Arsene Wenger refuses to panic about Arsenal’s spluttering start even though the Gunners boss admits his side aren’t firing on all cylinders.

Wenger’s men head to Newcastle on Saturday looking to win for just the second time in their first four Premier League matches.

A goalless draw against Liverpool on Monday left the north Londoners already lagging five points behind leaders Manchester City after a worrying repeat of the slow opening that eventually doomed their title challenge last season.

Wenger acknowledged his players aren’t at their best yet, but he cautioned against writing them off too soon.

“We have not had the ideal start and we are conscious of that but we want to play 60 games in the season,” Wenger said.

“We have played three games now and we have lost one that we should

not have lost, but we have to be conscious that the season is not

decided yet.

“Maybe we are not firing on all cylinders at the moment. Not

everybody is ready physically. Certainly at the moment we want it so

much at home that we’re trying to force it a little bit.”

Meanwhile, City winger Jesus Navas has warned the Premier League

pace-setters not to get complacent after their blistering start.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side have reeled off three wins from their

opening three matches and the swaggering manner of their performances

suggests City are back to their best after tamely surrendering the title

to Chelsea last season.

With Raheem Sterling bedding in nicely after his move from Liverpool

and a big-money deal for Wolfsburg’s Belgium playmaker Kevin de Bruyne

reportedly close to completion, City are assembling an awesome array of

attacking talent that could leave the rest of the top tier trailing in

their wake.

The leaders are firm favourites to maintain their flying start when

they host promoted Watford on Saturday, but Spain international Navas is

well aware of the dangers of underestimating a team who have drawn all

three of their league matches so far.

“It is not only that we have won these three games, it is that we

didn’t concede any goals and we created a lot of chances. We are really

happy,” Navas said.

“But we need to keep the same attitude, working really well

defensively and also creating a lot of chances. That is the way to win

more games this season.”

Like City, Liverpool, who host West Ham on Saturday, were

disappointing last season as they followed a second place finish in

2013-14 by slipping down to sixth.

But, while City have recaptured the enterprising style that made them

champions two years ago, Liverpool have focused on solidifying a

defence that proved so porous over the last 12 months.

The early signs are promising for boss Brendan Rodgers as new

full-backs Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez have helped third placed

Liverpool keep three consecutive clean-sheets and take seven points from

a possible nine.

“For two guys that have just arrived at the club, where the

expectation level will be way above what they’ve experienced before,

they already look as though they’ve been here a long, long time,”

Liverpool assistant coach Gary McAllister said.

Buoyed by Wayne Rooney’s return to form with a hat-trick in their

midweek Champions League play-off round demolition of Club Brugge,

fourth placed Manchester United can focus on the title race now their

European progress is assured.

United, unbeaten in the league so far, will need Rooney at his best

if they are to mount a sustained title challenge, so it was a major

boost to see the England striker end his 878-minute scoring drought

ahead of Sunday’s trip to Swansea.

“I wasn’t worried, if it was going on for three, four, five games

more then maybe so but it’s early days and I knew when the chances came

I’d take them,” Rooney said.

With one win from their first three games, Chelsea find themselves in

the unfamiliar position of languishing in mid-table, well below

Saturday’s opponents Crystal Palace, who visit Stamford Bridge in fifth

place.

But spirits have soared at the Bridge following the impressive debut

display of Pedro Rodriguez, who marked his arrival from Barcelona by

scoring one and setting up another in Chelsea’s maiden victory of the

season at West Bromwich Albion.