⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[Mame89]

Playing without Odegaard and Bukayo Saka has clearly affected Arsenal's performance but I think it only has an impact on their creativity, while their defensive line should be fine. What made Arsenal lose was that they had to play with 10 men from the early minutes, and the red card was enough to affect their composure, so when Bournemouth succeeded in breaking down the deadlock, this actually made Arsenal even more shaky, so that instead of equalizing, they conceded the second goal.

That's right. This is Arsenal's weakness this season, and it must also be admitted that this is what differentiates Arsenal and Man City. If Man City has many players who can be substitutes if there are several players who are injured or whose performance declines. While Arsenal has very few who can be used as substitute players.

For example, when Odegaard is injured, he can be replaced by Bukayo Saka because he is also quite good as a playmaker and captain, but when both players are injured, no one can fill the void, and that was evident in yesterday's match, plus the player who got a red card. No wonder Arsenal lost against Bournemouth, I have to be honest and say that I lost the bet on this match and it hurts a lot. On the other hand, what Arsenal fears most is when Kai or Martinelli gets injured if that happens later, I doubt Arsenal can compete with Man City and Liverpool this season. Arteta's next test is against Liverpool, we know Liverpool are currently on fire, most likely Arsenal will lose points again next week.

[hahay]

As I think Liverpool are behind Manchester City and Arsenal, I don't agree with you.While starting this season Liverpool needed to sign 2-3 elite players. Because Liverpool substitutes are really weak.Besides it isn't even clear to me that Salah will complete the season at Liverpool.

Why do you think Liverpool is behind Manchester City and Arsenal. You meantion Liverpool's subs as really weak yet the club still got the likes of Nunez, Mac Allister, Diaz among others in its substitutes some of which may not perform like the first level team but will be able to turn up and represent when the need always arises. What's confusing about your statement is that Liverpool is behind Manchester City and Arsenal when yet Liverpool are the leading club in the table standing right now.

I also disagree if it is said that Liverpool is behind Arsenal because, basically, Liverpool is still a better team than Arsenal. I personally do not care about their position in the  standings but I think it is clear that Arsenal is still not strong enough in the competition for the title. Indeed,in the last two seasons Arsenal has become a better team for its competition in the title, but in reality Manchester City's dominance is still very high. Thus,  it would be more appropriate to say that Arsenal is behind Manchester City and Liverpool, because in reality Arsenal often fails to maintain good and consistent performance, and that is also  what makes Arsenal still fail in the trophy race from season to season lately.

[SatoPrincess]

I think missing Saliba due to the red card cannot be used as an excuse for their losses. This is because they were already bad even before Saliba was sent off by the referee. And I'm concerned about how they are now a club with the most red cards.

Just curious what makes them very often get red cards. It's been happening since Arteta joined Arsenal in 2019.

That’s not true. William Saliba’s red card had a huge impact on how the game played out. Arsenal has received three red cards in 8 games this season, two of them in the first half. What is interesting about this is that none of the red cards have been as a result of a violent incident, all of them have been controversial because referees have given a yellow card to other teams in similar situations.

[Issa56]

Since the league is a long marathon, such accidents can happen, but the real concern for Arsenal is not that they lost but instead is how poorly they played. I believe that Manchester City, the favorite for the championship in my opinion, would not have played as badly even if they were down to 9 men against Bournemouth. I still can't figure out why Arteta had the team play so defensively throughout the match, even though days have passed since the game. He should have been bolder.

I know that the red card received by Arsenal really affected them, but with that, they shouldn’t have lost to a team like Bournemouth, they conceded two goals in the match, I don’t really think that’s really a good one for Arsenal, Bournemouth isn’t really a strong team. Arsenal will be playing against Liverpool in their next match. How are they even going to win Liverpool in the match? The pressure that Liverpool will be mounting on them will definitely be much, and I don’t think even the strong defenders that Arsenal are having will be able to hold Liverpool.
 
Arsenal is currently facing injury problems, and Arteta doesn’t have strong players, which will be replacing the players that are currently on injury, which is what is currently affecting them, and if Arsenal can lose their next match, then I just hope they will be able to stay in the Champions League zone, they can’t really compete with Liverpool and Manchester City for the title this season.

[Oluwa-btc]

I think missing Saliba due to the red card cannot be used as an excuse for their losses. This is because they were already bad even before Saliba was sent off by the referee. And I'm concerned about how they are now a club with the most red cards.

Just curious what makes them very often get red cards. It's been happening since Arteta joined Arsenal in 2019.

