the reforming of bones after they’re broken or the retaliation of white blood cells against foreign bodies, the pulverizing of knots formed through months of hunching over screens and probably lying around too much required some agony. It was worth it, though. I walked back out into the world the most relaxed I’ve been in months. My shoulders felt lighter, the breeze on my face cooler, life more peaceful. I got an iced latte and a cake pop and strolled home, delightfully content. The thing is, though, I had already been waist-deep in a state of serenity when I showed up for my appointment. My whole day had been filled with calm. Because of Arsenal. Friday marked the beginning of the new Premier League campaign for the English champions. The Gunners hosted newly promoted Coventry City under the lights at the Emirates Stadium. And when that first starting lineup of the 2026/27 league season came out, I felt entirely at ease. Elsewhere in the league, transformations have been abound. This summer in England’s top flight, the winds of change howled furiously until they became a hurricane of upheaval. All of the other members of the “Big Six” have appointed new managers within the last year, and have each spent or are preparing to spend big in the transfer market (in some cases, it’s both). Change is exciting. It is often quite necessary. That was the case for each of Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Spurs this past offseason. But the thing about change that is too frequently overlooked is that it also produces a wide range of outcomes. Persist with the routine and the result is fairly predictable. Attempt an overhaul and your fate could be stunning success, catastrophic failure, or anything in between. We saw just how wildly fortunes can swing in the opening matchweek of the season. Manchester United, sporting debutants Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos at the base of midfield, deservedly lost 2-0 at Hull City on Saturday. Spurs, with Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, Andy Robertson, Sandro Tonali, and Mateus Fernandes all making their first competitive appearances for the club, were handed a thorough beating at Brentford just hours later. On paper, both sides had improved measurably. But out there on the pitch, it didn’t work. One way or another, the balance was off. Drastic makeovers are always encouraging in theory, but until that new team takes the pitch you just never know what you’re going to get. But with Arsenal, I was fairly confident regarding what would occur at home to Coventry. Only one new player started in the Gunners’ first lineup of the Premier League campaign. The rest were veterans, whom we watched just a few months ago as they lifted a trophy that had eluded us for 22 years. These were players who had undoubtedly earned our trust. So I was relaxed as I watched Mikel Arteta’s men warm up their engines to start the match. The champions just needed a second. And sure enough, they broke the deadlock after only 15 minutes. One goal became two and then three. On the opposite side of the ball, the visitors were kept producing hardly if any threatening moments. In the end, Arsenal’s first match in defense of their title was comfortable as can be. Ultimately, Spurs and United will obviously improve. They have other players coming in and will gel over time. And the Gunners will play far stronger opponents than Coventry. But this is a team with winner’s medals around their necks and belief in their hearts that they can do it again. They are unshackled by fear and look ready to simply get out there and do what needs to be done. And they’ll get better too. With all that in mind, it’s hard conjure stress right now. I’m sure that will rear its ugly head eventually, but for now, watching Arsenal feels like a massage for the soul. Ballers Christos Tzolis The first few matches I watched involving the Greek winger made me wonder if Arsenal had seized upon a bargain. Following his performance against Coventry, I’m now pondering whether Tzolis could be a full-blown revelation. He has gone from strength to strength incredibly quickly, never failing to impress in his first few games for the club. The Gunners’ no. 17 was instrumental in the champions’ first two goals. For the first it was Tzolis who won the ball off a defender before poking it to Riccardo Calafiori, who sweetly teed up Kai Havertz. His contribution was more direct for the second goal — Tzolis’ driven low cross was spilled by the Coventry keeper, allowing for Bukayo Saka to easily tap in from point-blank range. In addition to helping create goalscoring situations for his teammates, he tried equally hard to engineer opportunities for himself. Tzolis finished with eight touches in the opposition box and took four shots, both the most of any player to feature on Friday night. He also created three chances; the most impressive involved a smart run to the right flank and, once found by Declan Rice, a lovely first-time cross that found Saka directly in front of Coventry’s goal. Perhaps the best summation of his performance was how willing his teammates were to feed him. Time and time again, Tzolis received the ball on the left flank before turning and charging at Coventry’s defense. Almost every time he did so some moment of danger was created, be it a cross or a pass to the top of the box or a shot by the Greek. It just felt like every other highlight from the match came from something Tzolis did. All in all, it was a sensational showing. Martin Ødegaard The skipper also had an exceptional showing in the first Premier League game of the season. Of course, the headliner is the goal. Shortly after halftime Ødegaard latched onto a low ball across the box to put home Arsenal’s third goal of the game, just as he did against City in the Community Shield. Sure, he scuffed the shot and was fortunate it still got past the keeper, but I like to think he earned that. Because aside from getting on the score sheet, the captain continued to look back to his old self. He managed 72 touches of the ball, happy to take responsibility in possession. With that possession he achieved 52 accurate passes from 56 attempted, including six line-breaking passes, four passes into the final third, and three chances created. The Norwegian also had six touches in Coventry’s box. His play out of possession was highly encouraging as well. Ødegaard made three tackles over the course of his 76 minutes on the pitch, as well as four recoveries. He also won all four of his ground duels. The man with the armband continues to lead by example to start the season. Ben White With Jurriën Timber out a little while longer, the responsibility at right back has fallen squarely on White’s shoulders. Against Coventry, a little over nine years after playing against them with Newport County, White played against them once more, but as a Premier League champion. And he did so with aplomb. