Arsenal

Matt Jones
BBC Sport journalist

Having had three weeks to stew on their loss to Brighton, Arsenal will be itching to get going in the Premier League again. Unbeaten Leeds United are their opponents in the Premier League on Saturday (12:30 BST) at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners were uncharacteristically out of sorts at Amex Stadium before the international break, as their perfect start to the season was ended in spectacular fashion by a 3-0 defeat. Mikel Arteta, who signed a new contract this week, will want to see his side bounce back like champions.

Leeds will pose a big challenge, though. After a summer of solid transfer business, they have started the campaign well, winning two and drawing three of their first five fixtures. Daniel Farke's side have the joint-best defensive record in the league too and will fancy their chances of springing a surprise.

Gunners to get back at it?

The 3-0 reverse at Brighton was Arsenal's biggest Premier League defeat since May 2023 against the same opposition. Arteta said it was a "big lesson", so supporters will be expecting a response.

In fairness to the Gunners, the nature of the defeat was out of sync with the defensive standards they have set under the current head coach. They only lost by more than one goal once in the whole of last season, against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final.

So how do they do it? They need to take more care in possession to start. Against the Seagulls, the Gunners lost possession in their own final third nine times, which was the most for them since December 2023. Leeds are second for pressed sequences in the Premier League so far this season, with 63, and will fancy their chances of potentially pinching possession back in dangerous areas too.

While so far this season teams with less than 50% of possession have won more games than teams with 50% of the ball, Arsenal have pivoted towards a controlled style of play with the ball.

In Leeds, they do at least have historically accommodating opponents. Arsenal have won nine of their past 10 Premier League games against the Whites, including the past seven by an aggregate score of 24-5.

Whites keeping it tight

Farke's side can go to the Emirates with nothing to fear, though, and will take confidence from the robustness of the squad they have assembled.

They have been superb at the back, with goalkeeper James Trafford and defender Tarik Muharemovic adding extra steel since their summer arrivals. As a team, they have limited their opponents to just 0.09 xG per shot, a tally only the Gunners can better with 0.08.

Where Leeds may also be able to match Arsenal is from attacking set-pieces. They lead the Premier League for the percentage of their shots (46.7%) and xG (41.0%) which have come from non-penalty set-pieces, with three of their seven goals coming from dead-ball situations.

Arsenal scored a massive 29 goals from set-pieces on their way to the title last season, with their inswinging corners a defining feature of their play. But five games in, Arteta's side have yet to score from a dead-ball situation.

Brighton were brilliant when they beat Arsenal before the international break - the Seagulls really harried and hassled the champions and went toe-to-toe with them.

I don't think Leeds will go about things the same way, but they will still provide a stern test.

Daniel Farke's side are really solid but also carry a big threat too, and they are a very different proposition to the side Arsenal thumped 5-0 at Emirates Stadium at the start of last season.

So, this game will tell us a lot about where Arsenal are and how they have recovered from that Brighton defeat.

I'd still back the Gunners to find a way to win, especially because they are at home, but it will be a lot closer than last time. Leeds don't concede goals as freely any more.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Umir Irfan
Football tactics correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Myles Lewis-Skelly has made that holding midfield link position his own for reasons including his calmness under pressure, his hold-up strength, his ability to dribble past players one-v-one and his willingness to take risk - when deciding to dribble past a player or play direct passes for his attackers.

His effectiveness here has been noticed too by England boss Thomas Tuchel who, during this international break, has emulated Mikel Arteta's use of Lewis-Skelly.

For England it has been Elliot Anderson taking up the 'Declan Rice role' in the back three.

Given the demands of this role, part of the reason Arsenal may have struggled against Brighton was that Bruno Guimaraes took up this holding midfield position instead of Lewis-Skelly.

Fabian Hurzeler has drilled his Brighton side to play with high intensity, both on and off the ball. To play around their press requires superb technique, good positioning, the right timing of movements and an understanding of where team-mates may be.

These are things Guimaraes will get to grips with, given the time Lewis-Skelly has already had in this role, but being used in there against an effective Brighton man-to-man press was always going to be a difficult challenge.

Brighton's pressure meant Arsenal hesitated on the ball, forcing them to make decisions they normally wouldn't.

"You could see from the first throw-in, it was so clear. We put ourselves in trouble one, two, three times," Arteta said.

"We need to get out much quicker than that, and that's one of the biggest lessons we have to take from the game today."

