BBC and Sky Sports pundit Micah Richards believes that Arsenal’s title challenge could be undone by “one or two injuries.”
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Richards said that the arrival of Viktor Gyokeres will be a major boost for Mikel Arteta but he still feels the Gunners may come up short due to a lack of squad depth:
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“Bringing in Gyokeres now for Arsenal is massive. And not just because he’s a big-name forward. Because of his movement that we talk about with strikers all the time.”
“Havertz is really good, we’re all big fans of Havertz, but in a number 10 position where he can create, not leading the line. I know [Havertz has] done really good movement when he plays up there but he hasn’t got a striker’s instinct. So that’s why I think Gyokeres is gonna add something really special.”
“I still don’t know if it’s enough to get them over the line. I still don’t know. I think one or two injuries and they’re back to the same as last season. So I am going to say challenging but not champions.”
What are the odds of Arsenal winning the Premier League?
Heading into the new campaign, Arteta’s men are currently regarded as second favourites by the bookmakers.
Most betting firms have priced the North London club between 9/4 and 23/10, with Liverpool currently fancied to retain their title (with odds between 7/4 and 19/10), despite having lost the Community Shield to Crystal Palace.
Even though they have won 6 of the last 8 championships, Manchester City are quite a distance behind in 3rd, having been priced as long as 7/2 by some bookies.
After winning the Club World Cup, Chelsea’s odds have shortened considerably but they are still deemed outsiders to finish top of the table. The shortest price you will get for the Blues is 7/1.
Read more about the Arsenal First Team Squad for 2025/26 here