Even with Saliba's red card, they remained the better side, they kept the ball, controlled the flow of the game and should have taken thee lead only if Martinelli had scored the chance he had. Scoring that goal would have seen them sit back and defend that single goale. Things are not going as expected but with the return of the two driving forces, I'm certain heading back to winning ways is a must. It could be that they're pressing too hard, I cannot say that Arsenal lacks discipline issues. Red cards are not relevant, the only thing relevant would be Arsenal winning the Premier league competition.

[Zaguru12]

Even with Saliba's red card, they remained the better side, they kept the ball, controlled the flow of the game and should have taken thee lead only if Martinelli had scored the chance he had. Scoring that goal would have seen them sit back and defend that single goale. Things are not going as expected but with the return of the two driving forces, I'm certain heading back to winning ways is a must. It could be that they're pressing too hard, I cannot say that Arsenal lacks discipline issues. Red cards are not relevant, the only thing relevant would be Arsenal winning the Premier league competition.

Not talking about the disastrous loss to the Bournemouth team but emphasizing on their performance over the last few matches they have played this season. My concern is Arsenal has actually gone too defensive of recent. Arteta has been playing the slow football compare to how they quick counter I the last seasons,  now they play casually and play In passes when they openings only, it’s not a bad idea as they have been the best defensively In the league but I feel like it is affecting their goals and not scoring more is a problem itself, is this new tactics because of the unavailability of the club captain Martin Odegaard who is their main goals creator

[TelolettOm]

.... Calafiori is injured, and it's not good. Possible knee injury, what a bad news for Arsenal.

Arsenal performance this season does look not inconsistent, so we are starting to doubt if  they can repeat what they did last season, last season we saw how Arsenal looked like they had no difficulty at all in competing in the Premier League due to the lack of their injured players, but now one by one their players have to enter the treatment room due to the current tight schedule,  Next week Arsenal will face Liverpool but when they need a performance and also a qualified squad to face Liverpool,

Indeed, in this season, their journey is not smooth enough, especially with some of their key players who have been injured for a long time, even Saka, also barely recovered from injury. While Calafiori and also several other players are still under treatment due to injury.

when Arsenal face Liverpool later, their position will be really risky. Their 2 mainstay players are absent, Calafiori due to injury and Saliba suspended red card. and maybe still without Saka? Wow, this is complete, Arteta is under too much pressure this time, just right to face Liverpool.

[legendbtc]

.... Calafiori is injured, and it's not good. Possible knee injury, what a bad news for Arsenal.

Arsenal performance this season does look not inconsistent, so we are starting to doubt if  they can repeat what they did last season, last season we saw how Arsenal looked like they had no difficulty at all in competing in the Premier League due to the lack of their injured players, but now one by one their players have to enter the treatment room due to the current tight schedule,  Next week Arsenal will face Liverpool but when they need a performance and also a qualified squad to face Liverpool,

Indeed, in this season, their journey is not smooth enough, especially with some of their key players who have been injured for a long time, even Saka, also barely recovered from injury. While Calafiori and also several other players are still under treatment due to injury.

when Arsenal face Liverpool later, their position will be really risky. Their 2 mainstay players are absent, Calafiori due to injury and Saliba suspended red card. and maybe still without Saka? Wow, this is complete, Arteta is under too much pressure this time, just right to face Liverpool.

Calafiori's condition has yet to be confirmed, but he is almost certain to miss this weekend's big clash with Liverpool. Obviously, this is a big blow to Arteta, in the context that Calafiori is playing with high form and Arsenal is not too strong in the left-back position.

It's been a very tense period and they've been missing key players in various positions on the pitch. Arteta will need to shuffle his squad at the weekend, with Thomas Partey likely to start at right-back to allow Ben White to move into centec-back. On the left wing, Oleksandr Zinchenko - who has not played for Arsenal since August - will have to compete with Jakub Kiwior for a starting spot. Overall, I think Jakub Kiwior should be considered as the preferred option to replace Calafiori this weekend, as he is the best defensively of the remaining left-backs Arteta has available.

[blue Snow]

That's right. This is Arsenal's weakness this season, and it must also be admitted that this is what differentiates Arsenal and Man City. If Man City has many players who can be substitutes if there are several players who are injured or whose performance declines. While Arsenal has very few who can be used as substitute players.

For example, when Odegaard is injured, he can be replaced by Bukayo Saka because he is also quite good as a playmaker and captain, but when both players are injured, no one can fill the void, and that was evident in yesterday's match, plus the player who got a red card. No wonder Arsenal lost against Bournemouth, I have to be honest and say that I lost the bet on this match and it hurts a lot. On the other hand, what Arsenal fears most is when Kai or Martinelli gets injured if that happens later, I doubt Arsenal can compete with Man City and Liverpool this season. Arteta's next test is against Liverpool, we know Liverpool are currently on fire, most likely Arsenal will lose points again next week.

