It was an interesting weekend for the Arsenal Football Club.
First off, major congratulations to Renee Slegers and her talanted women’s team for winning the 2026 Champion Cup. The Gunners defeated Corinthians 3-2 in additional extra time in Emirates Stadium on Sunday. We would have to venture to say this Cup title is equivalent to the mens Club World Cup, but only in a shorter format. Again, congrats!!!
Second, the men dominated Leeds United away in Saturday with a terrific 4-0 win. The Gunners win, along with Man City’s draw and Aston Villa’s loss, keeps the Gunners on top of the EPL table by six points. It’s not a totally comfortable lead by any means, but it is a good place to be with 14 league matches to go.
Third, of course there is always a downside too. Bukayo Saka injured his hip in pre-game warm-ups on Saturday and was replaced in the starting XI by Noni Madueke. Saka’s availability remains questionable according to Mikel Arteta. Mikel Merino, however, has a more serious injury. The Spanish man seriously injured his ankle v Leeds United and will require surgery. The hope is for Merino to be back before the end of the season. This scenario has forced Arsenal into the transfer market on its very last day of activity. [At this writing, there is only two hours left before the window closes at 2 pm ET/7 pm BT.
So, what’s next. Well it’s the 2nd leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal on Tuesday at home v Chelsea. The Gunners have a 3-2 lead over the Blues after the first leg match. Chelsea’s Cole Porter missed the first leg due to injury but is back in acton and appears to be in full form and ready to face Arsenal on Tuesday.
The winner of this semifinal will face either Manchester City or Newcastle United in the final.
With that said, here’s my predicted starting XL for the Gunners v Chelsea…
[4-3-3]
Martinelli, Jesus, Madueke
Rice, Odegaard, Zubimendi
Califiori, Gabriel, Saliba, White
Kepa
Final 2nd Leg score: ARSENAL 2- Chelsea 1
Arsenal will win the two leg semifinal by a 5-3 aggregate score.
COYG!
Gunner1953