Palace take a risk with new manager Pierre Sage, who is tasked with building on Glasner’s unprecedented success
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 16th (NB: this is not necessarily Ed Aarons’ prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 15th
Continue reading...England defender keen on move to Italian champions
Udogie and Porro set to be Spurs’ first-choice full-backs
Tottenham are prepared to allow Djed Spence to join Inter, with the England defender expected to cost around €30m (£25.6m).
Spence – who started four games for England at the World Cup, including the semi-final against Argentina – has fallen further down the pecking order at Spurs after the arrival of Andy Robertson from Liverpool. He signed a new four-year contract in north London at the start of last season but is believed to be keen on joining the Italian champions, with Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro expected to be Roberto De Zerbi’s preferred full-backs this season.
Continue reading...With most of their rivals changing managers, can the champions go back-to-back for the first time in more than 90 years?
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 1st (NB: this is not necessarily Ed Aarons’ prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 1st
Continue reading...Arsenal striker scored the winner in the final five years ago and is determined to make up for being ‘in a bad place’ when injured this season
When Kai Havertz thinks back to the 2021 Champions League final, he can’t help smiling. Chelsea’s surprise victory over Manchester City in Porto still feels like yesterday for the Germany striker.
“It is something I will never forget,” he says. “As a kid I could have never dreamed I would score a goal in the final and win that game. I will always be proud of it. I just try to take that feeling and hopefully it will happen again.”
Continue reading...Josh Kroenke says there will be no ‘standing still’
Extending Mikel Arteta’s contract the ‘utmost priority’
Josh Kroenke has promised that Arsenal will strengthen their squad even if they are crowned European champions for the first time and said rewarding Mikel Arteta with a new contract is an “utmost priority”.
Arsenal, who face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final in Budapest on Saturday, spent more than £250m last summer on players who helped them win a first Premier League title for 22 years. Kroenke and his father, Stan, the club’s American owners and co-chairs, watched Arsenal at Crystal Palace on Sunday and brought the trophy on to the pitch before it was presented to the captain, Martin Ødegaard. They are expected to be at the final.
Continue reading...Trusting a rookie coach to rebuild the club in late 2019 was a big call but after three runners-up finishes the Spaniard has delivered a long-awaited title
They say good things come to those who wait, and for Arsenal supporters it has felt like an eternity. Since their unforgettable 2003-04 season when Arsène Wenger’s Invincibles went the top-flight campaign unbeaten, their team had spent an incredible 984 days at the top of the table without being champions. Until now.
After all the disappointments of the late Wenger era and finishing as runners-up in the past three seasons, that unwanted statistic can finally be put to bed after a campaign in which Mikel Arteta’s side have shown they are capable of holding their nerve. There have been many doubters along the way, not least during a disastrous April during which Arsenal lost twice to their chief rivals, Manchester City, in a run of four consecutive domestic defeats in three competitions. But it is a triumph that rewards the faith shown by the hierarchy towards a rookie manager who arrived a week before Christmas in 2019 on a mission to restore them to former glories.
Continue reading...Arsenal win title for the first time since 2004
Players celebrate together at training ground
Arsenal are Premier League champions for the first time since Arsène Wenger’s Invincibles in 2004 after Manchester City drew 1-1 at Bournemouth.
Arsenal’s squad and staff, including Mikel Arteta, gathered at the training ground in Hertfordshire to watch the game, with Declan Rice posting a picture on Instagram within minutes of the full-time whistle of him with Kai Havertz, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly and William Saliba. “I told you all .. it’s done,” wrote the England midfielder in reference to his “It’s not done” battlecry after Arsenal lost to City last month.
Continue reading...Arsenal manager weighing up options at right-back
‘We’re going to try to get him available as quickly as possible’
Mikel Arteta is crossing his fingers that Jurriën Timber will have a chance of facing Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final as he weighs up his options at right-back.
Arsenal confirmed on Tuesday that Ben White would miss the rest of the season with a knee injury that is expected to rule him out of the World Cup, although Arteta said the defender must “wait and see” regarding the summer. Timber has not played since Arsenal’s win over Everton on 14 March owing to a groin issue. The Netherlands defender is understood to have been close to returning at the end of last month before experiencing a setback.