After playing looser passes, Arsenal, known for their duelling, were beaten by a Brighton side that swarmed around the ball.

Read more on how Arteta's response to Brighton loss may shape Arsenal's next chapter here

George Booth
BBC Sport journalist

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Leeds United at Emirates Stadium (kick-off 12:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Arteta confirmed Declan Rice has had "a few issues" since returning from the World Cup in the summer, but the midfielder will be available to feature against Leeds.

• Winger Christos Tzolis will be "out for a few weeks" with a muscle injury, while forward Kai Havertz is a doubt for Saturday because of a "muscular injury" and defender Ezri Konsa is also "carrying some issues".

• On his contract extension, which was confirmed earlier this week: "I said from the beginning that me and the club wanted the same thing, but I loved the way it was handled."

• On the Premier League returning after the international break: "We have been three weeks with no football for us, without club football. We play in front of the Emirates, in front of our people. The atmosphere we have created in recent months has been unbelievable."

• Arteta said Arsenal "will respect the process" after Manchester City were found guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial rules: "It is still an ongoing process that is not resolved because it has been appealed. My position and the club's position is not to make any further comment until it is resolved. There is a lot of noise around it. There is nothing in our hands and the only thing we can do is focus on everything that we can do. That is where we put the energy."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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Former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere says teenager Max Dowman can "be what he wants to be" after impressing from a young age in the academy.

Dowman, 16, was only 13 years old when Wilshere gave him an opportunity to play for his under-18 side and has since gone on to break into Mikel Arteta's first team.

Last season, he became the Premier League's youngest goalscorer, aged 16 years and 73 days, as well as becoming the first 15-year-old to play in the Champions League.

"I don't want to put too much pressure on him, but he played in my team at 13 and we were playing against Southampton," said Wilshire on the Stick To Football podcast. "They had a good academy.

"We had lost some players to the under-21s so I said: 'I am going to bring Max in.' I said I will call his dad. I met Max in the car park. He got out of the car, and he was taller than me already, at 13.

"He was on the bench, we were winning 2-0, and I said to my assistant: 'Let's get Max on.' I stood next to him on the touchline and I said: 'Look, you are playing against players who are five years older than you. Don't get into a duel, take one or two touches, move it around.' He picked up the ball, dribbled round five players, squared it and we went 3-0 up.

"I looked at my assistant. I have never seen anything like it.

"He went on with us and developed a bit more, and physically his numbers were a joke. The metrics they use now - the high-speed running, sprints, total distance - were Premier League level and he was 14. He can be what he wants to be."

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Just five games in, it might seem a bit early to pay much attention to the Premier League table - but it's probably more settled than you think.

If we look at the Premier League after five games last season and where teams ultimately ended up, the final table was already starting to take shape as 13 of the 20 sides finished within four places of where they sat even at this early stage (65%).

Eventual champions Arsenal were second, Sunderland were already seventh - where they finished eight months later - and two of the three sides that were relegated were already in the bottom three.

The eventual champions have been in the top two at this point in the past four campaigns, suggesting - potential punishments aside - it will be Manchester City or Arsenal that lifts the trophy.

The top end of the table overall has sometimes settled surprisingly quickly in recent years. The top eight after five games in 2024-25 finished as the top eight at the end of that season (although not in the same order), while the top six in 2019-20 and top seven in 2016-17 were also in place at this early stage.

While being top after five games has not meant much in recent seasons, being bottom certainly has.

Tottenham could well be in trouble once again as the side bottom of the Premier League after five games has been relegated in six of the past seven seasons.

Being bottom this early did not used to be such a bad omen. Between 2013-14 and 2018-19, only one of the six sides that were propping up the table after five games ended up going down - Newcastle in 2015-16 - while Crystal Palace finished as high as 11th in 2017-18.

Looking at the relegation battle more broadly, at least one of the teams in the bottom three at this stage has been relegated in the past eight seasons - so one of Tottenham, Fulham and Coventry City are very likely to be heading to the Championship in May.

The pool of contestants for this season's relegation battle may already be decided too because the three sides that ultimately went down in the past three seasons were all in the bottom six after five games, which would add Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace to the mix.

The last sides to be outside the bottom six at this point but relegated were Leeds United and Southampton in 2022-23, who were both in the top half (seventh and ninth). With their teams currently in eighth and 11th place, Hull City and Ipswich Town fans will hope that is still the case at the end of this campaign.

