Arsenal return to Premier League action on Saturday evening (April 25th), facing Newcastle United at the Emirates.
Arsenal have led the Premier League for the majority of the 25/26 season, but on Wednesday, that all changed when Manchester City went to the top of the table on goals scored, thanks to a narrow 1-0 win at Burnley.
Looking for their first Premier League title in 22 years, the Gunners now have two chances to respond, facing both Newcastle and Fulham before Manchester City next play away at Everton on May 4th.
Two home wins would give Arsenal a six-point lead with three games remaining, putting pressure on City to win against the Toffees and close the gap.
April is by far the worst month for Mikel Arteta across his Arsenal tenure, and April 2026 has seen his side knocked out of the FA Cup, lose control of the Premier League title race, and, more positively, qualify for a fourth Champions League semi-final in the club’s history.
Mikel Arteta confirmed that both Bukayo Saka and Riccardo Calafiori would be in the squad for the Newcastle game, which is a big boost for the Gunners considering they head to Madrid on Wednesday (April 30th) to face Atletico.
Saka has not played since the Carabao Cup final, missing the last five games. Calafiori suffered an injury during the 1-0 away win at Sporting in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, forcing him to miss the last three games.
Jurrien Timber is still recovering from the injury that he suffered in the 2-0 win over Everton on March 14th. Since he suffered that ACL on the opening day of the 2023/24 season against Nottingham Forest, the Dutchman has played 91 games.
Arsenal’s build-up has often struggled in recent weeks due to the full-back pairings they have had to put out. Myles Lewis-Skelly is the player who’s probably the best case for starting in order to solve those build-up issues.
As for Saka, though it has not been his best season in terms of goal contributions, he is still extremely key for the Gunners, and they are better in attack with him in it. He does have to be managed carefully, though, considering he is suffering from Achilles tendinopathy.
The biggest questions about line-ups come in attack, once again. Both Eberechi Eze and Martin Odegaard were on the pitch together for the first time since December against Manchester City, and Arsenal looked much better in attack in comparison to recent weeks.
It seems a non-negotiable that those two start the last five games together if the Gunners want to win the title.
There is also a question for who starts at centre-forward - Kai Havertz started at the Etihad, and scored the equaliser, but he also missed two big chances, including a clear header in the 95th minute that would’ve seen the Gunners take a point away from their title rivals.
Arsenal look much better in terms of build-up when Havertz is in the team, but will Arteta go with Viktor Gyokeres, considering he is the club’s top scorer in the Premier League with 12 goals?