Football writer Alex Keble assesses each Premier League club and their prospects for the 2024/25 season.
Arsenal
For the second season in a row Arsenal supporters looked back on a campaign with pride - and also regret.
They came agonisingly close last season to their first Premier League title since 2003/04, but chasing down Manchester City requires a level of perfection that was just out of reach for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Still, fans will take encouragement from the improvements made in 2023/24. There was no sudden dip in form, or no physical or mental collapse.
Clearly Arsenal have the steel for the fight – and they have a better squad than last season. So, third time lucky?
Performance last season
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +62 | 91 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +62 | 89 |
| 3 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +45 | 82 |
| 4 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +15 | 68 |
FA Cup: Third round
EFL Cup: Fourth round
UEFA Champions League: Quarter-final
Last five seasons
| Season | League position |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 8th |
| 2020/21 | 8th |
| 2021/22 | 5th |
| 2022/23 | 2nd |
| 2023/24 | 2nd |
Best Premier League finish
Champions: 1997/98; 2001/02; 2003/04
See: More about Arsenal's history
Season aims
The Premier League title is within their grasp.
Man City have had a quiet summer while their 2024/25 could be disrupted by uncertainty surrounding Pep Guardiola’s future. More significantly, City’s record-breaking four league titles in a row leaves no mountain left to climb.
Arsenal are younger and – perhaps - hungrier than their rivals.
Key transfers
Left-sided defender Riccardo Calafiori is the major addition so far.
Arsenal still have business to do. A goalscoring No 9 is required to turn more draws into wins.
Arsenal's key transfers so far
| Player | Transfer Type | Club |
|---|---|---|
| David Raya |  Transfer In |
Brentford |
| Riccardo Calafiori | Transfer In |
Bologna |
| Emile Smith Rowe |  Transfer Out |
Fulham |
See: Clubs' summer 2024 transfers
Tactics
Although closely following his mentor’s ideas Arteta’s Arsenal are subtly more aggressive and direct than Guardiola’s Man City.
At times Arsenal are slightly less balanced, relying too heavily on Bukayo Saka’s trickery and looking defensively vulnerable down their left, two issues potentially solved by the new signings.
Calafiori is a sturdy left-back who should improve the league’s best defence, while Arteta might look to fill a Granit Xhaka-shaped hole that saw Gabriel Martinelli’s performances dip with a left-sided midfielder.
Injury report
| Player | Injury | Latest Updates |
|---|---|---|
| Kieran Tierney | Hamstring | Details |
| Takehiro Tomiyasu | Knee | Details |
Pre-season results & fixtures
20 July Arsenal XI 2-0 Leyton Orient Report
25 July Arsenal 1-1 AFC Bournemouth (Arsenal win 5-4 on pens) Report
28 July Arsenal 2-1 Man Utd Report
1 Aug Liverpool 2-1 Arsenal Report
7 Aug Arsenal 4-1 Bayer Leverkusen Report
11 Aug v Lyon (H) Details
What the manager says
Mikel Arteta: "The message is clear – we need more from everybody. More from everybody, including me. I need to raise the standards, I need to bring something I haven’t brought yet. Individually and collectively the same. The more we do that, the better the chance it’s going to be to win the Premier League. This is what we want basically. Just work every day with that excitement and understanding of the difficulty. And when those difficulties come, stay together and go through them efficiently.
"[We'll need] 114 points. If we do that, we win the league for sure. This is the objective, from there we’ll see what we get. Earn the right to win it and have the biggest probability over the opponent."
Best XI (4-3-3)
David Raya; Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Riccardo Calafiori; Martin Odegaard, Jorginho, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli.
Opening PL fixtures
Kits
See: More details at Arsenal’s online store