David James believes Arsenal's blossoming rivalry with Manchester City can only intensify should they win the Premier League title this season.
The latest instalment of Pep Guardiola squaring off against his apprentice, Mikel Arteta, delivered an enthralling encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Erling Haaland's 100th City strike was followed by Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes goals, with Leandro Trossard then seeing red after delaying the restart in a pulsating first 45 minutes.
The hosts struggled to make their man advantage count, though, registering eight shots on target from the 27 they attempted before substitute John Stones' late intervention snatched a point eight minutes into stoppage time.
But the aftermath of the contest saw tensions that had been brimming during the game boil over, with players from both sides exchanging in a war of words after a battle for the ages at the Etihad.
It is not the first time Arsenal have engaged in a rivalry with a side from Manchester, having gone toe-to-toe at the Premier League summit with United in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Former City goalkeeper David James is adamant Guardiola's side hold the competitive edge over their title rivals, though, likening Arsenal to an "annoying fly" buzzing around to try and halt the Citizens' dominance.
"I like the way this is developing. As you said, I think the rivalries in the past, probably the easiest one to go back to, is Arsenal and Manchester United," James told Stats Perform.
"That was because Arsenal won the league, Manchester United won the league, and you’ve got champions against champions.
"I think with Arteta’s team at the moment, if they win the league, then this rivalry will intensify.
"At the moment, it’s kind of like Man City keeps swatting off an annoying fly because they keep winning the title."
However, it was another blot on Arteta's record against his mentor, with the Gunners head coach having won just one of his eight league meetings against Guardiola since his arrival at the club in 2019.
Arsenal have finished runners-up to the Citizens in the past two Premier League seasons, missing out on a first title since 2003-04 by two points last term.
The Gunners managed to take four points off Guardiola's side last campaign, with Arteta earning his first league victory over City last September courtesy of Gabriel Martinelli's deflected effort.
Arsenal showed more signs of their maturation before going down to 10 men on Sunday, recovering well after Haaland's ninth-minute opener - the earliest goal they had conceded home or away in the league in 2024.
Gabriel's header marked his 14th goal from a corner routine, while Calafiori became the 20th Arsenal player to net on his first Premier League start, and only the second to do so from outside the box after Fabio Vieira in September 2022.
The encounter gave a brief insight into what the next eight months have in store, with James unsure whether the result would give either side the mental edge at this early stage of the campaign.
"I think there will be an impact. Whether it’s positive or negative is the issue here," James continued.
"For City, the issue will be how do we set up the corners to not allow these opportunities? If fouls are not going to get picked up by referees or VAR, then you need to rethink the way you set up because the first one for Gabriel, I think it was [Jeremy] Doku who was marking Gabriel.
"Mismatch to start with. The second one, Kyle Walker was there and effectively a mismatch again. So other teams will look at it and go, 'well, how can we set up?'
"Other teams, if they’re cute enough, will work out a way of defeating City on corners. Of course, get a corner first, then worry about getting it.
"But also, on a positive side, they can improve on this. When Jack Grealish came on, there was a different dynamic. Jack actually did stuff that I wasn’t expecting him to do. I thought he was going to get crosses on his right foot.
"Instead, he was running at players. He got the corner for the equaliser, and he also put the ball across to [Mateo] Kovacic. So there’s a lot for City to look at to improve on, which would make them better.
"From the Arsenal point of view, disappointment of losing three points in the end, I think 45 minutes of defending, there’s a lot that you’d be happy with.
"The fact that they got the goal from the corner, and unless VAR and the officials actually clamp down on what they’re doing, they’ll get more success from it."
Juventus 1-0 Lazio: Late Gila own goal breaks 10-man visitors' resistance
Mario Gila's late own goal handed Juventus a 1-0 home win against 10-man Lazio in Saturday's Serie A clash.
Gila edged Juventus in front in the 85th minute when he attempted to block Juan Cabal's cross, diverting past his own goalkeeper Ivan Provedel instead.
Lazio had battled hard for over an hour after defender Alessio Romagnoli was sent off for a last-man tackle on Pierre Kalulu.
The referee initially failed to deem Romagnoli's challenge as a foul, though a VAR review saw Juve awarded a free-kick and veteran centre-back Romagnoli dismissed.
Victory leaves unbeaten Juventus second on 16 points, level with leaders Napoli and two points above third-placed Inter Milan, who both have a game in hand.
Data Debrief: Defence key for magic Motta
Motta's strong start to his Bianconeri tenure has been built on a remarkable defence, with Juve only conceding once in the league through their first eight Serie A matches.
That is the fewest goals Juve have ever conceded through as many league matches to start the campaign, bettering the two in the 1966-67, 1986-87, 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.
