REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
Arsenal were deserving winners of the Premier League in 2025/26, securing the crown by seven points in the end from second-placed Manchester City.
The Gunners were the standout team throughout the entire campaign, with their performances built on a solid defence that shipped just 27 goals in 38 matches - eight fewer than the next best and a whopping 19 fewer than the third-best defence in the division.
Arsenal did have the second-best attack in the league, but when you have as good a defence as they did, it is not always a necessity to have a fully firing strikeforce. One goal could be enough in many games.
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However, should those defensive statistics start to slide, the emphasis then returns to Mikel Arteta's attacking players to deliver.
And there is a solid argument that Arsenal's attacking options in the 2026/27 campaign are weaker than in 2025/26.
2025/26 options
Martin Odegaard
Mikel Merino
Bukayo Saka
Noni Madueke
Eberechi Eze
Leandro Trossard
Gabriel Martinelli
Gabriel Jesus
Kai Havertz
Viktor Gyokeres
Ethan Nwaneri (half season)
Max Dowman
2026/27 options
Martin Odegaard
Mikel Merino
Bukayo Saka
Noni Madueke
Eberechi Eze
Kai Havertz
Viktor Gyokeres
Max Dowman
Christos Tzolis
Arsenal have lost Martinelli (Al-Hilal), Trossard (Besiktas) and Jesus (Barcelona), with only Tzolis coming the other way from Club Brugge. Between them, Martinelli, Trossard and Jesus had 45 goal contributions in all competitions. Martinelli was the top scorer of the trio with 11, with Trossard chipping in with eight and Jesus notching six.
Losing that amount of goals will undoubtedly make your team weaker, although new boy Tzolis did notch 22 goals and 29 assists in the Belgian league last season, suggesting Arsenal have got better with just one player instead of three, albeit he was playing in a far less competitive division.
Did Arsenal fail in the summer transfer window?
REUTERS/Andrew Boyers
The point remains, though, that Arsenal, having won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years, have not kicked on in the transfer window and have actually become a weaker squad from it.
Manchester City, Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have all spent big to improve their squad to compete with the Gunners, with Arsenal, arguably, standing still. There will be huge emphasis, given the money they have spent, on City to go and reclaim the title this season, but Arsenal remain favourites.
They have a settled squad, built over time by Arteta and he can harness what he has already put in place at the Emirates Stadium.
All the while he can call on a defence like he has - they have yet to concede in their first two Premier League matches of the new season - Arsenal will be the team to beat, because they still have enough firepower to get them through games. It may not be thrill-a-minute, but it will, like last season, be effective.
Because they have lost personnel, however, much will depend on the availability of players in Arteta's squad. If they suffer injuries to one or two forward players in the early part of the season, numbers will be thin. Of the nine we've mentioned above, two will generally play in midfield in Odegaard and Merino. Tzolis, Madueke, Saka and Eze can play in the wide roles, with Havertz and Gyokeres the options through the middle.
Some players are clearly stronger than others and it will be interesting to see how Arsenal conjure goals with one or two injures to key players. The transfer window may come back to haunt them, but for now they are still favourites for back-to-back titles.