Pep Guardiola's influence on Mikel Arteta is clear to see at Arsenal this season, former Gunners midfielder Paul Davis has told Stats Perform.
Arsenal are the only Premier League side to have made a perfect start to the 2022-23 campaign with three wins from their opening three matches.
It is the first time the north London club have achieved that in 18 years and has left fans excited about an unlikely title tilt – or a top-four finish at the very least.
Arteta previously spent three years working under Guardiola on the Manchester City coaching staff, which Davis believes has made the Spaniard a better manager.
"If you're not going to become a better coach when working with someone like Pep, you shouldn't be there," said Davis, who spent 15 years at Arsenal prior to departing in 1995.
"He's obviously learned so much and he's now using a lot of that with Arsenal. You can now see that in games."
While supporters are now firmly behind Arteta, it was a different story 12 months ago after Arsenal lost their first three matches without scoring.
"Arsenal are in a good place now and everybody's happy," Davis added. "But all the fans last year were saying we've got to let him go. They're not saying the same thing now.
"Last season they were going through a bad time. When people were telling me he's got to go, I was saying 'Hold on, he doesn't have to go yet – give him some time'.
"It doesn't surprise me that he's been given time, and now you can see the development of the team and the players."
Arsenal's fast start comes on the back of a busy close season in which they signed Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, the latter two joining from Man City.
Jesus has been involved in five goals in his first three Premier League appearances, which is the most of any Arsenal player in their first three games in the competition.
And Davis, speaking exclusively on the release of his new book, Arsenal And After, can see comparisons between Jesus and another Arsenal favourite from the past.
"What's surprised me about him is the hunger he's shown – it's like he really wants to be here," added Davis, who works as a senior coach developer at the Football Association.
"Someone mentioned the other day that Jesus reminds them of Ian Wright, which I can see now but couldn't at the time.
"Ian had that enthusiasm of wanting to score goals, and he scores goals similar to the ones we've seen from Jesus. They have a similar type of game in wanting to get in behind.
"If he can carry on scoring goals like Ian, Arsenal fans will be happy and I'll be happy. He's made a great start and I can't see why it won't continue."
Coventry boss Mark Robins: Manchester United are the ‘biggest club in the world’
Coventry boss Mark Robins has scoffed at the “derisory” criticism of Manchester United, insisting his side’s FA Cup semi-final opponents remain the biggest football club on the planet.
Robins began his career at Old Trafford and his history with the club is firmly intertwined with the cup, with his third round winner against Nottingham Forest in 1990 often cited as the goal that saved Sir Alex Ferguson from the sack.
Ferguson’s latest successor in the hot seat, Erik ten Hag, could do with firming up his own position and could find himself on extremely rocky ground if the Red Devils were denied a shot at silverware by Championship opposition.
They are winless in four games since reaching the last four with a penalty shootout victory over Liverpool and sit seventh in the Premier League table, but Robins believes their problems have been overstated.
“People, pundits, are talking in a derisory way about Manchester United and what they’re doing, how they’re performing,” he said.
“For people who are talking about Manchester United are this or that, or they concede lots of shots: you’re talking about a team that is full of talented players, top international players. We know they are clearly favourites to win this game, by a million miles, simple as that.
“They can hurt anybody on their day. The game against Liverpool their goals were outstanding. So you’ve got a lot of things to consider, especially as a Championship club going up against the biggest club in the world.
“For Manchester United, this is a normal occasion. They play at Wembley a lot of times, there’s some England internationals there and other internationals who’ve played at Wembley on numerous occasions. It’s an expectation for them and their supporters; for us it’s slightly different.”
The Sky Blues booked their place in the last four with a dramatic 3-2 win over Wolves, with stoppage-time strikes from Ellis Simms and Haji Wright completing a remarkable upset.
The euphoria of that result has not carried in to their league form though, with three losses in their last four games leaving their play-off hopes – and regular games against the likes of United – all but over.
With that in mind, Robins has urged everyone connected to the club to make the most of the experience in front of them.
“We’ve already given the fans a special occasion getting there. Being in the national stadium with Manchester United, it doesn’t get much bigger than that,” he said.
“It’s a brilliant opportunity for everyone and there’s a lot of excitement around the city. There is a global reach there for Coventry City, the world will be tuning in and it’s a great occasion for all of our players.”
One player who will not be part of City’s big day is Kasey Palmer, suspended after picking up a booking for encroaching on the pitch to celebrate the late triumph over Wolves.
“In the moment it’s the reaction we all made, you don’t necessarily think too much about it,” Said Robins.
“It was really poor but the rules are the rules and you’ve got to abide by them. Unfortunately for him and for us, we can’t use him.”
Fulham v Liverpool: Klopp unconcerned by Salah's scoring form
Jurgen Klopp is not overly worried by Mohamed Salah’s slight dip in form, as the Liverpool manager turned full focus to the Reds’ Premier League title challenge.
A bad week for Liverpool was capped off on Thursday when, despite a 1-0 win over Atalanta, they slumped out of the Europa League 3-1 on aggregate following a heavy defeat at Anfield in the first leg.
