In his first press conference as Arsenal head coach, Arteta was asked the main lesson he had learned from working with Guardiola. He said: "You have to be ruthless." Picking Kepa over Raya was not the ruthless decision. It was fair & reasonable, but not ruthless. It cost them.

City dialled up the intensity in the second half and Arsenal simply could not cope with it. Blown away. Masterclass from Rodri after the break, shutting down every attack and reading every forward pass.

Ben White doing what every single Arsenal supporter would have done there: whacking Rayan Cherki after the City midfielder played keepy-uppy on the touchline.

The focus will rightly be on Kepa for that goal, but the fact is that Arsenal stopped playing (or stopped being allowed to play) for the 5/10 minutes before. It had been coming.

Assistant coach Gabriel Heinze has called Piero Hincapie over for a chat on the touchline. Hincapie's the one Arsenal player who looks a bit uncomfortable out there. Heinze was passing on instructions in typically enthusiastic fashion.

Here are the teams at Wembley. #AFC Kepa; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Trossard; Gyokeres #MCFC Trafford; Nunes, Khusanov, Ake, O’Reilly; Rodri, Bernardo; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland

Arteta on Eze: “I think he is building a better chemistry, a better understanding. We are starting to understand him much better.” #AFC

Arteta on Rice: "He was immense. Him and the whole team. The soul of the team, the passion they show in every action is remarkable. Doing it every three days is so difficult." #AFC

Might I politely suggest that the quality of Arsenal's goals tonight is a decent response to those who accuse them of playing ugly football? Two outstanding moments of individual quality.

Springtime Eberechi Eze is some player.

Five saves in 30 minutes by Leverkusen goalkeeper Janis Blaswich. He's having an outstanding night so far. Not sure how long he can keep this up, though...

Here’s the #AFC team to play Bayer Leverkusen. White and Trossard both start. Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Eze, Trossard; Gyokeres

Calafiori preventing a goal with a scorpion kick is the exact sort of thing Calafiori would do. Can't take your eyes off this guy

If Noni Madueke does start on the left wing today, as looks likely from the #AFC lineup, it will be his first start in that position since the 5-0 win against Leeds in August.

Arteta says his players were shown three clips of Leverkusen's kick-off routines before this game but were still caught out at the start of the second half. He is clearly deeply unhappy about what happened in the build-up to Leverkusen's goal.

Arteta on Havertz: "Football is a funny game. It brings special stories. Him becoming back here after such a long time [and scoring], it’s an important moment." #AFC

Arsenal had been dialling up the pressure and they probably deserve that equaliser, even if they have not created a huge amount of chances. Madueke has made a difference tonight. Havertz with his third goal in eight games.

Too many Arsenal players have fallen well below their usual levels tonight. Saliba, Saka, Eze and Martinelli have all struggled.

Arsenal have been undone by two set-piece routines. Firstly from kick-off, when Leverkusen immediately surged upfield. And then from the back-post corner, which looked like a move straight from Arsenal's own playbook. 1-0.

There are opportunities here for Arsenal when they pass it quickly through the middle of the pitch. There's space in central areas (for once). But the execution of those passes/flicks has so far been poor.

Here’s the Arsenal team to face Bayer Leverkusen: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Eze, Martinelli; Gyokeres

Arsenal as the league's pantomime villains? They should embrace the hate. #AFC against the world. This isn't the time for the pretty passing and flimsiness of old. It's about getting the results. That's it. For eight games, that's all there is. www.telegraph.co.uk/football/202...

Arsenal need to lean into these "boring"/"time-wasting"/"Set Piece FC" accusations. Let the wider world sneer. Create a siege mentality. Dig in. Be mean. For around two decades they were accused of being too soft, now they are apparently the opposite. Ride the hate-wave.

At no point in this game have Arsenal had a period of sustained possession or control. The midfield looks either exhausted (Zubimendi, Rice) or unsure (Eze). But the defence is holding firm, with Gabriel and Hincapie superb. Feels like Arsenal's only option is to grind this out.

Having already clashed with Arteta, Hurzeler is now having a go at Havertz on the touchline.

