Unai Emery acknowledged Arsenal ‘deserved’ to be beaten by Manchester City on Sunday but he is confident they will improve as the season progresses.

The Gunners kicked off the post-Arsene Wenger era at the Emirates Stadium with a 2-0 defeat against last season’s runaway Premier League champions, with Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva grabbing the goals.

Former Paris Saint-Germain boss Emery admitted after the contest his side deserved to lose, but he was encouraged by the overall performance of his players and he is confident of a continued improvement as the campaign develops.

“Manchester City’s performance showed us that we need to continue the process of improving. They deserved the result,” Emery told Sky Sports.

“We are a new team [that needs] to improve. For me today, I was frustrated that we lost but it is also one more experience and continued progression.”

Emery believes playing against City is one of the hardest matches his side will face in the entire campaign, so he is hopeful things might get a little easier as the weeks progress.

He added: “I saw things in our performance we can improve and the first match against Man City is good, but it may be more difficult than our season will be this year.”

Arsenal are next in action when they travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on Saturday and are priced at 4.33 to secure a victory, while the Blues, who won their Premier League opener 3-0 at Huddersfield, are available at 1.80 and the draw is on offer at 3.80.