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Football London
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Luke Thrower

Thierry Henry names four key Arsenal players in early season form amid title challenge talk

Arsenal icon Thierry Henry has picked out three Arsenal players he believes have been key in the start that Mikel Arteta's side have made this season. The Gunners currently sit top of the Premier League after eight games, winning seven of those with just one defeat.

The latest victory came in the North London Derby over Tottenham, where goals from Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus and Granit Xhaka inflicted a first defeat on their rivals. While building a four-point gap on Spurs, it also kept Arsenal setting the pace in the division with just one point separating them and Manchester City.

It has led to many questioning if they are in the Premier League title picture for the season, with a few other sides also making a slow start to their campaign. Despite that, Arteta has been coy on such talk, saying: "I'll leave that [title talk] to you guys honestly. We just started, and we're really happy with where we are. We understand that you can't control it because emotion is related. The table says what it says, and we don't look at that."

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It's still early days in the season for the Spaniard, who still has to navigate through a busy October and November before the break for the World Cup. However, momentum has been on their side, and while they're continuing that, it could be tough for even the best in the league to stop them.

Given their campaign so far, Henry has picked out three players that have been key to it, telling CBS Sports: "What I like with the Arsenal team right now is that it's a different team. If you talk about something that's important, it's a different team.

"Gabriel Jesus is really changing, not only him. Saliba at the back allows them to play in a back four, so Mikel goes into what Pep does also with City with Zinchenko. Xhaka is playing way better. That's what I was more impressed with than the result because that's what happens all the time."

Arsenal will be hopeful they can continue to rely on their outstanding stars so far, but as the fixture schedule continues to ramp up, they face the increasing likelihood of injuries and the need for rotation.

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