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Perennial bridesmaids from North London clash with fellow championship contender
Published Sep 18, 2025 • 5 minute read
Jurrien Timber of Arsenal shoots whilst under pressure from Jeremy Doku of Manchester City during a game last year.
Jurrien Timber of Arsenal shoots whilst under pressure from Jeremy Doku of Manchester City during a game last year. Getty Images
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The Champions League started this week and there’s an awful lot of noise coming from all corners of Arsenal’s world that they are favourites for the trophy.
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That’s a trophy they’ve never won and have only made the final of once. They started this season’s campaign brightly, winning 2-0 against Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday, but Arsenal fans have surmised that because they’ve got “the most points in the Premier League over the past three seasons,” they should be favourites.
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Finishing second three times is admirable, but you don’t get a trophy for that and they’ve already lost this season to Liverpool, last season’s champions.
The belief in North London is that increased depth and the addition of a true goal-scoring striker in Victor Gyokeres are the ingredients needed to put them over the top.
We’ll see what this weekend brings as Arsenal host nemesis Manchester City on Sunday in the FUBO Game of the Week.
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City have two wins and two losses, but came off a thrashing of Manchester United last week. This would be a chance for Arsenal to hammer home the point they’ve surpassed City and open up a six-point bulge over their fellow contenders.
City are clearly not up the standards they set when they won four-straight league titles up to last season. And it’s hard to get a read of any result against Manchester United, who are so bereft of confidence you could see them losing on any given week to any given team.
But City absolutely have Erling Haaland back to his very best with five goals in his first four games.
Arsenal are nursing some injuries at the back, but have built their second-best foundation on a stout defence. It’s not only going to be tested by Haaland, but the last handful of games between the clubs has seen the Norweigan striker involved in several incidents with Arsenal defenders.
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This one always is spicy and this weekend won’t be any different.
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Liverpool: Critics will argue they could easily have four points instead of 12. In all four matches this season Liverpool have been level going into the 83rd minute yet have won all four. They lost a 2-0 lead to Atletico Madrid in their Champions League opener until Virgil van Dijk headed in a winner in the 92nd minute. Rationalize all you want, but winners find a way to win, even if it’s a 93rd-minute penalty to beat Burnley as they did last weekend. This week holds a different test: A rejuvenated Everton. Their Merseyside neighbours always provide a physical challenge and while they’ve only won once at Anfield in the past 25 years, manager David Moyes has the Blues playing much better this season with two wins and a draw since their opening day defeat to Leeds. Liverpool gave record-signing striker Alexander Isak a debut in the Champions League against Atletico, so he should feature, if only as a substitute. This derby is always verging on nasty and often will feature a red card.
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Tottenham: Sitting third, Spurs look to be the real thing under new manager Thomas Frank. They bounced back from a defeat at Bournemouth with a 3-0 spanking of West Ham that frankly, pun intended, could have been much more. West Ham are a bit like Man U — they’re so bad, it’s hard to truly judge their opponents. But Tottenham look much more balanced than in past years — only Arsenal have scored more goals than them and they’ve only given up one goal so far. While Brighton are off to a rough start, they’ve beaten Spurs in their past two meetings and have won three of their past four. This is a different Spurs team, more varied in attack and resolute in defence.
Bournemouth: They lost three of their starting back four and their goalkeeper in the off-season and many predicted they’d be a relegation candidate. After an opening-day loss to Liverpool, they’ve won three in a row and prepare to host Newcastle. Antoine Semenyo has emerged as a driving force and he has three goals in four games, and his physical presence will be needed against a Newcastle team that kick everything that moves in front of them.
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Nottingham Forest: Yikes. Since winning on opening day, Forest have a draw and two losses, including a 3-0 beating at the hands of Arsenal last week. They fired their manager, Nuno Espirito Sanchez, after he disagreed with combative owner Evangelos Marinakis and replaced him with Ange Postecoglu. Espirito Sanchez had Forest in the top four for most of last season on a steely defence, Postecoglu got fired at Spurs because he attacked with abandon and wanted to outscore his opponents every week. This is a complete 180-degree shift in philosophy and it will be a major feat if they can make that switch with the players they have. Burnley provide an interesting test this week, these are games Forest must win if they don’t want to get dragged into a relegation conversation. Oh, and they got knocked out of the Carabao Cup blowing a two-goal lead to Swansea, who are a division below the Premier League.
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Aston Villa: Knocked out of the Carabao Cup this week, they have two losses, two draws and no goals. Four league games, not one goal scored. Troubling for Villa. They get promoted Sunderland this week, but the new boys have two wins, a draw and just one loss. And it’s at Sunderland, where their raucous fans make a difference.
Brighton: They were in the top half of the table all season last year and had high hopes going into this season. But they’ve looked poor so far and, facing Spurs, they’re going to want to show intent to get back up into the climes where they feel they belong.
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[Norway's Erling Braut Haaland (left) and celebrates a goal with midfielder Martin Ødegaard during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers Europe zone group I football match against Moldova.
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2. [Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres celebrates after scoring his side's fifth goal from the penalty spot during a match against Leeds United.
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Crisis Club
West Ham: We’ve already had one manager fired at Forest and Ruben Amorim at Manchester United seems to be one bad loss away from a job search. But if this form continues for West Ham, manager Graham Potter will be looking for work. They looked utterly toothless against Spurs last week. After giving up three goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half, fans were streaming out of the stadium thinking the pub was a far better place to spend their Saturday night. It’s a London Derby against Crystal Palace and, if they suffer a heavy defeat, Potter is going to need a magic wand to keep his job.
This weekend’s slate
Saturday: Liverpool vs Everton; Brighton vs Tottenham; Burnley vs Nottingham Forest; West Ham vs Crystal Palace; Wolves vs Leeds; Manchester United vs Chelsea; Fulham vs Brentford.
Sunday: Bournemouth vs Newcastle; Sunderland vs Aston Villa; Arsenal vs Manchester City.
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