Ed Aarons was in Naples tonight. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM!

Mikel Arteta – who is unsurprisingly cutting a much more relaxed figure this season – speaks to TNT. “A fully deserved three points … the amount of chances and situations we generated … that doesn’t reflect the result … it should have been a much bigger win … a really tough environment and opponent … the team was superb … attitude … courage … quality … it was a shame we missed so many big chances.”

Post-match postbag. “It’s going to be a tough season for Napoli as their only purchase seems to have been Favasuli from lowly Catanzaro whereas Arsenal have strengthened an already very powerful squad with the likes of Tsolis and Konsa. Essentially, Napoli played for pride and gave a fairly good account of themselves” – Colum Fordham

“Not Viktor’s biggest fan, but the failure of the other players to pass to him this evening - when he’s been in a perfect position to pull the trigger - has been an embarrassment” – Paul G

“I am still irked by the red shorts. Why aren’t Arsenal wearing their third (yellow/blue) kit, as seen at Villa Park? Surely not because of a clash with the officials?” – Aristos Galatopoulos

“Re Saka and rice not being rested: this is an away game at Napoli in the Champions League, with tough games to come. It’s not the Milk Cup against Oxford Utd. You still need to have a real team - points now mean rest is more likely later, when it’s more needed. And that means you simply cannot play both Gyökeres and Madueke. And Rice … well. He plays. Bruno might be a bit annoyed to be a NPC though” – Josh Hardie

There’s a long way to go. So many matches to be played. And it’s a big old table. But here it is anyway.

Arsenal’s performance was more dogged than free-flowing. But they were much the better side, dominating possession and territory, with the lion’s share of the chances. And though some wasteful finishing threatened to spoil all of their hard work, when they finally broke through it was a peach from their captain Martin Odegaard, back to his best. Another assist for Christos Tzolis too. Napoli by contrast have now lost three games on the bounce, their new boss Massimiliano Allegri already under a bit of pressure.

90 min +3: Arsenal have the ball in the net again, Tzolis shooting from an angle on the left, Milinković-Savić spilling into the path of Havertz, who can’t miss. But Havertz was offside.

90 min +2: Now Neres whacks the ball away in frustration, but he’s not booked, the referee having missed it. Gabriel is furious, and runs the risk of picking up a card himself by telling it as he sees it.

90 min +1: Odegaard is booked for lashing a dead ball away, with Napoli preparing to take a quick free kick deep in their own territory.

90 min: There will be four additional minutes.

89 min: Neres pings a cute pass down the inside-left channel, and suddenly De Bruyne is free, on the corner of the six-yard box. De Bruyne has only Raya to beat, but rolls a ball across the face of goal, hoping to find Lucca instead. Lucca’s not there. The crowd groan again, at the latest of De Bruyne’s egregious errors. It’s not been a banner evening for one of the genuine greats of the last decade.

88 min: … Napoli counter, but Neres can’t get on the end of a pass down the middle. Arsenal were light at the back.

87 min: A corner for Arsenal on the right. Madueke wanders in and aims for the top left. The shot is deflected wide left for another corner, from which …

86 min: Lucca is booked for knocking into Gabriel.

85 min: Gilmour is robbed by Zubimendi and sends Guimarães away on the counter. Guimarães slips in Madueke to his right. Madueke is clear! But he can’t slip the ball under Milinković-Savić, who blocks, then spins up and stops Madueke rolling into the empty net. Madueke instead cuts back for Tzolis, whose drive hits the nearest defender. Not sure how Napoli kept that out, but they collectively managed it.

84 min: Favasuli tries to take on Hincapie in a footrace down the right, but the defender’s letting nobody past.

82 min: Guimarães looks for the top-left corner from 25 yards. High and wide. Before Milinković-Savić restarts the game, Zubimendi comes on for White.

80 min: Lucca barrels after a long punt down the middle, but can’t get the ball under control. On the touchline, Massimiliano Allegri, staring down the barrel of a third consecutive defeat so early in his reign, rants and raves in the classic continental style.

78 min: That’s now four assists in five games for Tzolis. Arsenal fans are in great voice, the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona otherwise quiet.

77 min: Napoli respond with a double change, replacing Hojlund and Lobotka with Neres and Lucca.

73 min: Gyökeres and Saka, who have both been ineffective this evening, make way for Madueke and Havertz.

72 min: This game has become scrappy, and it’s probably doing Napoli more of a favour.

