Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season, The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s Premier League football. This was the weekend when Newcastle were swept aside, Everton gained their first point, Brentford again scored in the first 30 seconds but lost , and Aston Villa produced a thrilling comeback against Wolves . Here we will ask how surprised you were that Manchester City vs Arsenal was actually an entertaining game, what Rodri ’s knee injury will mean for City and the argument against overworking players, and whether Chelsea are actually good.
Who was expecting enjoyment from Manchester City vs Arsenal? One of the reasons it’s been hard to fully invest in the idea of Manchester City and Arsenal as a proper rivalry is that the actual games between them in the last couple of seasons have been pretty dull. Last term, the encounters ended 1-0 and 0-0 with only six shots on target across the two games. The season before that, there were more goals but the games were one-sided in City’s favour, especially the fixture at the Etihad.
So expectations for this one were low. Two managers cut from similar cloth, obsessive about details and how to stop their opposition, whose teams had conceded four goals between them before this one. Most of us were bracing ourselves for a game to endure rather than enjoy.
What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be, then. GO DEEPER The Briefing: Man City 2 Arsenal 2 - Controv.