Arsenal have enjoyed a very promising start to the new season despite Saturday's gloomy defeat at the hands of Brighton , although many players in Mikel Arteta's squad face an uphill battle to enjoy a fruitful campaign individually.
Before the calamitous display at the Amex , the Gunners had won all seven of their matches across all competitions. They looked like an impenetrable force that would cruise towards the Premier League title once again.
However, the defeat on the south coast has soured the mood around North London, and understandably so. While Arteta's team are still overwhelming favourites to win the title, the nature of the display against Brighton and the impressive start from Manchester City have raised some doubts in the minds of Arsenal supporters.
On the whole, however, there is minimal scope for pessimism and ample room for optimism at the Emirates so far.
That can't be said for a handful of players on the club's roster, who are in difficult positions heading into the post-international break period.
Cristhian Mosquera enjoyed a relatively impressive start to the campaign, shining in the Community Shield and in the first two league matches. However, an injury away at Villa Park has seen the Spaniard miss the last few weeks and this could prove to be detrminental to his season.
Ezri Konsa has subsequently swooped in and established himself as the undisputed partner to Gabriel Magalhaes until William Saliba returns from his long spell on the sidelines. In the short term, Mosquera will get a handful of minutes after the international break, with Konsa and Gabriel needing the odd rest.
However, once Saliba is back, there are questions around how often Mosquera will play, or whether he even makes the bench on a given matchday. He has talent, but his inexperience at the heart of Arsenal's defence has seemingly driven Arteta to sign Konsa, making Mosquera somewhat redundant.
A crisis at right-back in recent weeks has presented Martin Zubimendi with a few opportunities to fill in as a makeshift defender. These chances have increased his minutes across all competitions, but with Ben White expected to return after the international break and Jurrien Timber now back in the fold, these minutes will be few and far between in the coming months.
Once he's no longer needed in the backline, Zubimendi will go back to desperately fighting for midfield minutes. Bruno Guimaraes has seemingly fought off his injury and is fully integrated back into the first-team picture, while Myles Lewis-Skelly has cemented himself as a dependable option in the middle of the park. With Declan Rice a shoo-in, it's difficult to see where regular minutes will come from for Zubimendi.
For Arsenal, having a player of this calibre fulfilling such a limited squad role is a luxury. For Zubimendi himself, it's probably not sustainable beyond this season.
Viktor Gyokeres had endured a tumultuous start to the campaign. Firmly relegated to second in the pecking order, behind the in-form Kai Havertz , the Swede has been limited to a succession of cameos for the most part, and he's not impressed in any of them.
Arsenal's top scorer from last season has seemingly lost his way, struggling with confidence after it became clear over the summer that the club were prepared to move on from him. A goal or two over the international break could certainly change things for him, but it looks to be a long road back for him when he returns to N5 after this extended interlude in the season.
The shining light is that, unlike Mosquera and Zubimendi, there is just one man ahead of him. Havertz could sustain an injury at any time, and that'll immediately place Gyokeres back at the top of the pile in the centre-forward pecking order.
This article was originally published on www.paininthearsenal.com as 3 Arsenal players with the most ground to make up after the international break .