When I look at how they success defeat Shakhtar Donest 2 days ago on Champions League, Arsenal seem only lost their concentration and some players can not control the rhythm of game when face Bournemouth a week ago. Arteta must fix it and immediately repair the team to be focus on what their face. Liverpool is on fire, they will face the solid team on premier league right now, when arsenal still lost their control and the substitute players also late to adapt the arteta scheme, I believe we can see again arsenal lost the point on next week. But, usually when arsenal meet the strong team, they can fight struggle and won't let it Liverpool get the points easy on Emirates.

[tusandii]

In the match of Nottm Forest vs Crystal Palace team today, Nottm Forest team won the match by scoring 1 goal. In the first half of the game, the performance of the players of both teams was really great, but after halftime, Nottm Forest team player C. Wood scored the 1st goal in 65 minutes. After that, two  None of the players in the team scored any goal for which the Nottingham Forest team won the match.

As I have said that most likely Nothingham Forest will beat Crystal Palace in the match because Crystal Palace this season is experiencing a decline in performance which makes it difficult for them to get important points in every match on the other hand Nothingham Forest performed better and tried hard not to disappoint their supporters who watched the match even though they were only able to score 1 goal at least that was enough to win even Crystal Palace tried hard to make many shots but none of them were converted into goals.

[Oluwa-btc]

Not talking about the disastrous loss to the Bournemouth team but emphasizing on their performance over the last few matches they have played this season. My concern is Arsenal has actually gone too defensive of recent. Arteta has been playing the slow football compare to how they quick counter I the last seasons,  now they play casually and play In passes when they openings only, it’s not a bad idea as they have been the best defensively In the league but I feel like it is affecting their goals and not scoring more is a problem itself, is this new tactics because of the unavailability of the club captain Martin Odegaard who is their main goals creator

They didn't play defensive against Wolves, Aston villa, Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur, maybe not against Atalanta but against Manchester City. Did attack again against Bolton, Paris Saint Germany, and Leicester. Injuries affected them badly and we can see it happened when Martin Odegaard left for the international break with Norway. I'm certain with October closing, he'll be back soon. It seems like Saka and Odegaerd are the core players carrying that squad. They have created a whole lot, their absence have not been able to get Kai Harvertz scoring goals again. Mikel Arteta need a back up for this. It'll sure be bloody against a doing well Liverpool side.

[mamesso]

~Snip~

Arsenal performance this season does look not inconsistent, so we are starting to doubt if  they can repeat what they did last season, last season we saw how Arsenal looked like they had no difficulty at all in competing in the Premier League due to the lack of their injured players, but now one by one their players have to enter the treatment room due to the current tight schedule,  Next week Arsenal will face Liverpool but when they need a performance and also a qualified squad to face Liverpool, precisely at this time Calafiori must receive treatment due to injury in  UCL match yesterday, although indeed Arsenal has not confirmed how severe he is injured but if you see him replaced in the match against Shaktar Donetsk, of course it is likely that he will miss the match against Liverpool later.

Maybe you mean Arsenal performance is inconsistent, it's just that you're using the wrong word. The storm of injuries that continues to hit Arsenal players has made it difficult for Arteta to face the challenges this season, especially since the competition in the EPL this season is very competitive after Liverpool managed to reach the peak of its performance. Chelsea are also starting to show improvement, Aston Villa are still consistently maintaining their best performance, if Arsenal continue to lose points like they just experienced at Bournemouth's headquarters, then they will not only have difficulty competing with Liverpool and Manchester City in the title race, but their position in the top four will also be threatened.

[Hanadawa]

I also disagree if it is said that Liverpool is behind Arsenal because, basically, Liverpool is still a better team than Arsenal. I personally do not care about their position in the  standings but I think it is clear that Arsenal is still not strong enough in the competition for the title. Indeed,in the last two seasons Arsenal has become a better team for its competition in the title, but in reality Manchester City's dominance is still very high. Thus,  it would be more appropriate to say that Arsenal is behind Manchester City and Liverpool, because in reality Arsenal often fails to maintain good and consistent performance, and that is also  what makes Arsenal still fail in the trophy race from season to season lately.

But I think in the last 2 seasons City's dominance is not as high as the previous season. Last season Arsenal was 2 points behind City because they lost in several important matches at the end of the season. This shows that Arsenal is at the same level as City. This season I think City, Arsenal, Liverpool can compete for the EPL title. Of course City is the first favorite. But other teams also have a chance because City's dominance is not as high as a few seasons ago. City has good squad depth but it seems that Rodri's injury has had a significant impact on City's game.

