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What's the one thing that could stop Arsenal from finally lifting silverware this season?
Three months into the season, and things are looking rather rosy for Arsenal right now.
Top of the Premier League, with a six-point gap over Manchester City and favourites to lift the title for the first time in over twenty years after seeing reigning champions Liverpool falter in recent weeks.
The Gunners are also on course in the Champions League, where they've won three games out of three so far and made light work of Atletico Madrid on matchday three, with a 4-0 thumping of the Spanish side.
Yet, given the pattern that has emerged with the North London side over the past few campaigns, despite the good start, there's always a fear of what could derail what looks like being a memorable year for Mikel Arteta.
Last year, they were hit with key injuries to the likes of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, and didn't have the strength in depth to replace such pivotal players in the squad.
However, that problem was addressed in the summer, and with an influx of top-tier additions like Martin Zubimendi and Ebere Eze, Arsenal now boasts arguably the strongest squad in the Premier League.
Now that they have the personnel, and their title rivals appear to be going through transitional periods, could the only thing stopping the Gunners from lifting a major trophy this season be themselves?
There's no doubting the quality of the squad and Arteta's ability to call on high-profile names from his bench, but the one thing the majority of these players lack is the experience of winning trophies.
Up and down the squad, there are big names who have been involved in title races and lost finals, but very few can boast major silverware on their CV and the confidence that gives you as an elite player.
Within their ranks, only Gabriel Jesus, who's nowhere near the first team right now, is a title winner, while Kai Havertz is the squad's sole Champions League victor. And while Zubimendi picked up a Euro 2024 medal for Spain, he's yet to win anything at club level.
Yes, Eze had an FA Cup and Declan Rice will always have that European triumph with the Hammers, but as a squad, they haven't got that relentless trophy-winning status often required within a team to get them over the line.
"I suppose the only thing that potentially could hold them back is their own belief," former Gunners' hero Nigel Winterburn says, agreeing with the notion whilst speaking exclusively to DAZN News thanks to Fruity Slots, which recommends UKGC-licensed online casinos.Getty Images
"I think they have got belief, but I think you get more belief when you've won something because you believe that you can do it again.
"This group haven't won anything, even this group, it's been added to this season, but if you talk about since Mikel Arteta's period, particularly in the last three years, they just haven't got over the line and that's always going to be a question thrown at them until it happens.
"Particularly so with social media now, we analyse every second of every game as it's going on.
"The intensity is absolutely incredible, but if this group of players they're good enough and if they keep that belief and keep everybody fit, they've got huge power, they're going to be very, very difficult to beat."
Naturally, real belief won’t come until this squad actually wins something, but that first trophy could be the spark that launches a new era of Arsenal dominance.
Being champions for the first time since Wenger, Henry and co is obviously something the club and its fans desperately crave, but a first Champions League gong is something they might find even more fulfilling.
It remains a trophy that has so far eluded North London, and as they resume their campaign against Slavia Prague on Tuesday, could this be the year they finally sit at the very top of Europe's biggest table and go further than last year's semi-final run?
"Well, going further is to the final and then to win it. So, I think now they should have that belief to at least go that far." Winterburn added.
"They had some terrific results in the Champions League last season. With the squad they've got, I don't see why that would change. So, I think a lot of people will be thinking semi-finals.
"But this season, I feel the Champions League is going to be really strong. I think the big teams are all going to be there this year, and there will be some blockbuster quarter-finals.
"But what you want to do, I always say to it, is to get to the quarter-finals of any competition, then you start to feel you've got a chance of winning it. And that's what Arsenal need to do, quarter-finals, semi-finals.
"And as I keep saying to people, you put yourself there enough, eventually you'll make that breakthrough."
Before the end of the league phase, and with huge games against the unbeaten Bayern Munich and Inter looming, we'll get a clearer idea of Arsenal's Champions League credentials.
Arteta will hope his side is still setting the pace at that point, and aiming to finally end the club's trophy drought and turn his team into winners, whether that is as Premier League or European champions.
Full Champions League fixture list for Matchday 4
Tuesday 4 November
- Napoli vs Eintracht Frankfurt
- Slavia Prague vs Arsenal
- Atletico Madrid vs Union-SG
- Bodo/Glimt vs Monaco
- Juventus vs Sporting
- Liverpool vs Real Madrid
- Olympiakos vs PSV
- PSG vs Bayern Munich
- Tottenham vs Copenhagen
Wednesday 5 November
- Pafos vs Villarreal
- Qarabag vs Chelsea
- Ajax vs Galatasaray
- Benfica vs Bayer Leverkusen
- Club Brugge vs Barcelona
- Inter Milan vs Kairat
- Manchester City vs Borussia Dortmund
- Marseille vs Atalanta
- Newcastle United vs Atletico Bilbao
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