Former Arsenal star Thierry Henry has admitted he has a fresh belief in the team which he hasn't held "for a very long time".
The Gunners haven't won a league title since Henry's playing days, while their last involvement in the Champions League came back in the 2016-17 season under Arsene Wenger. However, they now sit top of the Premier League with Mikel Arteta at the helm and have their sights set on a top-four finish at a minimum.
Arsenal are preparing to kick off their Europa League campaign away to FC Zurich on Thursday night, having lost their 100% league record over the weekend with a defeat at Manchester United. And, while Henry still has some reservations about the depth of the squad, he has spoken of an optimism which hasn't always been there.
"The team is different," Henry told CBS. "When you get the likes of Gabriel Jesus, you get Saliba, that can allow you to play higher, and Odegaard the way he is right now, and still Bukayo Saka.
"What it is with Gabriel Jesus is he knows how to win; he won. He's bringing that into the team and you can see it.
"Having said that, the way we beat Fulham and the way we beat Villa, we were a bit emotional at times. But I believe. I didn't believe for a very long time that we could do something.
"I worry about the Europa League. Why? Because of the depth of the team. I think the starting XI is good enough, but when you're going to go into those games at one point during the season, a long season, it might be a bit much. But I can see a team and a togetherness, and I like that."
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Sunday's defeat at Old Trafford was Arsenal's first since May, but Henry appreciated the quality of the opposition. Arsenal were briefly level after debutant Antony opened the scoring for United, but the hosts hit them on the break to claim a 3-1 win.
"It was always going to be difficult against United, a team that's a lot better from what happened at the beginning of the season," the Frenchman said. "I was expecting us to come out with a win, it didn't happen - Man Utd deserved it.
"People always talk about possession and what-not but obviously if you're losing away from home you're going to have the possession, because teams will wait and counter."
The defeat wasn't enough to knock Arsenal off the top of the table, with second-place Manchester City dropping points on Saturday. However, with other teams in action on Saturday, Arteta's team may have fallen from top spot by the time they kick off against Everton on Sunday afternoon.