[SmartCharpa]

Playing without Odegaard and Bukayo Saka has clearly affected Arsenal's performance but I think it only has an impact on their creativity, while their defensive line should be fine. What made Arsenal lose was that they had to play with 10 men from the early minutes, and the red card was enough to affect their composure, so when Bournemouth succeeded in breaking down the deadlock, this actually made Arsenal even more shaky, so that instead of equalizing, they conceded the second goal.

Arsenal only thought about adding more defensive players during the transfer window, forgetting that they didn't have any top players to replace Saka and Odegaard if they couldn't play. Other teams are busy acquiring more players to improve their performance each time their current players aren't fit. I stated during the transfer window that Arsenals performance would no doubt suffer if they didn't acquire another left winger this season because they shouldn't expect Saka to be fit all the time. The players didn't have much time to recover after the international matches, so they continued playing in the league, and it's clear that Saka won't be fit with how many games he has played so far.

However, Arteta did not have a left winger who could replace Saka's position in the Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk, so he used their striker, Gabriel Jesus, to fill the role. To be honest, Arsenal failed to learn from their previous errors. Manchester City, who had won the league title four times in a row, strengthened their performance by adding more attacking players, but Arsenal, who had failed the previous two seasons, relied on their current players this season.

[knowngunman]

Not talking about the disastrous loss to the Bournemouth team but emphasizing on their performance over the last few matches they have played this season. My concern is Arsenal has actually gone too defensive of recent. Arteta has been playing the slow football compare to how they quick counter I the last seasons,  now they play casually and play In passes when they openings only, it’s not a bad idea as they have been the best defensively In the league but I feel like it is affecting their goals and not scoring more is a problem itself, is this new tactics because of the unavailability of the club captain Martin Odegaard who is their main goals creator

Do you expect Arsenal games to still be the same as it was before? Remember they now play without Odegaard and Saka who are the engine of their creativity and attack as well. It's unrealistic to expect Arsenal to play the same without these two players. Arsenal doesn't have squad depth or enough creative players like other teams and once one of their key players is injured, the entire story will change.

 The only available option now is Nwaneri. He's the only creative player now after Odegaard but Arterta doesn't seems to trust the lad. Arterta probably believe that Nwaneri is not experienced enough to be a regular starter until Odegaard returns but that's the only option I see available right now.

Arsenal doesn't have back up players for real and I'm not surprised with the way they are playing now. Any further injury now on any of their player will throw Arterta into total confusion.

[Raflesia]

Oh yes, even in the UCL, this time they did not perform optimally. Indeed, they won against FC Shakhtar Donetsk, they got a full 3 points and that was the main point. but they did not score at all, only OG from the opponent. Arsenal dominated, many attempts at shots, but none of them went into the goal

And to make matters worse, Calafiori is injured, and it's not good. Possible knee injury, what a bad news for Arsenal.

Arsenal players began to fall with a busy schedule and high tension of the game and of course this will be a loss especially when what they face later is Liverpool for the EPL continuation which of course Calafiori is needed here.

Arteta still hasn't said about how severe Calafiori's injury is but when looking at the position he fell it is likely that even this injury will take time to heal even though he recently recovered from the injury he suffered.
This situation will certainly make Arteta confused because indeed for the current defender means Tomiyasu, Tierney, Clafiori certainly will not play against Liverpool not to mention Saliba who was indeed punished for the red card he received last week which makes Arteta have to think hard about how to hold Liverpool which for now of course we know Liverpool's dominance is still very good in a match.

[Justbillywitt]

I also disagree if it is said that Liverpool is behind Arsenal because, basically, Liverpool is still a better team than Arsenal. I personally do not care about their position in the  standings but I think it is clear that Arsenal is still not strong enough in the competition for the title. Indeed,in the last two seasons Arsenal has become a better team for its competition in the title, but in reality Manchester City's dominance is still very high. Thus,  it would be more appropriate to say that Arsenal is behind Manchester City and Liverpool, because in reality Arsenal often fails to maintain good and consistent performance, and that is also  what makes Arsenal still fail in the trophy race from season to season lately.

