Arsenal 2026/27 Season Preview

Arsenal 2026/27 Season Preview

Where Did Arsenal Finish Last Season?

After three successive runners-up medals, falling short and squandering opportunity time after time, many were calling for Arsenal to change manager, board, director of football, or anything, simply in a bid to get over the seemingly insurmountable hump of ending their Premier League trophy drought.

So how sweet it must have been for Mikel Arteta when he lifted the trophy in June, the critics banished, his process trusted, and his side well and truly back amongst Europe’s elite.

Though Arsenal’s style was far from pretty, it was ruthlessly effective – building from a bulletproof foundation of Saliba, Gabriel, Timber and Calafiori in a back four, Arsenal’s more offensive players didn’t even need to perform well to get something out of the game – that's the nature of football when you keep clean sheets in half of your fixtures in a season.

Back like we've never been away.

Check out the latest training gallery from our first pre-season session at Sobha Realty Training Centre 📸 pic.twitter.com/qwTrATG0jd

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 20, 2026

Even so, Viktor Gyokeres mostly impressed with a respectable 21 goals in all competitions, Declan Rice hit a new level in the heart of the midfield, and the likes of Max Dowman and Myles Lewis-Skelly both made excellent leaps in their own development as Arteta attempts to nurture the next generation.

Now, the true challenge begins – the Gunners have submitted the peak, but that’s no good if you simply fall off it immediately. It’s now a game of king of the castle: Arsenal need to show the strength to bat away their competitors, the endurance to maintain the high ground, and the bravery to take risks when things are too close to call.

Arteta’s men will always be known as Premier League champions, but if they want that moniker to read “Premier League Legends”, there is work to be done. We expect a titanic tussle all the way to the end of the season, but we can see Arsenal scraping a second successive league title.

Best Result: Arsenal 5-0 Leeds (Timber 34’, 56’, Saka 45+1’, Gyokeres 48’, 90+5' (pen)).

Worst Result: Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth (Gyokeres 35’ (pen); Kroupi 17’, Scott 74’).

Who Have Arsenal Signed in the Summer Transfer Window So Far?

IN

Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle United - £75 Million

Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa - £55 Million

Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen – £44.5 Million - Loan Made Permanent

Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge – £34 Million

Victor Ozhianvuna from Shamrock Rovers – £1.7 Million

Illan Meslier from Leeds United – Free Transfer

Axel Donczew from Cardiff City - Free Transfer

Total Spent: £210.2 Million

OUT

Gabriel Martinelli to Al-Hilal - £60 Million

Jakub Kiwior to FC Porto - £19 Million

Leandro Trossard to Besiktas – £17 Million

Gabriel Jesus to Barcelona - £10 Million

Fabio Vieira to Hamburg - £8.6 Million

Christian Norgaard to Everton - £7 Million

Karl Hein to Werder Bremen – £2.6 Million

Josh Nichols to NK Kustosija – Free Transfer

Alexei Roijas to Penafiel – Free Transfer

Samuel Chapman to South Georgia Eagles - Free Transfer

Tommy Setford to Stevenage - Season-Long Loan

Total Received: £124.2 Million

Arsenal 2026/27 Squad List

Goalkeepers: David Raya, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Illan Meslier, Tommy Setford.

Defenders: Piero Hincapie, William Saliba, Cristhian Mosquera, Ben White, Ezri Konsa, Gabriel Magalhaes, Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Marli Salmon.

Midfielders: Ethan Nwaneri, Martin Ødegaard, Ebere Eze, Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice, Max Dowman.

Attackers: Christos Tzolis, Reiss Nelson, Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz.

Arsenal 2026/27 Home, Away and Third Kits

Home Kit

Arsenal have unveiled their home kit for the 2026/27 season! 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/dTzM4Qxp8u

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 15, 2026

Away Kit

Arsenal unveil their new 2026/27 away kit! 🟡💥 pic.twitter.com/4emyIG47uV

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) July 24, 2026

Third Kit

I feel like I have seen that Arsenal third shirt before. 👀 pic.twitter.com/IoSsrsFG2W

— EPL Bible (@EPLBible) August 3, 2026

What is Arsenal’s Opening Premier League Fixture?

Arsenal vs Coventry City | Emirates Stadium, North London | Friday, August 21st, 20:00

How Can I Watch Arsenal vs Coventry?

TV coverage for the game is yet to be announced.

What Are Arsenal’s First Five Fixtures?

• Arsenal vs Coventry City – Friday, August 21st.

• Aston Villa vs Arsenal - Monday, August 31st.

• Arsenal vs Chelsea – Sunday, September 6th.

• Sunderland vs Arsenal – Saturday, September 12th.

