5 reasons why Arsenal will be top four contenders next season

3. The defence will only continue to improve

Perhaps the most notable improvement that Mikel Arteta has made since he was unveiled as Arsenal manager is within the defence. Last night, and indeed against Liverpool, the Gunners defenders looked like a completely different kettle of fish.

David Luiz, who was a questionable feature in the starting XI given his last performance against City, was absolutely incredible and hard to break down. I said he played like Virgil van Dijk had lost his hairband and I stand by this statement, he was absolutely phenomenal.

As was Shkodran Mustafi who always put his body on the line which resulted in an injury, which I hope won’t rule him out of the final.

Want to know the best thing about these defensive improvements? They’re only going to continue to improve. With Pablo Mari signing for the club permanently and William Saliba, one if not the best Ligue 1 defender this season coming to the Emirates Stadium, the options have only increased.

And, I never thought I would be saying this but if Luiz and Mustafi keep up their fine form, it will be hard to keep them out the starting XI. I mean it, they’ve been that good.

See, in the past and indeed even in Arteta’s days as a player, Arsenal were defensively weak. They just seemed to let a lot of things through as though they were a colander in a sink. Well, this all changed last night, since even Granit Xhaka was getting his body behind each shot to prevent City having any real chance. This was much to the annoyance of Kevin De Bruyne who resorted to taking pop-shots rather than being his usual creative self.