Continue reading...A first Champions League final in 20 years is within touching distance, but a difficult tie is not over yet
Mikel Arteta can be forgiven for never missing the chance to remind everyone that these are unprecedented times for Arsenal. As his side prepares to face Atlético Madrid in the decisive act of their second successive Champions League semi-final, it is easy to forget that they have only reached this stage on four occasions in their entire history.
But 20 years after Arsène Wenger’s team edged past Villarreal in the last European match to be played at Highbury, Arsenal have their best opportunity since then to reach a second final after a campaign where they have swept all before them. The 1-1 draw in last week’s first leg in Madrid made it 13 matches unbeaten in this year’s Champions League – the only club to have achieved that feat – and also matched Wenger’s longest run without a defeat in Europe’s premier competition.
Continue reading...Champions League semi-final delicately poised at 1-1
‘We are so hungry to get the game we want tomorrow’
Mikel Arteta promised that Arsenal’s players will turn into “beasts” as they attempt to reach the Champions League final for the first time since 2006.
Arsenal drew 1-1 in the first leg of their semi-final against Atlético Madrid last week and will be confident of overcoming Diego Simeone’s side after winning five of their six matches in this competition at the Emirates Stadium so far this season, conceding only three goals. Viktor Gyökeres scored twice in a 4-0 win over Atlético during the group stage, although Arsenal will be wary of underestimating the team that knocked out Barcelona in the quarter-finals.
Continue reading...Manager calls on players and fans to embrace the chance of Champions League success despite recent defeats
There was a dramatic pause when Mikel Arteta was asked what he wants from the Arsenal supporters against Sporting on Wednesday evening in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
After his attempts to rouse them before the early kick-off against Bournemouth at the weekend by telling them to “bring your lunch” backfired spectacularly with a costly home defeat that ended with some fans booing the Premier League leaders off the pitch, this time the message was more considered.
Continue reading...‘We have to show on the pitch that we have the mindset’
Manager unsure when Saka will return from injury
Mikel Arteta has admitted that Arsenal must prove to themselves that they have the right mindset to win the Premier League title but revealed there are major doubts over when Bukayo Saka will return from an achilles injury.
The England forward will miss the second leg of Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final against Sporting on Wednesday and looks set to still be sidelined for Sunday’s crucial Premier League showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola said after City’s win over Chelsea last Sunday which cut Arsenal’s lead to six points that their recent resurgence is “about mindset, not tactics” as he attempts to win a seventh title in England.
Continue reading...Riccardo Calafiori reflects on Max Dowman’s impact as Mikel Arteta’s side bid to reach the Champions League quarter-finals
Even the man who Mikel Arteta has described as his chief “chaos creator” almost found things a bit too much. Riccardo Calafiori was in the thick of the celebrations after Max Dowman’s historic late goal to clinch victory over Everton on Saturday as Arsenal’s players mobbed him by the corner flag at the Emirates after the six touches that changed the 16-year-old’s life forever.
In all the excitement, Kai Havertz borrowed a pair of glasses from a more than willing supporter and waved them in the air before politely returning them in what Calafiori described as the best moment of Arsenal’s season so far. “We were all so happy. We ran towards him and the fans,” the Italy defender said. “It was almost a fight with the fans – in a nice way, obviously. It was amazing.”
Continue reading...The Gillingham owner, Brad Galinson, issues warning and wants to find a fix as costs spiral amid ‘the Wrexham effect’
Brad Galinson has a warning for anyone looking to invest in English football’s lower leagues. “Almost every single club in the EFL is about seven days away from suffering the same fate as Sheffield Wednesday,” the Gillingham owner says. “Everyone is chasing dreams.”
Many have blamed the “Wrexham effect” for spiralling costs as investors from all over the world have flocked to buy clubs down the pyramid. Only two in League One have a playing budget of less than £3.5m this season compared with 13 two years ago, and several are thought to be operating on more than £10m.
Continue reading...Midfielder tapped into history while frustrated by injury but hopes to help a young side rediscover promising form
Jonathan Varane’s 2026 didn’t get off to the best start. Four days into the new year, the QPR midfielder sprained a knee during a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday and was a frustrated spectator for more than a month.
Varane had been desperate to play his part, with QPR hoping to push for the playoffs, but the 24-year-old took the opportunity to indulge in two of his other passions: reading and history. That included a trip with his teammate Paul Nardi to the British Museum, where the ancient Egyptian artefacts proved of particular fascination.
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