70 min: Tzolis meets a ball dropping towards the Napoli penalty spot … and nearly launches his shot into orbit. In terms of slapstick and comedic timing, it was almost perfect. In footballing terms, not so much.

68 min: The pace drops. It is warm in Naples after all, 27 degrees centigrade at kick-off according to Uefa’s official thermometer.

66 min: A double change for Arsenal as Merino and Eze make way for Guimarães and Tzolis.

65 min: De Bruyne, under no pressure, butchers a simple pass meant for Lobotka, in acres on the right flank. The crowd groan as the ball sails into the stand. The veteran midfielder has had a bit of a shocker so far.

63 min: Rice makes himself a little bit of time and space to the right of the Napoli D, then lashes a wild shot high and well wide right.

62 min: Hojlund strides down the left but can’t get past Gabriel as he reaches the edge of the box. His shot is deflected, and De Bryune chases after the loose ball, but he doesn’t have the legs to get past Hincapie.

61 min: Vergara also wastes little time in getting involved … but upon tearing down the left, he ruins it all by yanking a dismal cross straight into the arms of Raya.

60 min: The newly arrived Favasuli comes sliding in on Merino at 101 miles per hour. He times his tackle perfectly – just – and the crowd enjoyed that very much. A nanosecond one way or the other, though, and the Napoli sub would have been in a world of bother. He was fully committed, put it that way.

58 min: Santos left White in the dust there, such a cheeky and skilful run, but looks to have injured himself in the process. He departs, along with Politano, the pair replaced by Favasuli and Vergara.

56 min: Santos knocks the ball past White down the left and rounds the defender, then tears away. Lovely play. He shuttles the ball infield for De Bruyne, who looks for Hojlund but his radar is wonky. That’s not his first misplaced pass of the evening, and the home crowd aren’t 100 percent happy with him.

55 min: Rice clumsily clanks into Santos, and pressure that had been building for several minutes is suddenly released. Napoli so grateful for the breather.

53 min: Arsenal are pushing Napoli back. The hosts can’t get out. There’s no option for them other than long to Hojlund. The nearly-all-reds well on top.

52 min: Odegaard, dictating the tempo now from a deep position, loops another pass into the Napoli box. Again for White, but this time down the left, and not so elegant as before. Goal kick.

50 min: Odegaard suddenly springs into action, elegantly wedging a pass down the inside-right channel and into the box for White, who heads across the face of goal. Hincapie should ram home from close range, but somehow manages to leather the ball over the bar. Not for the first time tonight we say: Arsenal should be leading.

49 min: To a chorus of impatient whistling, Arsenal stroke the ball around, this way and that, 30 yards from the Napoli goal. There’s no way through the defence.

47 min: Milinković-Savić has got the mother of all hipster’s beards. He looks like he should be behind the counter at a record store, or running a micro-brewery. While he finds his feet at one end of the park, Napoli make good down the other, and Gilmour takes a whack from distance. Easy for Raya.

Napoli get the second half started. Milinković-Savić has replaced Meret in their goal. “As Big Ron used to say, ‘If you look good, you play good’,” begins Alan Baverstock. “Well, Arsenal are looking crap in all red with white sleeves once again, as anyone would, so don’t expect too much. So close, yet so far from Bill Shankly’s switch to all red at Liverpool: ‘The players looked like giants,’ he said, ‘And we played like giants.’”

Half-time fag break postbag ... which for some reason is tobacco-infused.

“Well, sir, can they boogie without the Great Scott? Presumably Mr McT is in the stand somewhere, a crafty fag on the go, cupped between thumb and index finger and held behind the back, just in case the cameras spot him” – Justin Kavanagh

“Just checking: Gyökeres is still there, right? He hasn’t gone for a lie down or some mid-half snus?” – Adam Walker

“I understand that winning games builds psychological momentum, but I feel that Arteta could use some of these essentially meaningless league phase matches to give his most overworked players the night off. Does Rice need to be on the field? Yeah, if you want to maximise your chances of winning this game. But given how exhausted he looked at the end of last season, it might be good to rest him” – Kári Tulinius

“Can you put that photo of Kai Havertz back up? At least then Arsenal fans will have a useful striker to look at. And it’d be no more immoble than the one on the pitch” – Charles Anaki [Click here to relive some of that Hot Havertz Action]

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45 min +2: Saka goes long. There’s a bit of pinball, before Hincapie tries to catch Meret out with a cheeky threaded shot towards the bottom left. There’s no pace on the shot, and it’s easy for the keeper.

45 min +1: The first of two additional minutes, and Konsa’s sheer determination down the right wins Arsenal a corner. Just enough time to take it!

