Mikel Arteta, Head coach of Arsenal, has described his side’s “domination” over Premier League new entrant, Coventry City, as “impressive”, saying, “there was a lot to like”.
On Friday 21 August, 2026, Arsenal cruised past Frank Lampard’s Coventry City 3-0 in the opener of the Premier League 2026/27 at Emirates Stadium.
While expressing joy over the Gunners’ victory on Friday night in North London, the Spaniard said, the Sky Blues are “really good at what they do”.
The hosts clinched maximum points with goals from Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard in the 15th, 23rd and 49th minutes respectively.
Arteta, in his post-Coventry presser, said, his “main focus” is to improve the players, as well as, the “connection” between them.
On new addition, the former Arsenal player told arsenal.com, new addition, Bruno Guimaraes, is not expected to be missing in action for the Premier League defending champions for long; he revealed, there might be some positive news on the Brazilian this week.
Guimaraes, former Newcastle United midfielder, did not feature for Arsenal against Coventry as he was unfit for action due to a slight groin issue.
At his post-match press conference, Arteta said:
On Arsenal’s performance…
“There was a lot to like. Obviously it was a great result, but the manner we started the game, the domination, clarity, understanding and growth in the game was really impressive.
“We played a team that had a long time to prepare as well, and they are really good at what they do.”
On the team’s Chemistry…
“We missed players playing together last year like [Ben White, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard]. It was good, it was about the connections between players that I really like, the outside ones as well, Bukayo I think was exceptional.”
On having players return to their best…
“The main focus has to be there – to improve our players and improve the connection between them, because they are already so good.”
On the fitness of Bruno Guimaraes…
“We expect him not to be out for weeks. Let’s see how he evolves this week – he wanted to carry on and that’s when you start to understand the character of the player, but I don’t expect that to be a big issue.”
On Ezri Konsa’s arrival…
“When I look at squads, some clubs still have incredible and much bigger squads than us. Ezri is certainly a player we really liked in the defensive line.”
Next test for Arsenal and Coventry City
Arsenal will take a trip to the Villa Park in Birmingham for a Premier League 2026/27 match against Aston Villa on Monday 31 August, 2026 at 20:00 (WAT), while, Coventry City will face Plymouth in the EFL Cup second round match at Home Park in Plymouth at 19:45 (WAT) on Tuesday 25 August, 2026.