While the season may well have barely begun, the Premier League table is already starting to take shape.

Read the piece in full here

Image source, Getty Images

The rivalry between Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United side and Arsenal during the first eight years under Arsene Wenger is the best the Premier League has seen, according to author Dominic Hougham.

Wenger arrived at Arsenal in 1996 and between then and 2004, United won five league titles and the Gunners picked up three.

"I love this rivalry," Hougham told BBC Radio Manchester. "This one had a fair bit of needle.

"There are so many iconic moments that this rivalry spat out over eight seasons and I do truly believe there has never been anything to rival this.

"You had two of the greatest managers the Premier League has ever seen, in their primes. You had two teams right at their peak, and for eight seasons they literally dominated the league."

Hougham has written The Greatest Rivalry: Arsenal, Manchester United And The Battle That Defined An Era.

Listen to the full chat below or on BBC Sounds here

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Arsenal fan Harry Symeou spoke to BBC Radio London Total Sport about the Gunners bouncing back from their defeat against Brighton three weeks ago.

Mikel Arteta's side return from the international break on Saturday to host Leeds United and supporters have had to wait a while to see a response following the poor display at the Amex.

"Arsenal don't lose games very often anymore," Symeou told BBC Radio London.

"You sort of tend to over-analyse the performance when you've got more time before the next game, you kind of want the next game to come so you can go out there and put it right.

"What I would say is the vast majority of Arsenal fans seem to believe that the day at Brighton was just an off day in terms of Arsenal's performance. It was a very good display from Brighton, take nothing away from them, and so for that reason people have found it easier to get over this particular defeat.

"But obviously you want the next game to come. A 12:30 kick-off at home to Leeds isn't ideal, they've had a great start to the season and those 12:30 games - particularly after an international break - they're always a little bit dodgy in terms of what the result will be."

Listen to the full chat below or on BBC Sounds here

Image source, David Price / Guinness World Records 2027

Arsenal's Max Dowman has been presented with three official Guinness World Records certificates following his breakthrough into English and European football.

The 16-year-old has titles for: Youngest football player to win the Premier League at 16 years 144 days; youngest goalscorer in the English Premier League at 16 years 73 days, and youngest player in the Uefa Champions League at 15 years 308 days.

His achievements have also earned him the opening player profile in the Guiness World Records' Football Edition 2027's Class of '27. He features alongside the likes of Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland, Cole Palmer and Kylian Mbappe.

Tom Beckerlegge, Senior Editor of Guinness World Records Football Edition 2027, said: "The youngest player on our list, Max sums up what the Class of '27 is all about. To have already achieved three Guinness World Records titles before turning 17 is extraordinary, and his story captures exactly why this generation of players is so exciting."

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on what's next on Mikel Arteta's agenda at Arsenal after he signed a new deal until 2030.

Here are some of your comments:

Ivor: I think Mikel has been a breath of fresh air for Arsenal but now, after winning the league last year, he has to build a dynasty and behave like this is the big club that it is. Go out in January and sign a quality forward, no matter what the price is, and take the club, our great club, to fantastic things.

Lara: I am nervous about this. In my opinion, Arteta has become negative and plays a slow, boring, defensive-minded brand of football. With Rice now playing as a sweeper, no options on the left and a refusal to play a striker, it's hard to see how we will score enough goals to win anything, particularly given that we no longer score from corners. We are becoming a hard watch. Our activity in the summer transfer market supports these views.

Martin: I am worried that our forward line is not strong enough to handle the pressure of a season. We really need a top-class striker.

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, 27, is expected to join manager Mikel Arteta in signing a new long-term contract at the Emirates. (Teamtalk), external

Arsenal are ready to make a fresh attempt to lure Julian Alvarez, 26, to north London in January, with the Atletico Madrid and Argentina striker now seriously considering a move to the Gunners. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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Arsenal CEO Richard Garlick says Mikel Arteta's new deal marks "a really exciting beginning" for the club.

The Gunners boss has extend his stay at the club to 2030, which will take him beyond a decade in charge at Emirates Stadium.

Rather than last season's Premier League title win, the culmination of six-and-a-half years of building and following three successive second-place finishes, marking the end of a project, Garlick believes the club can now build a team to "dominate football for the next number of years".

"We can't stand still," he said while at Leaders Week for senior executives from the global sports industry at Stamford Bridge.

