Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher says he is a lot more positive about Arsenal’s chances of finishing in the top four after seeing the Gunners develop under manager Mikel Arteta in recent months.

The former Liverpool defender did not expect the London club to finish in the Champions League places but, with other teams such as Chelsea and Manchester United having already lost this campaign, he is revising his predictions:

“I don’t think too many people had them in the top-four predictions before the start of the season, I know I certainly didn’t. I know it’s early days, but you look at the way other teams have performed in the early weeks and I think they’ll be a much stronger proposition for the Champions League places than we initially thought.”

“[Arsenal’s fixtures] are tough games on paper but you can be sure they’ll be tough for the opposition now, whereas in the past people maybe thought with Arsenal you can bully them and maybe roll them over in certain games. They are a lot stronger proposition now under Mikel Arteta.”

As Carragher said, it is very early in the season to be making sweeping judgements about how the final Premier League table will look, but there are certainly some very promising signs if you are an Arsenal fan.

After a comfortable away victory on the opening day against Fulham, they ground out a home win versus West Ham in a game they would have likely drawn or lost last season. Of course, there are bigger tests to come, with Arteta’s side facing champions Liverpool on Monday night.