Marking the start of a new era at Arsenal, Mikel Arteta’s first official starting XI as Gunners boss was always going to lead to some major talking points – especially considering very few players, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bernd Leno being the only exceptions, have proved this season that they clearly deserve to be on the team-sheet.
But perhaps the key takeaway from Arteta’s first ever Arsenal XI was his decision to leave out club-record signing Nicolas Pepe, a £72m talent who has endured a tricky start to life in the Premier League with just two goals to his name so fa...