• Brighton vs Arsenal – Saturday, September 19th.

When Do Arsenal play rivals Tottenham in 2026/27?

Walking away as 4-1 victors in both legs of the North London derby last season, there is no question that Arsenal are the North London side to beat. However, with Spurs in the midst of an excellent transfer window, the Gunners need to be wary - as champions, it is easy to become cocky, but they mustn’t go all the way to becoming complacent, as that is when hard work is undone.

• Tottenham vs Arsenal | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, North London | Saturday, 5th December

• Arsenal vs Tottenham | Emirates Stadium, North London | Saturday, May 1st

Last Five Meetings:

• 22/02/2026: Tottenham 1-4 Arsenal (Premier League)

• 23/11/2025: Arsenal 4-1 Tottenham (Premier League)

• 15/01/2025: Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham (Premier League)

• 15/12/2024: Tottenham 0-1 Arsenal (Premier League)

• 28/04/2024: Tottenham 2-3 Arsenal (Premier League)

Who is Arsenal’s Manager for the 2025/26 Season?

Mikel Arteta

No one will be more relieved to have delivered a Premier League title last season than Mikel Arteta. After three consecutive years of playing second fiddle to Manchester City, fans were beginning to believe that the Spaniard was the problem rather than solution, and called for his sacking if he failed to win a trophy in 2025/26.

However, the thick-haired Spaniard had built his project to its zenith – now it was all about leading the horse to water and waiting. Thankfully, his players understood the assignment perfectly, employing the dark arts, using corners as their primary method of attack, and bringing an unyielding physicality to bully their way through the competition, ending a 22-year wait for a Premier League trophy.

Guiding Arsenal to their first Premier League title in 22 years 🔝

Mikel Arteta is your @barclaysfooty Manager of the Season 👏 pic.twitter.com/9sWZjCVBZT

— Premier League (@premierleague) May 26, 2026

Naturally, you are a great manager if you can make the leap from challenger to champion, but the real litmus test for a manager to be considered one of the greats is repeated success. As defending champions, Arsenal are in the best position to strengthen, rinse and repeat, and if they fail to make the right moves, that falls on Arteta.

We know his decision-making is right more often than not – some, while criticised in the short term (Havertz’s overpriced arrival from Chelsea), have paid huge dividends in the long term, while others (such as the £100m signing of Rice) have had immediate impact. However, upon winning a title, managers have the tendency to overthink, and that is the one trap Arteta must not fall into.

Who is Arsenal’s Player to Watch?

Declan Rice

Though he did not perhaps hit the level he had shown at Arsenal while at the World Cup, Rice still played a big part in England’s dramatic run to the semi-finals and highlighted his importance for club and country – even in illness, he was willing to put his body on the line and give it his all, the true hallmarks of a leader.

Declan Rice finishes this season with 69 games played (5,394 minutes) for club and country. Gave everything until the very end 💪 pic.twitter.com/VSQJFCreiT

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) July 19, 2026

Captain, in the absence of Odegaard, it surely won’t be long until the 27-year-old is given the armband full stop; his importance to the team, the way in which he dictates in-game tempo and off-field morale, and the way he holds himself all point to him running point on the side once Odegaard is shipped off.

Not to mention he is one of the best midfielders in the world on his day – tough tackling, elite positioning, a set-piece wizard and midfielder conductor with his magnificent passing range and ridiculous football IQ, Rice is the beating heart of Arsenal. If he doesn’t play, they forget how to.

Arsenal 2026/27 Season Prediction

For years, Arsenal couldn’t escape the labels of bottlers, nearly-men, and perpetual silver medallists, and for a while, it seemed they would never be able to cast aside those insulting aspersions.

But the 2025/26 campaign was a coming-of-age year, the end of one era and the start of another, and by finishing the season six points clear of Manchester City, Arsenal actually made it look a lot easier than it was in the end. That end-of-season gap to their closest challengers will fortify and encourage them, kindling confidence that by the end of the coming campaign, they can put even more distance between themselves and the chasing pack.

Of course, Arteta needs to make sure he stays level-headed: just because you won the league, it doesn’t mean you can suddenly relax. But in the Spaniard the Gunners have a steely, confident but careful individual who exactly matches the club's ethos.

With no discussions about his future now, Arteta can fully focus on the task at hand, and a good thing too – with Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs strengthening significantly in the transfer window, he needs to be on top of his game.

But Arsenal have by far the best squad depth in the league, and it will only take a couple of new additions to flesh out the squad to a point where that long-awaited Champions League title won’t be far out of reach. The priority, though, is a successful defence of their Premier League title, something we can see happening again after a long nine months.

Football Park’s Prediction: 1st.