45 min: Arsenal should be leading. Odegaard slides a pass down the inside-right channel to release Saka into the Napoli box. Saka is one on one with Meret, and looks for the top left, but gets it all wrong, the ball sailing miles off target to the left. The offside flag pops up to momentarily save Saka’s blushes … but replays show he was comfortably onside. That’s a huge opportunity passed up.

43 min: The free kick, then. A big faff, and a big waste. But Arsenal come again, Odegaard curling in from the left. Meret, who looks fit and healthy to the naked and untrained eye, punches clear acrobatically.

42 min: This game has slipped into Basketball Mode. Saka with a dribble down the right. His cutback for Rice is intercepted. Olivera probes down the left but can’t get past Konsa. Eze scampers up the other end, and is skittled by Gilmour, who goes into the book. A free kick 30 yards out, just to the left of centre.

40 min: Olivera swats Saka off the ball and sends Santos off on a wild run down the left. Santos nearly gets the better of Konsa … but the Arsenal defender somehow sticks to his side like glue, and eventually does some swatting of his own. Santos goes over, and wants a free kick, but he’s not getting one.

39 min: Politano’s in-swinging shot from the right flies straight at Raya. Arsenal counter, and Saka hoicks a dreadful effort miles over the bar.

38 min: … though having said that, Napoli’s back-up keeper Milinković-Savić is furiously prepping in the dugout. Meret puts his boot through a clearance, meanwhile, so perhaps all’s well. Let’s see.

37 min: Meret is fine to continue, and restarts the game. Everyone refreshed.

36 min: The game doesn’t restart immediately, because Meret has a problem. On come the physio. Everyone else takes the opportunity to snorkel some isotonic treats.

35 min: Rice buys a ticket from 25 yards. High and wide.

34 min: Hojlund chases a pass down the inside-right, holds off Gabriel, and lays off to De Bruyne, whose shot balloons off Gabriel and out for a corner … but Napoli don’t get the set piece, because the flag goes up for offside. It was a close one, though, Hojlund pretty much level with Gabriel at the start of the chase. Had Napoli scored from the move, VAR would have had some work to do.

32 min: Hincapie sends a cross in from a tight spot on the left … and nearly catches Meret out at his near post. Meret does well to claw the ball out and away. Not entirely sure Hincapie meant that, but if he did, it was a super-cheeky gamble and nearly paid out.

30 min: Santos crosses from the left and nearly finds De Bruyne in the middle, six yards out, but Konsa is on point to block and clear. Both teams searching furiously for the opener.

29 min: Eze cuts in from the left and drags a shot wide left. He grimaces and sucks in some air. It was a good chance. Arsenal come again, Saka jinking in from the right before shanking a weak effort wide left. Another good chance spurned.

27 min: Saka plays a ball in from the right to tee up Merino on the edge of the Napoli D. Merino takes a heavy touch, allowing De Bruyne to nip in, steal the ball, and draw a foul. You’ve seen yellows given for less, but if this referee wasn’t going to book Eze earlier, he’s certainly not going to show one for that.

25 min: Time and space for Politano out on the right. But not that much time and space. He faffs around, and when he eventually decides to attempt a cross, he’s closed down by Hincapie.

23 min: … Rice dribbles a weak shot straight at Meret. Napoli break quickly again, and Santos takes aim from a tight angle on the left. It’s blocked easily by White.

22 min: Saka cuts in from the right and crosses long. Eze heads back across the face of goal for Merino, who rams a header goalwards from six yards. But it’s straight at Meret, who tips over. Great save, but the keeper shouldn’t have been given the chance to make one. You’d expect Merino to bury that. And from the corner …

20 min: A long ball down the middle nearly releases Hojlund on goal. Gabriel grapples with the striker and does just enough to put him off. Both teams look good going forward.

19 min: De Bruyne spins around Eze’s flailing leg and is brought down. No idea why Eze isn’t booked, but the Arsenal player gets away with it. De Bruyne is fuming.

18 min: Politano finds some space down the right but his looping cross is easy pickings for Raya. Better from Napoli, though; the hosts are working their way into this match after a slow start.

16 min: De Bruyne should release Santos on the left but tries a trickier pass for Hojlund down the middle. It’s no good. The ball breaks to Politano, who shoots harmlessly from his position on the right.

15 min: Napoli spend some time patiently passing around the back. Suddenly Di Lorenzo is released down the right. He rolls infield for De Bruyne, who pearls a shot straight at Raya. It’s too hot to handle. Raya spills, but Santos can’t get to the rebound. White pings it off the Napoli man and it’s a goal kick.

