Read our 2026/27 season preview for Arsenal with Mikel Arteta's side looking to retain the Premier League title.
The Gunners ended their 22-year top-flight drought last time out, trumping Manchester City to the title in Pep Guardiola's last season in charge, and the North London outfit will be eager to add to their success in the 2026/27 campaign.
Key question
Can Arsenal build on their league triumph and win the UEFA Champions League?
There was a stage in March where Arsenal were awaiting an EFL Cup final clash with Manchester City, top of the Premier League and through to the quarter-finals of both the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup.
Despite the Gunners’ success and murmurs of a seismic quadruple, the Premier League was the one that they really wanted after finishing second in three consecutive seasons.
Mikel Arteta saw his team over the line in somewhat convincing fashion in the end – ending a 22-year top-flight trophy drought – and you’d suspect that their taste for success under the Basque manager will only fuel their hunger to win silverware on the European stage.
That is the question. Can they dethrone back-to-back UEFA Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain after last campaign’s heartbreak in Budapest?
Well, they are making a lot of right decisions in the summer transfer window to suggest that they’re in with a strong chance.
Liverpool suffered the consequences of a drastic summer rebuild after winning the league under Arne Slot, but Arteta will head into the 2026/27 term with a near identical squad to last season – barring the additions of Bruno Guimaraes, Christos Tzolis and Illan Meslier and departures of Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior.
Arsenal were well equipped to deal with the demands of a hectic schedule last campaign, and Arteta will hope that the winning blueprint created in North London can be applied to the UEFA Champions League after falling at the final hurdle against Luis Enrique’s formidable PSG last time out.
Key transfer
Bruno Guimarães
It’s hard to see how a player of Bruno Guimaraes’ quality and adaptability fails to thrive in a significantly better team, under a manager who is destined to get the best out of him.
Flawless under pressure, hard in the tackle and prolific in the box, the Brazilian is the complete package.
Martin Zubimendi was signed as a tempo-setter, and while he did this reasonably well before coming out of the starting XI for Myles Lewis-Skelly in the latter stages of the campaign, his skillset is relatively limited beyond that.
Guimaraes, on the other hand, prospers in all three thirds of the game, boasting a unique sense of danger in front of goal, as proven by his nine-goal return in 29 top-flight appearances last term.
Guimaraes and Declan Rice are amongst the best central midfielders in the league, and so having both in the same team – alongside one of Martin Odegaard or Eberechi Eze – is seismic for the reigning Premier League champions.
Breakout star
Max Dowman
The latest world class talent to emerge from Arsenal's Hale End academy, Max Dowman set a number of records last season as Mikel Arteta finally realised his ambition of bringing the Premier League title back to North London.
In March, the 16-year-old came off the bench at the Emirates against Everton and netted in stoppage-time in a 2-0 win to become the youngest scorer in both club and Premier League history.
In all competitions last season the versatile attacking midfielder made a total of 13 appearances and he now looks set to play an even bigger role of the Gunners as they prepare to defend their Premier League title.
The sport is littered with tales of promising talents who had their careers derailed by playing too much football at a young age and Arteta will be wise to carefully manage his involvement this season.
Based on what we've seen, Dowman has the ability to make a difference at the highest levels of the game and - with Bukayo Saka expected to be allowed some additional recovery following England's run to the World Cup semi-finals - he will likely have the opportunity to make an immediate impact.
What is a good season?
Retaining the Premier League title
Arsenal are the favourites to win the Premier League in the 2026/27 campaign, but that doesn’t necessarily make it an easy task.
Manchester City have retained the title on four occasions since 2018, but before Pep Guardiola’s inevitable machine, Manchester United were the last team to retain the honour in 2008/09.
Arteta will surely sense a golden opportunity to win the top-flight on successive occasions, however. Manchester City and Liverpool are entering fresh chapters under the stewardship of newly-appointed managers Enzo Maresca and Arne Slot, as are Chelsea, who will be overseen by former Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso.
Meanwhile, Man Utd and Tottenham are far from competing for the title and should pose no threat to Arsenal’s title defence.
The only scenario where not winning the Premier League may be deemed acceptable is if they emerge victorious in the UEFA Champions League, and even then Arteta and Gunners supporters may be disappointed that they were unable to capitalise on a supremely talented squad.
Bold prediction
Liam Williams
Not to finish top two
There are so many unknowns at the top end of the Premier League this season. How do Manchester City do without Pep Guardiola? How do Chelsea do with Xabi Alonso and no European football? How do Liverpool do under Andoni Iraola? Can Michael Carrick handle European football at Manchester United?
In many ways, Arsenal look the most stable club of them all and are deserved favourites to retain their Premier League crown.
But they’re starting with one hand tied behind their back. Mikel Arteta put everything into last season to ensure Arsenal finally won the title. There was no bedding in of Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly; instead, the likes of Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie and Noni Madueke were brought in to bulk out the squad.
It may come back to bite them this season. Declan Rice started 34 Premier League games last season. Martin Zubimendi started 34 and came off the bench in the other four. Rice as well as Bukayo Saka were frequently playing through the pain barrier towards the end of the season and the World Cup will have done them no favours.
Arsenal have finally shaken one tag off, but in doing so have placed a target on their back, and they might be about to find that defending a title is harder than winning it.
Will they be better than last season?
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Ellis Statham
YES!
Retaining the Premier League title and adding at least one more major trophy to their cabinet would qualify as a better season for Arsenal, and they’re well positioned to achieve that.
With drastic alterations elsewhere in the top-flight – including managerial changes at Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea – the Gunners would be favourably situated to win the Premier League even with the squad that they had last term, but they head into the new campaign even stronger with the additions of Guimaraes and Tzolis.
They fell at the final hurdle in the UEFA Champions League and EFL Cup, while suffering a shock exit at the hands of Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and Arteta will be desperate to add to the two major trophies clinched since being appointed in December 2019.