I wonder what has been making some people believe that Arsenal are stronger than Liverpool. That Arsenal finished second for two consecutive seasons doesn't make them stronger than Liverpool. Liverpool has been finishing behind Manchester city the other seasons before the last two and at a point they won the league and the champions League and this time they are still at the top of the league. Yet some people are so delusional to believe that an Arsenal side that has only won an Fa cup in 4 years is stronger than a side that has won the premier League, champions League, and others. In the last 6 years. I don't really know how some people analyzes their football to determine the team that's stronger. Last season Liverpool contested for the league and they where there till the very end. Arsenal is never stronger than Liverpool in my view.

[mammusu]

.... Calafiori is injured, and it's not good. Possible knee injury, what a bad news for Arsenal.

Arsenal performance this season does look not inconsistent, so we are starting to doubt if  they can repeat what they did last season, last season we saw how Arsenal looked like they had no difficulty at all in competing in the Premier League due to the lack of their injured players, but now one by one their players have to enter the treatment room due to the current tight schedule,  Next week Arsenal will face Liverpool but when they need a performance and also a qualified squad to face Liverpool,

Indeed, in this season, their journey is not smooth enough, especially with some of their key players who have been injured for a long time, even Saka, also barely recovered from injury. While Calafiori and also several other players are still under treatment due to injury.

when Arsenal face Liverpool later, their position will be really risky. Their 2 mainstay players are absent, Calafiori due to injury and Saliba suspended red card. and maybe still without Saka? Wow, this is complete, Arteta is under too much pressure this time, just right to face Liverpool.

Arsenal this season began to be hit by a storm of injuries and reminded me of what continued to be the main problem for them when Wenger was still coaching, at that time Arsenal consistency was often disrupted by the storm of injuries that continued to occur every season and make theru fail to be champhionsip in the end, the defeat from Brentford was quite painful but in fact the absence of Saliba in the match against Liverpool later was a more big loss for Arsenal,  Without being able to play some of his mainstay players, of course, Arsenal's chances of winning are very small later because a team like Liverpool will take advantage of every line and weakness of the opponent to get points, I think the match will be a crucial and Arteta may have a solution to rotate his players but it doesn't seem like it will be enough to be able beat Liverpool in the  match.
A few days ago Arteta had said they were ready to fly against Liverpool despite the limping team, so let's see if he can prove his words later?

[Lidger]

After Klopp's departure I thought Liverpool would start falling.But Arne Slot continues to do an impressive work.As a Chelsea fan I got satisfied with our game. But we need to get better. I think we can get a Champions League ticket by finishing this season in top 4.When we think about Arsenal's condition I think the championship race is going to be between Manchester City - Liverpool this season.

Yeah that was what everyone thought, we all thought he would have a hard time adapting to the Premier League but it didn’t turn out that way and he is already at the top of the league after round 8. It was easy because Kloop already set up a good squad and all he had to do was feature them exactly as Kloop was doing to get the usual results. He is yet to experience the real test yet when players start to pick up injuries that is when we will know how good he really is.

As I think Liverpool are behind Manchester City and Arsenal, I don't agree with you.While starting this season Liverpool needed to sign 2-3 elite players. Because Liverpool substitutes are really weak.Besides it isn't even clear to me that Salah will complete the season at Liverpool.

It's natural that Liverpool will do well in the Premier League with Manchester City and Arsenal but I don't understand how Aston Villa are suddenly doing so well this season. At the moment, in the English Premier League, Arsenal and Aston Villa have the same number of points,17, and Aston Villa is only four points behind the team in the number one position of the points table. The way this team is performing, if they continue this performance throughout the season, it can be seen that they are competing well for the title with the number 1 or 2 teams in the points table. Having seen Manchester City and Arsenal compete in other seasons, it's good to see other teams competing this season.

[len01]

Arsenal this season began to be hit by a storm of injuries and reminded me of what continued to be the main problem for them when Wenger was still coaching, at that time Arsenal consistency was often disrupted by the storm of injuries that continued to occur every season and make theru fail to be champhionsip in the end, the defeat from Brentford was quite painful but in fact the absence of Saliba in the match against Liverpool later was a more big loss for Arsenal,  Without being able to play some of his mainstay players, of course, Arsenal's chances of winning are very small later because a team like Liverpool will take advantage of every line and weakness of the opponent to get points, I think the match will be a crucial and Arteta may have a solution to rotate his players but it doesn't seem like it will be enough to be able beat Liverpool in the  match.
A few days ago Arteta had said they were ready to fly against Liverpool despite the limping team, so let's see if he can prove his words later?

Your opinion is very reasonable because the absence of Arsenal important players will certainly have a negative impact on the team's performance. And now Liverpool also has very high stability and is performing more consistently at this time. I don't doubt Arteta but I don't really like his confidence in this match while Liverpool really can't be underestimated. There are only 2 possible results, a draw or Liverpool wins.