That loss on April 11 came three days before a 1-0 home reverse to Crystal Palace, which saw Liverpool’s league title hopes take a dent – they are now two points behind Manchester City with six games remaining.
What has not helped their course is that talisman Salah – who netted an early penalty against Atalanta but squandered a big chance later in the match – has scored just three times in the league since returning from a hamstring injury he sustained while playing for Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
Klopp, though, is confident Salah will soon be back at his best.
“I am not particularly concerned,” he said ahead of facing Fulham.
“That’s what strikers do, that’s what happens to strikers, that’s how it is. We have to go through this, he has to go through that. He is one of the most experienced players we have in the squad.
“We will go through that but that’s pretty much all. It’s not that Mo didn’t miss chances before in his life, that’s a part of the game. I am not particularly concerned.”
Reflecting on the task at hand now for his side, Klopp added: “Disappointed that we did not go through [in Europe] but not frustrated or angry.
“Now we can focus on the league and that’s what we will do. We have a few days to recover, we will do that, and then will travel the day after tomorrow to London and will play Fulham, which will be tricky but we will give our absolute all.
“That’s our competition now. I saw a good reaction from my side, we had not a great week last week obviously. This, if we want, was the start for the rest of the season with a good result and a good performance and that’s how we see it.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Fulham – Andreas Pereira
Pereira has been involved in four goals in his last four Premier League appearances (two goals, two assists), with his brace against West Ham more than he had netted in his previous 34 games combined (one).
Indeed, Pereira has more goal involvements than any other Fulham player since the start of last season (seven goals, 13 assists).
Liverpool – Mohamed Salah
Salah may not be firing on all cylinders from a goalscoring perspective, but he is proving to be Liverpool’s creative hub.
Only Martin Odegaard (68) and Bruno Fernandes (59) have created more chances from open play in the Premier League this season than Salah (58). He has created at least four open-play chances in five different games this season, with Roberto Firmino the last Liverpool player to do so more times in one season (10 in 2016-17).
MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN
The Reds might have had a bad week, but Opta’s model still fancies their chances of returning to winning ways.
Liverpool have scored in each of their last 19 away Premier League matches, the longest current run of any side. That being said, since losing 3-0 to Brentford in their first home Premier League game this season, Fulham have conceded just 13 goals in their last 15 games at Craven Cottage (0.9 per game). With six clean sheets at home so far, the Cottagers last had more in a Premier League campaign in 2010-11 (nine).
Marco Silva’s team have scored 49 Premier League goals this season, having netted 55 last season. The last time the Cottagers scored 50+ goals in consecutive Premier League seasons was in 2003-04 (52) and 2004-05 (52).
However, Fulham have won just one of their last 11 Premier League meetings with Liverpool (D2 L8), winning 1-0 at Anfield in March 2021.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Fulham – 20.85%
Liverpool – 53.1%
Draw – 26.1%
A look at what is at stake in the EFL and National League this weekend
Derby will look to clinch promotion on Saturday, while Fleetwood, Port Vale and Sutton seek to keep their battles against relegation alive.
Nothing will be decided this weekend in the Premier League or Championship, but there is plenty at stake in the lower two tiers of the EFL, while the National League regular season concludes at Saturday lunchtime.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the issues in play.
League OnePortsmouth have sealed the title and Derby will go up with them if they better both Bolton and Peterborough’s results. The Rams travel to Cambridge on Saturday, while Bolton host Port Vale and Posh are at Bristol Rovers.
Barnsley will clinch a play-off spot if they avoid defeat to Blackpool and match Lincoln’s result against Cheltenham, as will Oxford if they beat Stevenage on Friday night and Lincoln and Blackpool then both drop points.
Fleetwood will be down unless they beat Leyton Orient, Burton lose to Reading and Cheltenham do not win. Port Vale are also vulnerable if they fail to match Burton’s result, or if they lose and Cheltenham win.
League TwoSutton will be relegated if they lose or if Colchester match their result – if both win, it would additionally take a point for Grimsby to seal Sutton’s fate on Saturday.
Victory for Crewe would see them lock up a play-off place and the same is true for Barrow if either Crawley or Walsall drop points. Crewe’s place could also be confirmed if two of Crawley, Walsall and Doncaster – the latter of whom play Barrow – fail to win.
National LeagueThe final weekend of the regular season sees the last play-off place up for grabs between FC Halifax Town, Aldershot and Southend.
Victory for Halifax against Eastleigh would clinch their place, barring a ridiculous goal difference swing to Aldershot – they would have to hammer Dagenham and Redbridge by at least 15, so will more realistically be hoping to better Halifax’s result. Should both teams lose, Southend’s superior goal difference means a win over Rochdale would see them in.
Boreham Wood need a win, coupled with dropped points for any of Woking, Ebbsfleet, York or Wealdstone, to avoid relegation. A draw could be enough for Wood, but only if Woking lose by five goals at home to Fylde.
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