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">9 years and 2 days ago Coventry City played Newport County in League Two. Ben White played the full 90 minutes for Newport that day.<br><br>Today he plays the full 90 against Coventry City in the Premier League with the reigning champions of England, Arsenal. <a href=" Defensively, White didn’t have much to do against the newly promoted side. But in possession he gave Arsenal a much-needed injection of dynamism down the right flank. He repeatedly combined with Ødegaard and Saka in effervescent fashion, producing some lovely combination play outside of Coventry’s box. White ended up creating two chances, making 11 line-breaking passes, completing 12 passes into the final third, and managing five touches in the opposition box. The Englishman was heavily involved in putting together attacks on the right side of the pitch. Early in the match, Saka found White in the penalty area before the right back played a crisp pass to set Tzolis up for a shot. He also was found just outside of the six-yard box himself during a sequence in the 33rd minute, but his shot was blocked. He did eventually get a goal involvement in the form of an assist for Arsenal’s third goal. After Saka found his smart run along the outside, White cutback from the byline to Ødegaard, who scored. If the 28-year-old can stay fit, the Gunners’ attack will certainly purr a little more on his side of the pitch. Kai Havertz I’ve been reflecting a lot on Havertz lately. It’s hard to believe that so many classified him as one of Arsenal’s worst-ever signings and even now, some club supporters continue to underrate him. The German has been behind some of the most important goals in the Gunners’ recent history — a clincher at Stamford Bridge to ensure an appearance in the Carabao Cup final, an equalizer at the Etihad, an equalizer at Eintracht Frankfurt, a winner at Sporting that ultimately meant progression to the Champions League semifinal, the winning goal against Burnley that effectively made Arsenal Premier League champions, and the go-ahead goal against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final all come to mind. He might be the most clutch player at Arteta’s disposal right now. So of course it wasn’t much of a surprise when Havertz coolly stroked the ball home to give Arsenal their first Premier League goal of the season. And I want to emphasize something: that was a difficult chance. Calafiori’s ball came to him at speed, and he pulled the trigger first-time as a Coventry defender was sliding at him. But he still managed to control his attempt wonderfully and steer it into the far corner of the net from just inside the penalty area. Outside of the opener, the German was more than happy to recede into more a supporting role for the rest of Arsenal’s attack. But that worked just fine; the rest of the front four took it from there. However, I can’t emphasize enough how smoothly the Gunner’s offense functions when Havertz is on the pitch. He always knows where to be, how to combine with his teammates, and when to deliver a decisive blow himself. The champions need him to stay fit this season. Myles Lewis-Skelly With Bruno Guimarães out injured for Friday’s match, Lewis-Skelly started in the center of the pitch alongside Rice. The Hale End graduate produced a very good performance to pick up where he left off at the end of the 2025/26 season. Which is especially admirable given the speculation that has surrounded him regarding his future. However, Lewis-Skelly shrugged that off to provide stability in Arsenal’s midfield and keep things ticking over throughout the game. The Englishman finished with 94 touches, joint-most in the match. 77 of his 81 attempted passes found their intended target. This includes seven passes into the final third, seven line-breaking passes, and three completed long balls (out of three attempted). The young midfielder also got the Gunners up the pitch in his trademark way as well, spinning and charging with the ball. He practically relished going shoulder to shoulder with the Coventry players and when he couldn’t overpower them, he won fouls as he’s so good at doing. There were moments when he tried too hard to bamboozle his marker or inadvertently turned into trouble and lost the ball, but I think that he’ll clean that up as the season progresses. In the end, the risk is worth it with Lewis-Skelly. It’s no surprise Arteta publicly proclaimed that the Englishman is staying at Arsenal. Fallers Viktor Gyökeres There is of course the story around Gabriel Martinelli’s omission from the squad entirely, and I will write about that another day (although I will say, I wish Ian Wright had not spoken about it so publicly and added more fuel to the fire). But he wasn’t included in the squad for the Community Shield as well so as far as I’m concerned, the Brazilian’s stock remains about the same. However, there is another player who didn’t get minutes that I think deserves a mention. And that’s Gyökeres. Despite being included in the squad, despite Arsenal being quite comfortable for the entirety of the match, despite the opponent being a team that he used to play for, the Swede did not see a single minute of action on Friday. He remained on the bench for the entirety of the match. I can’t help but think it’s a little strange. Gyökeres very famously (or infamously, depending on your perspective) is a bit of a flat-track bully. We don’t need to go through the numbers again but he typically struggled against top-tier opposition — often not registering a single shot on goal in those games — while bagging braces several times when facing weaker opponents. So, a reeling Coventry at home under the lights should have been a perfect time to deploy him. But he did not see the pitch. In fact, Kai Havertz played the full 90. In the wake of reports that Gyökeres is angling for a move to Barcelona and that Arsenal are considering using him as a makeweight to sign Julián Alvarez, it is particularly interesting. Perhaps he has fallen out of favor for that or more performance-related reasons. Perhaps the club don’t want to risk injuring him when they might be able to offload him and then pivot to an attacking signing. I think it is a space to watch. But in any event, the striker looked a bit more expendable as he sat on the sidelines for the whole of Friday night. 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