Fans are convinced they've spotted genius Mikel Arteta tactic to exploit new Premier League rule

A fan thinks that they may have spotted Mikel Arteta's new plan to take advantage of a new Premier League rule during the win over Manchester United.

On Sunday afternoon, Arsenal got their pursuit of the 2025/26 Premier League title off to a perfect start with a 1-0 win over United at Old Trafford.

A tap-in goal for Riccardo Calafiori gifted to him by an impressive cross from Declan Rice sealed the three points for the visitors in what was a close-fought clash.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the match for fans watching was getting to see new signings from both sides making their Premier League debuts, with both Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko featuring.

However, one eagle-eyed fan has also pointed out the genius tactic that Arteta appears to have told his players to use to make the most of a rule introduced to the Premier League this season.

Mikel Arteta led Arsenal to victory against Manchester United. (Image: Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Throughout his time at Arsenal, Arteta has been known to make the most of little-known rules in the Premier League, sometime drawing criticism from the likes of Jamie Carragher.

And it is no different this season, as one fan on X argued that Arteta told Gyokeres to try to take advantage of a new rule that means that the referee will have to give a corner kick to the opposing team if a goalkeeper holds onto the ball for eight seconds or more.

Posting on X, TaintlessRed suggested: "Arteta has a clear plan to delay goalkeepers kicking the ball after they've caught it in order to try to get corner kicks from the 8 second rule.

"Twice Referee blew his whistle due to Gyokeres delaying the keeper."

Replying to the post, a Liverpool fan added: "Yep I spotted that, it’s cynical, and they will start crying about refs if they get booked for it. So desperate for their set pieces."

Martin Dubravka fell foul of the new rule during Burnley's match against Spurs. (Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Earlier in the first week of fixtures, new Burnley goalkeeper was penalised by referee Michael Oliver for breaking the rule during his club debut in the 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur.

After receiving a five-second countdown as a warning, Dubravka continued to hold onto the ball, leading to Tottenham being awarded a corner in the fourth minute of the match.

Luckily for the Slovak goalkeeper, nothing came from the corner.