"We can't sit there and pat ourselves on the back and say, 'job done'. This is the beginning and not the end of our journey. This is where we want to go on and show the confidence that that [Premier League] win is going to bring to us.

"We want to dominate football for the next number of years and we are in a really strong position to do that."

Arteta has progressed the club season on season since taking charge in December 2019, finishing eighth twice, fifth, and second three times before finally securing Arsenal's first Premier League title for over 20 years.

"I look at the other teams in the Premier League and Mikel is now the only current manager that has won the Premier League," Garlick added.

"You look at the other traditional top-six teams and they have all gone through managerial changes in the past 12 months, whereas we now have a manager who has been with us for a significant period of time.

"He has been allowed to build and develop a team and that is the excitement now. We see that platform that we have got and to be built on. And we can say this isn't the end of it, but that it is actually a really exciting beginning for us."

Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Mikel Arteta has become one of the best-paid managers on the planet, finally signing a new deal with Arsenal that will expire in 2027.

Indeed, it was BBC Sport who exclusively revealed the news of Arteta's agreement with Arsenal on 12 September, and the club have now confirmed the news.

The development will see Arteta's earning power skyrocket. His previous deal with Arsenal was worth £10m-a-year in basic salary, plus a further £5m in bonus-related add-ons.

While the finances attached to Arteta's deal will remain private and unconfirmed, it is our understanding that the new deal will take his earnings much closer to that of Diego Simeone, the Atletico Madrid manager who reportedly earns £25m a year.

But of course, money isn't the main motivation for Mikel Arteta here.

Having won the Premier League title last season, Arteta will want to build on that success.

And with his future now locked in, Arsenal will hope that Arteta can go on and build a legacy of trophies at the Emirates Stadium.

Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

News of Mikel Arteta's new deal at Arsenal won't come as a shock.

The fact his previous deal was due to expire at the end of the season did put a slightly greater emphasis on the speed of discussions than normal.

But Arteta has been transparent about his desire to stay at the club beyond the end of this campaign.

Dynasty building is what has driven Arteta's decision. Winning Arsenal's first Premier League title in 20 years last season is viewed as just the start.

Coming within a penalty kick of winning their first Champions League trophy came as a gut-wrenching blow - but also a huge motivation.

"We share a special bond with Mikel. We are so proud of everything we have achieved since he returned to the club in 2019," co-chairmen Stan and Josh Kroenke said.

"He has a deep understanding of Arsenal's values and carries them in his heart. He knows what this club means to everyone connected to it and is committed to building on everything we have achieved together."

With that in mind, there was never a sense Arteta was preparing to walk away from the team he has built to become one of the best in European football.

So with a deal for their manager to stay now agreed, the foundation of Arsenal's recent revitalisation into a footballing force remains in place.

Does more history beckon? Arteta is committed to finding out.

Read more here

And what is next on Arteta's agenda as he builds on his successes so far? Let us know here

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says he is "privilege" to extend his stay at the club to 2030, which will take him beyond a decade in charge at Emirates Stadium.

After finally securing the Premier League title following three successive second-place finishes, the Spaniard has put pen to paper on a new long-term deal.

The Gunners enjoyed their most productive season under Arteta last term, reaching the finals of both the Champions League and Carabao Cup alongside their title triumph.

"It's a privilege to commit my future to the club and to continue to work with exceptional people who want the best for Arsenal," he told club media.

"This club is unique, its character and the way it makes you feel, and I have a great sense of privilege that our journey together will continue.

"We have already built a special bond and created memories that will last a lifetime, and what is so exciting is that this is only the beginning of what we can achieve together. I'm extremely grateful to Stan and Josh [Kroenke] for their trust and support, and feel honoured to be leading this club through such a special period in its 140-year history.

"This is such a proud moment for me and my family. I feel the love and respect from our fantastic supporters, and they have mine – and ours – in return."

Arsenal's co-chairmen, Stan and Josh, added: "It has been an incredible journey so far and we are excited for what lies ahead in this special relationship. Last season was an incredible moment in Arsenal's history, a moment in which we created memories that will last a lifetime. We're determined to create many more in the years ahead.

"We share a special bond with Mikel. We are so proud of everything we have achieved since he returned to the club in 2019."

Now Arteta has committed his future to the club, what's next on his agenda to build on what he has achieved so far?

Get in touch with your views here