Arsenal claimed all three points at Bournemouth on Saturday with an impressive display that saw a brace from club captain Martin Odegaard and a sublime strike from William ‘do do do do’ Saliba.
The match at the Vitality Stadium was the first time that Mikel Arteta has had a full squad to pick from this season.
It was also the first time Arsenal have named an unchanged starting lineup for the first three matches of the season since the start of the Invincibles 2003/04 campaign.
3 – Arsenal are the first top-flight side to win their opening three league matches the season after losing their first three since Everton in 1937-38 and 1938-39, with the Toffees going on to win the title in the latter of those seasons. Harbinger? pic.twitter.com/2V6tZLPFTb
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 20, 2022
They have also named the youngest starting lineup for all three game weeks.
Unusually for Arsenal, not one single player was injured.
Fabio Vieira was named in a matchday squad for the first time since he signed for the club from Porto, recovering from the problem he arrived at the club with.
For the season opener against Crystal Palace, Arsenal were without three players – Emile Smith Rowe, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Vieira.
For the first home match of the season the following week, Tomiyasu returned to the squad, coming on in the 75th minute to replace Ben White.
Emile Smith Rowe also grabbed six minutes at the end of that match when he replaced Bukayo Saka.
But against Bournemouth, Arsenal didn’t have a single injury concern.
It’s certainly worth noting that our vast injury problems, which plagued the latter years of Wenger’s reign, have eased significantly since the Frenchman and his backroom team were replaced.
Make of that what you will.
After the game on Saturday, Arsenal do not appear to have any injury concerns as they head into their preparations for the game against Fulham at the Emirates on Saturday for another 5.30pm kick-off.