Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta claims that the 25/26 Premier League title race will be an all timer and have EIGHT teams in contention.
Despite finishing in 2nd place for the last three seasons, last season finishing ten points behind champions Liverpool, Arteta faces pressure to deliver Arsenal’s first league title since 2004.
And he thinks that it’s going to be a tough season ahead, despite the Gunners investing heavily, spending £200m, signing the likes of Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Kepa Arrizabalaga, and Noni Madueke, with Viktor Gyokeres and Cristhian Mosquera reportedly nearing £80m moves.
Arteta spoke on improving squad depth and resilience, learning from last season’s injury setbacks and a Champions League semi-final defeat to PSG, hoping to ensure his side can sustain a challenge across competitions.
Arteta explained, as reported by The Sun: “It is getting more and more competitive each year.
“The level is increasing. We know that so our demands have to increase as well.
“Every year we have to see how things develop but I see the right balance in terms of maturity, experience, youth, hunger and all these ingredients are there.
“The thing is there are another six, seven, eight clubs in the league that have the right ingredients to win and there is only going to be one winner.
“So, we have to focus a lot on the things that we can control, that we can do, to achieve what we want at the end of the season.
“The only thing that [the players] were talking about at the end of last season and the first day back through the door is ‘OK, how are we going to be better?’
“How are we going to do more? We know that we are so close now in two big competitions and we just want to make the next step.
“There are going to be a lot of details and moments that have to go our way. We have to push for that to happen.
“We have been very active in the market, but we have to improve the players we already have, which is a massive objective.
“And then, set the right fundamentals and the right principles in pre-season to get the team ready with the best possible shape and availability to start the season.
“The Tier 1, 2, 3 system, I don’t believe in that much now. I’ll change it.
“The way the game’s evolving, the demands we put in with 70, 75 games per season, we want to build a team, like other clubs already have.
“When you look at the squad and you cannot really identify who is going to play, if you get to that point, that’s what we want.
“Last year, the line-up was: ‘Give me five players who can finish 90 minutes’. We played like this for seven months. We need to get away from that.
“Those restrictions limited our capacity to perform and then have the freshness that we need at the end of the season. Hopefully this season is going to be very different.”
PREMIER LEAGUE 25/26 WINNER ODDS:
Sky Bet – 22nd July
Liverpool – 15/8
Arsenal – 2/1
Man City – 11/4
Chelsea – 15/2
Newcastle – 22/1
Man Utd – 33/1
Tottenham – 40/1
Aston Villa – 50/1
Brighton – 125/1
Nottm Forest – 175/1
West Ham – 300/1
Bournemouth – 300/1
Everton – 300/1
Leeds – 500/1
Fulham – 500/1
Brentford – 500/1
Wolves – 500/1
Crystal Palace – 500/1
Burnley – 1000/1
Sunderland – 1000/1
ARSENAL’S 25/26 FIXTURES:
Sun 17 Aug – A – Manchester United – 4.30pm
Sat 23 Aug – H – Leeds United – 5.30pm
Sun 31 Aug – A – Liverpool – 4.30pm
Sat 13 Sep – H – Nottingham Forest – 3pm
Sat 20 Sep – H – Manchester City – 3pm
Sat 27 Sep – A – Newcastle United – 3pm
Sat 4 Oct – H – West Ham United – 3pm
Sat 18 Oct – A – Fulham – 3pm
Sat 25 Oct – H – Crystal Palace – 3pm
Sat 1 Nov – A – Burnley – 3pm
Sat 8 Nov – A – Sunderland – 3pm
Sat 22 Nov – H – Tottenham Hotspur – 3pm
Sat 29 Nov – A – Chelsea – 3pm
Wed 3 Dec – H – Brentford – 8pm
Sat 6 Dec – A – Aston Villa – 3pm
Sat 13 Dec – H – Wolverhampton Wanderers – League 3pm
Sat 20 Dec – A – Everton – 3pm
Sat 27 Dec – H – Brighton & Hove Albion – 3pm
Tue 30 Dec – H – Aston Villa – 8pm
Sat 3 Jan – A – AFC Bournemouth – 3pm
Wed 7 Jan – H – Liverpool – 8pm
Sat 17 Jan – A – Nottingham Forest – 3pm
Sat 24 Jan – H – Manchester United – 3pm
Sat 31 Jan – A – Leeds United Premier League 3pm
Sat 7 Feb – H – Sunderland Premier League 3pm
Wed 11 Feb – A – Brentford Premier League 8pm
Sat 21 Feb – A – Tottenham Hotspur – 3pm
Sat 28 Feb – H – Chelsea – 3pm
Wed 4 Mar – A – Brighton & Hove Albion – 8pm
Sat 14 Mar – H – Everton – 3pm
Sat 21 Mar – A – Wolverhampton Wanderers – 3pm
Sat 11 Apr – H – AFC Bournemouth – 3pm
Sat 18 Apr – A – Manchester City – 3pm
Sat 25 Apr – H – Newcastle United – 3pm
Sat 2 May – H – Fulham – 3pm
Sat 9 May – A – West Ham United – 3pm
Sun 17 May – H – Burnley – 3pm
Sun 24 May – A – Crystal Palace – 4pm