This win may have come as no surprise, too, considering Juve have beaten Lazio 87 times in the competition, their most against one opponent in history (also level with Inter).
Rogers hails Villa's 'massive' response after Fulham fightback
Morgan Rogers saluted Aston Villa's quick response to falling behind early on after his side came back to beat Fulham 3-1.
Rogers scored the equaliser after nine minutes to get the visitors back on level terms after Raul Jimenez had put Fulham ahead early at Craven Cottage.
Ollie Watkins's header and Issa Diop's own goal in the second half secured the win that moved Unai Emery's side into fourth on 17 points, only behind Arsenal and Manchester City on goal difference.
Rogers lauded how important the quick response was to taking all three points in London.
"It was massive to respond how we did so quickly. It helped settle the nerves and we were generally playing well and to get it so quick did help," he told PLP.
"They scored in the first five minutes, but we knuckled down after that and we dominated pretty much most of the game. We should have scored a few more, but in the second half we put our foot on the gas, and we deserved the win.
"After the international break you start fresh with a clean slate and to get the win is massive. We have an important week and it's just the start of it."
While level at 1-1, Emiliano Martinez saved Andreas Pereira's penalty to keep Villa in the game after Matty Cash had handled the ball in the box.
"That's why [Martinez] is the best. That's what he does. If it goes 2-1 anything can happen in the game," praised Rogers.
Fulham's Kenny Tete emphasised the defeat rested on more than the penalty miss on what proved to be a wasteful day for the hosts.
"It happened and you have to push for more - it is what it is. [At] half-time, we changed the game-plan, it was a bit better. Then it goes 2-1 and you know it is going to be difficult," he reflected.
"We could have had a bit more luck, but I don't want to point to that. It wasn't our day and we could have done better. We can look in the mirror and we have to do better and train harder. Frustrated."
Fulham had the better expected goals (xG) total at full-time with 1.78, compared to Villa’s 1.68, though this was impacted by their penalty.
The hosts also had to play 26 minutes of the match with 10 players after Joachim Andersen received his marching orders, while Villa also saw Jaden Philogene dismissed in the 93rd minute.
"Obviously a disappointed feeling. I think we started well. Then we were unlucky with the own goal. But, we get a penalty and we didn't score it. It was going to be a difficult afternoon," added Tete.
'An accident waiting to happen' - Arteta rues Saliba's red card
William Saliba's red card marked Arsenal's third dismissal in just eight Premier League games, leaving Mikel Arteta frustrated by the mistakes that led to their 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth.
The France centre-back was sent off following a VAR review in the 30th minute for bringing down Evanilson and denying him a goalscoring opportunity.
Despite digging in, Arsenal were unable to maintain their unbeaten start, as Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert's second-half goals subjected them to a first defeat of the season.
It is the first campaign since 2011-12 that the Gunners have had as many as three players sent off in their opening eight matches of a Premier League season.
In fact, since Arteta's first game in charge of Arsenal on Boxing Day 2019, they have been shown 18 red cards in the top flight, at least five more than any other side.
While they managed to hold onto results against Brighton and Manchester City after going down to 10, Arteta admitted it was going to cost them eventually.
"It's very difficult to win in the Premier League with 10 men for 60-70 minutes, it's just an accident waiting to happen. We have had to go through it in three games and that cost us the game," he told BBC Match of the Day.
"We had the big chance and the moment in the game to score and have a different result, and then we conceded a goal. We try to stick to the rules. The three [red cards] have been different ones and three very different outcomes.
"The team tried, the effort with 10 men was fantastic, but today it was not enough to win the game. It took us a while to understand what we had to do in the first 15 minutes to start with, then we grabbed the game, but after 30 minutes, the game changed."
Bournemouth secured just their second-ever Premier League victory over Arsenal in 15 meetings, and their first since January 2018, when they won 2-1.
Andoni Iraola's substitutes did the damage for the Cherries, with Kluivert both scoring and assisting in a Premier League game for the first time.
Iraola was delighted by the maturity shown in his team's performance as they bounced back from a disappointing loss to Leicester City before the break.
"It was quite a mature win because it is a tricky situation [playing against 10 men]," Iraola told Sky Sports.
"We started well for the first 30 minutes and then the red card changes the game. We had to control the game, attack but not lose our minds, as even with 10 men, set plays, free-kicks they could be a threat. Luckily for us, we took the benefit of having one man more.
"Before half-time, we missed a couple of chances and at the beginning of the second half we managed not to finish, so we had to have patience to take the benefit of having one more player without losing our heads.
"We were playing very well the first 30 minutes. It was a very level game, which is very good when you face this opposition. It became easier with 11 v 10 but everything is not done, you have to finish the job, and we did it."
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