Gabriel Magalhaes has made six clearances in the opening 30 minutes here. Including the goal-line clearance in the third minute. He has been sensational so far.

Arteta and Hurzeler exchanging a few words on the touchline...

Bukayo Saka's second goal in four games. His previous goal was also an early opener away from home, at Wolves.

Teams at the Amex #BHAFC Verbruggen; Wieffer, Van Hecke, Boscagli, Kadioglu; Hinshelwood, Baleba; Gomez, Gross, Mitoma; Rutter #AFC Raya; Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Eze, Martinelli; Gyokeres

David Raya dealt with some criticism after the Wolves game but he has produced some massive saves in the last two matches. You need an elite goalkeeper to win the league. Arsenal have one.

Pedro Neto might be quick but he clearly realised, midway through that race with Gabriel Martinelli, that he was about to get absolutely smoked. You don't make that tackle if you think you can keep up with the opponent, especially when you're already on a yellow.

It's been said a thousand times but the real beauty (if that's the right word) of Arsenal's set-piece prowess is that it means they don't need to be playing particularly well to hurt you. One corner will do it.

The left side of Chelsea's defence looks like an area of opportunity for Arsenal. Mamadou Sarr (aged 20) is making his first Premier League start. Jorrel Hato (19) is making only his fourth.

Arsenal's financial accounts reveal that their net spend on transfers in the summer was £268m, up from a net spend of £21m in the summer of 2024. #AFC

Before yesterday's trip to Spurs, Viktor Gyokeres averaged 24 touches and seven successful passes per game in the Premier League. Against Spurs, he had 42 touches and completed 18 passes. Enormous improvements in his all-round game. #AFC www.telegraph.co.uk/football/202...

Massive day for Viktor Gyokeres. His best match in an Arsenal shirt, by a mile. The quality of the strikes, the timing of his first goal, the magnitude of the occasion. Eight goals in his last 12 matches in all competitions.

Five goals in two north London derbies in one season, after literally snubbing Spurs to join Arsenal. Eze has struggled for much of this campaign but he will forever have a place in the hearts of the #AFC fans. Even if he is rubbish for the next three years, he'll still be loved

In 2026 alone, Arsenal have conceded four goals in the Premier League as a result of silly mistakes. - Gabriel v Bournemouth (Evanilson) - Zubimendi v United (Mbeumo) - Gabriel/Raya v Wolves (Edozie) - Rice v Spurs (Kolo Muani)

Here's a statistic that won't come as a surprise to anyone who has watched Arsenal in recent weeks: the two outfielders who have played the most minutes this season are Martin Zubimendi and Jurrien Timber. #AFC

Arteta: "This is nothing to do with attitude and desire, it is completely the opposite. What could have gone wrong, it went wrong. But it happened, it happened for a reason. We need to react to that."

Arteta: "We have to blame ourselves. There are very basic things and very simple things that we did really wrong." #AFC

Arsenal had 49% of possession and one shot on target in that second half. They played 163 accurate passes compared to 180 from Wolves.

Arsenal's worst performance of the season, for me. By some distance. They allowed themselves to be dragged down to the same level as one of the worst teams in Premier League history.

Horrific defending by Arsenal after a dreadful second-half performance. The lack of intensity, the absence of ideas, the way they were coasting around the pitch. They deserve to draw this.

Arteta has spent much of the past five minutes urging his players to calm down and keep the ball. They keep punting it back to Wolves instead. Arteta's head is in his hands. Heinze is waving his arms around in annoyance.

Bukayo Saka has not gone down the tunnel after his substitution. He's on the bench. Which would suggest he's not in need of immediate treatment.

Stat from Opta: Hincapie is Arsenal's 15th different goalscorer in the Premier League this season. Only Brighton (16) have had more.

Hincapie has his first goal for Arsenal and it's a classy finish, from a lovely pass by Gabriel. That should be that.

Real lack of intensity in Arsenal's attacking play for much of this first half. Looks like they are going through the motions a bit. Wouldn't be surprised if Arteta has a few stern words at the break.

Here’s the #AFC team. Saka starts at 10. Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Saka, Martinelli; Gyokeres