Arsenal are gearing up for yet another go at the Premier League title as we draw closer to the 2025/26 season.
After three years of finishing as runners-up in the Premier League, the Gunners will head into the new season hoping to finally land the prize that has eluded them for over two decades.
They have improved in leaps and bounds since Mikel Arteta took the reins. But for all their strides, they have struggled to tick perhaps the most important box on their to-do list.
Going three straight seasons as runners-up is both an achievement and a let-down.
Arteta’s side can be excused for the first two years, considering they were up against a near-insurmountable Manchester City side.
However, last season will go down as a disappointment, considering they were pipped to the holy grail by an unchanged Liverpool side with a new manager at the helm.
Arsenal have shown they belong among the elite, but with each close call, the pressure to finally deliver only grows stronger.
They’ll go into the new season as early favourites, and those who buy Arsenal tickets from Seatsnet.com will hope they can live up to expectations and finally break the curse.
But if Arsenal’s fixture list is anything to go by, it’ll be anything but a walk in the park, especially in the opening stages.
The Gunners have been handed a daunting start to the 2025/26 season. But it could either set the tone for another title charge or leave the Gunners playing catch-up for the rest of the campaign.
Old foes and new challenges
Arsenal will kick off the season with a fixture soaked in Premier League tradition as they take on old foes Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils have fallen off the wagon since the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson and hit a new low when they finished 15th in the Premier League last term.
But form usually goes out the window when these two sides collide, especially at Old Trafford. Arsenal have won just two of their last five trips to the Theatre of Dreams.
Before their narrow 1-0 win in November 2020, they hadn’t come out of Old Trafford with a win in 13 visits – a run that stretches far back to April 2008.
After their horrendous 2024/25 campaign, United will also be keen to get off to a winning start, so fans can expect an end-to-end game from this box office showdown.
The Gunners will return to the capital to host Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium after facing United.
But they’re right back on the road for what might be their most difficult game of the opening month, taking on reigning champions Liverpool at Anfield.
It’ll give the Gunners a chance to end the month with a massive statement of intent.
September doesn’t let up either. After a tricky home tie against Nottingham Forest, Arsenal welcome Manchester City to the Emirates on September 20.
After an underwhelming 2024/25 season by their very high standards, Pep Guardiola’s troops will be keen to reassert themselves in the title conversation.
Although their history of starting a season slowly gives Arsenal another chance to land a psychological blow to a potential title rival.
By the time Matchday 6 arrives, Arsenal will travel to Newcastle United, wrapping up an opening six-game run that will see them take on four of last season’s top seven teams.
According to the Opta Power Rankings, only Man United have a tougher opening run than Arsenal. And when expanding that to the first ten, the Gunners still face the eighth-hardest schedule in the division.
The weight of history
Arsenal started last season unbeaten in their first five games. They picked up 11 points in that run, but it was only enough to place them fourth on the table, one point behind eventual champions Liverpool.
At the time, it seemed like they handled that tricky start well, but the margins at the top are unforgiving.
In Premier League history, only 21 out of 88 different teams that started the season with 11 or more points from their opening five games went on to win the league.
However, out of 21 teams that took exactly 11 points from their opening five games, only four finished the season as champions (Blackburn Rovers in 1994/95, Man United in 2000/01 and 2010/11, and Leicester City in 2015/16).
And across the last 15 seasons, eventual Premier League champions have averaged 12.1 points from their first five outings.
Arsenal weren’t far off last season, but the data shows how important one point could be, even in the early stages of the campaign.
Arsenal’s 10-game start last season was ranked as the seventh most difficult in the Premier League.
But they only picked up 18 points, and by the end of that stretch, they were sitting fifth on the table, trailing Liverpool by seven points.
Only three teams in Premier League history have gone on to lift the title after that return in the first ten, but they all needed ridiculous unbeaten streaks to make it happen.
Unfortunately, Arsenal couldn’t do that. But their upcoming schedule gives them another chance.
This isn’t about just coming out unscathed. If they do not thrive in the face of adversity, Arsenal fans may as well prepare themselves for another gut-wrenching campaign.
Key London derbies
As if the early schedule wasn’t testing enough, the London derbies are also placed in tricky spots.
The first North London Derby is scheduled for November 22 at the Emirates. The Gunners will go head-to-head with Tottenham Hotspur just after the November international break.
There’s never a dull moment in this fixture, so fans will buy Spurs tickets from Seatsnet.com to see how the game unfolds, but both sides will undoubtedly be going for the jugular.
With points, pride, and bragging rights at stake, Arsenal will be looking to extend their impressive record against their next-door neighbours.
That game will kick off a three-game capital series that will see Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on November 29 before hosting Brentford at the start of December.
The reverse fixture against Spurs is scheduled for February 21 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It follows an identical pattern as the first three-game stretch, only this time, it’s sandwiched between a trip to Brentford and a home clash against Chelsea.
