After the hard fought draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Arsenal returned to winning ways on Saturday beating Everton 2-0 at the Emirates as Ezri Konsa and Gabriel were the scorers with their first goals of the campaign for both central defenders.

It was the first goal of Konsa’s Arsenal career since moving from Aston Villa in the summer and his old club managed by former Gunners boss Unai Emery did Mikel Arteta a massive favour by beating title rivals Man City 2-1 at Villa Park in Saturday’s early game.

This was Enzo Maresca’s first Premier League defeat and Villa were the better side throughout with a Nicolas Jackson brace doing the damage for Emery’s side who were pretty dominant in their win moving up to 9th in the table and giving Arteta the chance to join City on 21 points at the summit of the table.

Arsenal only trail City by goal difference now which after seeing the recent performances by Maresca’s defence looks like it will continue to ship goals having conceded 9 goals in their past 5 games. If Arsenal can get better production from their injured (Christos Tzolis and Bukayo Saka) and out of form forwards (Viktor Gyokeres) you could see them turning that goal difference around.

Who do Arsenal face in their next 5 games?

Arsenal face Fleetwood Town tomorrow night in the Carabao Cup which should give the likes of Dowman, Merino and Gyokeres more minutes to impress the manager.

Sunday sees a big game as the Gunners travel to Anfield to face Liverpool for the first time this season with the Reds having beaten in form Brighton on Sunday 2-0 at home as Alexander Isak is looking like the player he was at Newcastle United.

The following Wednesday sees Champions League match week 4 with Arsenal travelling to Czechia to face Slavia Praha with Mikel Arteta expected to win and he should be able to rotate his squad after the hosts’ indifferent Champions League form so far.

Arsenal then have a home Premier League fixture vs Hull City on Saturday 7th November. The newly promoted side had a hot start to the campaign but have cooled off lately and with 3 draws and 2 losses in their most recent 5 Premier League matches.

The November 9th to 17th international break follows before Arsenal face Newcastle United away in their first game after the break at St James Park where Bruno Guimaraes will face his old club for the first time.

Mikel Arteta will be looking for 4 wins at least in these games plus either a win away at Liverpool or at the very least a draw against Andoni Iraola’s improving side who have moved into the top 4 after their win over the Seagulls yesterday.

Do Arsenal need more goal scoring threats?

Arsenal have been linked with players like Mexican attacking midfield prodigy Gilberto Mora and most recently a move for high flying Club Brugges’ Italian U21 striker Nicolo Tresoldi plus an unlikely loan move for Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta.

If the likes of Bukayo Saka and Christos Tzolis are out for an extended period plus the uncertainty around Kai Havertz’s fitness and the form of Viktor Gyokeres, Arsenal may need to look at adding some goals to the squad.

The injuries will afford opportunities to the likes of Max Dowman and Mikel Merino who optimistically will take them with both hands. Plus hopefully the suddenly in-form Noni Madueke and Ebereche Eze can pick up the slack. Also Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Bruno Guimaraes have shown they are all able to chip goals so the club will see where they are nearer Christmas before making any transfer decisions.