Arsenal continue to lead the Premier League by two points with a trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium up next for the title challengers
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta embraces his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta embraces his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola
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Arsenal are gearing up for a busy end to December with games coming thick and fast in the next few weeks. Mikel Arteta's side have four games before the end of the year with Everton, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Aston Villa all up next.
The Gunners continue to lead both the Premier League and Champions League table with just two losses across 22 games in all competitions.
However, the league title race is very much heating up with Manchester City winning their last four games to keep the pressure on Arsenal at the top of the table.
Arteta will hope his squad can continue to secure wins before the new year while he lines up some signings to boost the team's chances of silverware success in 2026.
Arteta targets Madrid duo
During the summer transfer window, Arsenal were reportedly eying a potential bid for Brazilian forward Rodrygo. The Gunners were consistently linked with the Real Madrid star throughout the summer but he ultimately stayed in Spain for the 2025/26 season.
A fee of £78million is what is reportedly likely to be needed to pry the attacker from the Bernabeu with Liverpool also said to be interested in signing the 24-year-old. But it isn't just Rodrygo Arsenal are interested in signing from Real Madrid - with fresh reports claiming they also want Victor Valdepenas.
Rodrygo Goes right winger of Real Madrid and Brazilcelebrates after scoring his sides first goal during the LaLiga EA Sports match between Deportivo Alavés and Real Madrid CF at Estadio de Mendizorroza on December 14, 2025 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
Rodrygo has been a longtime target for the Gunners(Image: Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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According to ESPN Deportes, the 19-year-old defender is a target of Arsenal's with Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen also said to be keen.
However, Madrid boss Xabi Alonso may be eager to keep the star in his ranks after praising the youngster following his debut against Alaves.
Despite making a mistake that led to the equaliser for Alaves, Alonso said: "We conceded on the only occasion that Valdepeñas made a mistake, because in all the others he was very accurate and played very well.
Victor Valdepenas of Real Madrid CF in action during the Spanish League, LaLiga EA Sports, football match played between Deportivo Alaves and Real Madrid at Mendizorroza Stadium on December 14, 2025, in Vitoria, Spain.
Arsenal are also targeting Victor Valdepenas(Image: Irina R. Hipolito/Europa Press via Getty Images)
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"But then, the team continued to stand up and fight, battling hard in a difficult stadium against a very intense opponent.
"We got that second goal that gave us the three points and we’re leaving here happy."
Pep Guardiola's latest title warning
Pep Guardiola has fired a new warning to Arsenal, claiming his young City stars have the ability to become legends of the club. Following a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, the Spaniard believes his side is only going to improve from here and have the ability to go all the way.
He said: "We are improving, new players came along and adapted many things. My only dream as a manager is be ourselves all the time.
"Perform like we are working and talking and doing and this is, I think, the reason why we had Vincent, we had Kyle. All the players who have been legends in this club had the composure. I had the feeling that we are getting better and this is what we want to feel.
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola on the pitch ahead of the English Premier League football match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Selhurst Park in south London on December 14, 2025.
Pep Guardiola has issued yet another warning to Arsenal
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"Today was 0-3 but against Sunderland we won 3-0 and we were good against Sunderland for 95 minutes. I cannot expect Palace don’t have chances or we lose the ball on transitions because they were the FA Cup winners.
"But how we approach, how aggressive we are, that made me so happy. Of course we are really pleased because I know how tough they are. To make 0-3 here is a great statement for us."
Highlighting his team's resilience in previous title races, Guardiola added: "From experience when you win in the past you believe the past is always perfect - brilliant, red carpets.
"When we won 100 points and all the titles we had a lot of games like this and the resilience was part of that. This will help us build something. We are in a better position than last season, we are close and this is what we are here to do."
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