13 min: Eze is clipped out on the left and Odegaard sends the free kick diagonally into the Napoli box. Gabriel doesn’t win the header. Napoli clear. Politano acrobatically keeps the ball in play out on the left, but only manages to set Arsenal off on the attack again. The ball’s sent into the middle, where Saka bicycle kicks straight into Meret’s arms. Arsenal full of confidence.

11 min: Arsenal continue to stroke it around nicely, and after a few triangles down the right are completed, Saka releases Rice into the box with a sliderule pass. Rice’s attempt at a cutback is no good, and hacked clear.

9 min: One corner leads to another, and from the second, Napoli tear clear on the counter. Hojlund bombs up the inside-right channel and feeds Santos on the overlap. Santos enters the box and slices a cross over the bar and out for a goal kick. That was a good opportunity for Napoli.

8 min: It’s all the all-reds of Arsenal in these early exchanges. Eze has a whack from distance and the ball deflects out for the first corner of the match. Rice to take, with Napoli having left four players on the halfway line, Chelsea-at-the-weekend style.

7 min: Some more action for White down the right. He chases what looks like a lost cause and digs out a cross. Easy for Meret, with no Arsenal player anywhere near the keeper.

6 min: Odegaard and White combine neatly down the right and find Saka in a small pocket of space inside the Napoli box. Saka has nanoseconds to shoot, and his effort is easily and effectively blocked. Nice move, though.

4 min: De Bruyne finds a little bit of space out on the right, and curls a low cross into the Arsenal box. There’s no Napoli presence within, and it’s easy for Raya.

2 min: Arsenal are wearing red shorts. Full marks for considering those with colour blindness, and acting with compassion. It doesn’t look good, mind. It’s just not Arsenal.

After a moment to remember the victims of the devastating floods in Nepal, Arsenal get the ball rolling. A blistering atmosphere at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona; did anyone expect anything else?

The teams are out! Napoli wear sky blue, with a fancy gold crest that celebrates their 100th anniversary. Arsenal sport their first-choice red shirts, and would do well to change their underwhelming modern badge back to the Victoria Concordia Crescit version, or perhaps the Art Deco hexagon from the 1930s, but good luck getting that past the copyright lawyers. Anyway, I’ve gone off piste. Massimiliano Allegri and Mikel Arteta are hugging. We’ll be off in a minute.

Mikel Arteta speaks to TNT Sports. “We were lucky [regarding the flight over] … I am sure it was much worse for many tourists … [Hincapié, Eze, Gyökeres and Merino] deserve to play … they train really well … every time they have been on the pitch as finishers they have made an impact … they fully deserve to start the game … I could not wait to start playing in the Champions League again … after the last days we had in Budapest, to lift ourselves up and go again … start the journey again … [Napoli] have a lot of experience and quality … a coach with massive experience in the competition … we are ready … to be ourselves and win the game.”

Pre-match postbag. “Why have such a stacked squad if you can’t make Saka and Rice the ones rested? The fact that it’s early in the season doesn’t really work because their summer was a bunch of extra work” – Zach Neeley

“Although Kai won’t feature among the starters, your chosen pic does offer plenty of food for thought, prompting one to wonder how much expert consideration has gone into crafting all the various hair zones on his head, or how it is that someone with a bag can have so many loose items on his person?” – Dr Jordan Pickering

Fancy a deeper dive into Napoli’s dispiriting defeat to Inter last weekend? Nicky Bandini has all the details.

Arsenal make four changes to their starting XI following the 2-1 victory over Chelsea. Typically, having just posted a large picture of Kai Havertz, he’s one of four players stood down, along with Myles Lewis-Skelly, Christos Tzolis and the increasingly influential Riccardo Calafiori. Piero Hincapié, Eberechi Eze, Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyökeres – the latter making his first start of the season – are in.

Napoli have a few faces familiar to Premier League fans in their starting XI. Billy Gilmour, formerly of Chelsea, Norwich and Brighton; Manchester City legend Kevin De Bruyne; and erstwhile Manchester United striker Rasmus Højlund. Scott McTominay, also once of Old Trafford, is out until next month, having recently had successful surgery to treat an irregular heartbeat.

Worry not, people. While this …

… meant this happened …

… Arsenal are in the house. As proof, here’s Kai Havertz arriving at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Not 100 percent sure the Louis Vuitton bag pairs well with the Adidas clobber. The lanyard definitely clashes.