Who will lift trophies in May? We know less than we might think

It is that time of the year when the leaves are still green and the evenings are still light, when early September clings to late summer. The transfer window has only just shut and, really, we don’t know much yet. Sample sizes are small and definitive judgements tend to be misguided. At this stage last season, the champions Liverpool beat the pretenders Arsenal and the title race was surely over. A year earlier, precisely nobody had predicted Arne Slot’s Liverpool would win the league in the first place.

I was at Arsenal’s impressive win over Chelsea at the Emirates, one of the most compelling games I’ve seen in a while, and it is funny how opinions shift in an instant. A quick check of social media at half-time suggested Martin Odegaard needed subbing and, in some extreme cases, selling. By the end of the game he was Arsenal’s captain fantastic, match-winning maestro and the Premier League’s best attacking midfielder. 

I write this after seeing some pundits and journalists effectively suggest the title race is already done and dusted. It is seemingly not about whether Arsenal will defend their crown but how they will do it. And, of course, Mikel Arteta’s team are rightly favourites. But when there are headlines suggesting they are about to embark on an era of dominance over English football, perhaps some perspective is required.

This part of the football season is essentially laying the table and arranging the chairs, preparing the scene for the final months when matches really matter. That goes for Europe, too. Paris Saint-Germain fluffed the league phase of the Champions League in both of the past two years, needing to go through the play-offs to reach the last-16, and went on to win the trophy.

There is a bumper three-week international break around the corner and it will feel like an age has passed when the Premier League finally restarts in October. Injured players will return and players will return injured. Managers will conjure new plans. Set-piece coaches will invent new routines. The entire season will feel like someone has pressed reset.

So perhaps now is a good time to sit back, take it all in and ignore the sweeping statements. They will probably be made to feel very old, very quickly.

Arsenal are the Premier League favourites after winning the title last season (PA)

The Champions League is back this week, and Paris Saint-Germain are bidding for a rare third successive title. Since Real Madrid won the first five European Cups between 1956-60, only three clubs have won three in a row. Can you name the teams and, for bonus points, the years?

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How Kimi Antonelli manifested his inner Max Verstappen to reveal a new F1 reality

In the immediate aftermath, there was no sign of a crestfallen George Russell. As Kimi Antonelli jumped for joy with his family and made his way to the ‘No 1’ platform in the Monza pit-lane, it was in fact third-placed Max Verstappen who smiled and embraced the 20-year-old. And the Red Bull driver could not help but raise a smile. Moments earlier, Verstappen had embraced Antonelli’s father Marco, a former national racer himself. In the Italian, perhaps the Dutchman saw an embodiment of himself, nine years his junior.

At the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, in what was undoubtedly the race of the year so far, Antonelli produced a masterclass in all-out speed, poise and panache. Starting 19th on the grid, the Mercedes driver made 26 overtakes in total to execute a triumph which was rated at 25/1 pre-race. Not the impossibility it perhaps seemed but, nonetheless, a startling feat as he became Italy’s first home grand prix winner since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966.

Nobody in the modern era has won from so far down the order. Not even Verstappen: his great win in Brazil two years ago was from 17th. In fact, the only time in Formula 1 history that somebody has won a grand prix from a lower position was John Watson (22nd) at Long Beach in 1983. The magnitude of such a victory should not be understated. These are the greatest set of motor-racing drivers in the world: these things do not happen.

Read the full piece here, by Kieran Jackson.

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THE DISPATCH

Arteta’s press conference hinged on one question...

You may have seen the clip last week of Mikel Arteta being asked whether he was “banking” on Arsenal’s defence to stop Chelsea’s front three, who have been nicknamed JP Morgan. Sky Sports reporter Gary Cotterill is well-known for his off-beat lines of questioning and ambitious attempts at humour, but even by his standards this particular press conference took a weird, slightly painful route when he went on to dub Arsenal’s front three of [Bukayo] Saka, Eberechi Eze and Kai [Havertz] as “SEEK”, before reaching for another pun.

As a fellow journalist in the room, you are simply hoping Arteta sees the funny side. Sky Sports usually gets the first few questions at these events, before some of the regular press journalists get their turn and then it’s opened up to the floor. First impressions are crucial here, because how the Arsenal manager reacts to the initial barrage sets the tone for what follows. If it starts badly, he’ll be muttering one-line answers under a furrowed brow until it’s over. 

Fortunately, Arteta seemed to enjoy the exchange, even joking in return that he didn’t need tortured English puns explained to him, and he went on to talk emotively about his relationship with childhood friend Xabi Alonso, now a rival manager in the Premier League. Which is always a relief when you have an article to write.

Ask Mikel Arteta the wrong question and you will soon know about it (Getty)