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Perfect December
December 21, 2025 VBS Community Stadium, Sutton Jo Potter’s appointment last summer, following Crystal Palace’s relegation from the WSL, was framed as a reset rather than a retreat. Champions of the Championship in 2023/24, Palace arrived with the clear intention of bouncing straight back: aggressive without the ball, brave in possession, happy to press high and spend long spells in the attacking half, yet equally willing to turn direct from deep. Arsenal were immediately con
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Historic Revindication
November 26, 2025 Emirates Stadium, London Tonight, the last two unbeaten sides in the Champions League meet at the summit of Europe. Across the technical areas stand Vincent Kompany and Mikel Arteta—disciples of Pep Guardiola, forged in the same creed of positional discipline and imaginative risk. Kompany arrives in his second season at Bayern, having restored the Bavarians’ domestic primacy after Leverkusen’s fleeting rebellion, losing only twice en route to a 13-point titl
Jan Piekarowicz
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The Dragon Has Woken
November 12, 2025 Mangata Pay UK, London Arsenal Women entered this fixture burdened by their own shortfalls. It is one thing to climb; another to remain at the summit. Their performances this season have fallen below the standards they once commanded. And in a Champions League redesigned as an 18-team league—where only four qualify directly, fifth to twelfth survive a perilous play-off, and the rest vanish—every misstep is amplified. Arsenal sat 11th with three points from n
Jan Piekarowicz
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Win. Clean sheet. Repeat
November 1st, 2025 Turf Moore, Burnley A poppy pinned to every chest. Arsenal in white, Burnley in claret. Black armbands, six wreaths laid on the turf, the flag lowered. The trumpet sang, and for a moment, silence reigned. Then, a roar—English remembrance breaking into Premier League noise. Arsenal arrived and Turf Moor met them with the usual hostility. Burnley pressed high, physical, uncompromising. Kyle Walker, the former City man marshalling a young side with old habits.
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Another Set Piece, Another Statement
October 18, 2025 Craven Cottage, Fulham They arrived in west London knowing this ground had not been kind. Fulham, fourteenth in the table, had not lost at Craven Cottage since early September; Arsenal had not won here since 2023. Fulham’s home form has been impressive. They had faced fewer shots at home than any side except Arsenal. Yet precedent mattered little. Mikel Arteta, now among the Premier League’s longest-serving managers, has forged a team that wins no matter what
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


WE. NEVER. GIVE. UP
September 28, 2025 St James’ Park, Newcastle The death of academy forward Billy Vigar (2003–2025) cast a pall over the squad. For supporters, memories of Reyes and Rocastle resurfaced — gifted players taken far too soon. Against Newcastle, history weighed black and white: four home wins in their last five against Arsenal — an unusual dominance, and a challenge to be broken. The match began and Arsenal struck first. Five minutes in, Gyökeres flicked on to Eberechi Eze, who fo
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Moving into the Semi-Final
December 24, 2025 Emirates Stadium, London Twelve months on from Gabriel Jesus’ hat-trick that carried Arsenal into the final four, there was a familiar sense of occasion as Wembley again beckoned. Crystal Palace, buoyed by their own recent memories of lifting the FA Cup in May, arrived having carved an impressive path to the quarter-finals — penalties against Millwall, then a startling 3–0 dismantling of Liverpool at Anfield. This was no ceremonial appearance. From the outse
Jan Piekarowicz
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3 points in a 3 shots match
December 20, 2025 Goodison Park, Liverpool There was a symmetry to the setting. Arteta marked his sixth year as Arsenal manager in the same city where his English story had begun nearly two decades earlier. In early 2005, David Moyes was assembling a midfield capable of sustaining Everton’s improbable chase for Champions League football. He recalled a slight, technically gifted Spaniard who had caught his eye in a pre-season friendly with Real Sociedad the previous summer. Sc
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Belgian Trip
December 17, 2025 Den Dreef Stadium, Heverlee The first meeting between Belgian and English sides in the Women’s Champions League arrived wrapped in quiet novelty, but the evening itself quickly shed any sense of occasion. Arsenal treated it as a matter of order. OH Leuven, perched precariously in 12th place before kick-off and glancing nervously over their shoulder at Valerenga, arrived with domestic confidence—leaders of the Belgian Super League, eight wins from ten—but Eur
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


3 W, 1 Week
December 13, 2025 Goodison Park, Liverpool Before December, Brian Sørensen’s Everton had not tasted victory in the WSL since the opening-weekend Merseyside derby. That context lent weight—and disbelief—to their recent 1–0 win over Chelsea at Kingsmeadow, a result that ended the champions’ 34-game unbeaten run. It was no isolated act of rebellion either: a week earlier Everton had dispatched Newcastle United 3–1 away in the League Cup. Momentum, if fragile, had begun to gather
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Never Confuse Wolves to Dogs
December 13, 2025 Emirates Stadium, London Arsenal arrived as league leaders, Wolves as a side marooned at the bottom with only two points to their name. On paper, the imbalance suggested routine. In reality, it produced something far more unsettling — a match stretched taut until the final breath. The first 25 minutes passed with little disturbance to either penalty area. Timber glanced a header over from a central position — Gyökeres perhaps better placed — but clear chance
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Battle of the Flanks
December 10, 2025 Jan Breydelstadion, Brugge Club Brugge entered the night under the shadow of change. Ivan Leko, appointed only on Monday after a barren run of one win in seven, inherited a squad unsettled but not undone: at home in Europe, they had yielded just a single defeat in their previous seven. Their method was simple, almost doctrinal—absorb pressure, wait for the opponent’s imbalance, and strike. Arsenal, by contrast, opened with the authority of a side determined
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


One Step Further
December 09, 2025 Emirates Stadium, London Second in the Vrouwen Eredivisie, Twente arrived in London with the assurance of a side that has mastered its domestic theatre: seven wins and a draw from eight matches, level with Ajax and still holding a game in hand. Yet their European campaign has exposed a more fragile underbelly. Draws against Chelsea and Benfica and defeats to OH Leuven and Atlético Madrid have reminded the Netherlands’ most decorated women’s club that the con
Jan Piekarowicz
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18 Unbeaten Run Ended
December 06, 2025 Villa Park, Birmingham Aston Villa entered the night on six consecutive victories, a run that had revived their campaign and restored Villa Park’s reputation as an inhospitable ground: only one league defeat in twenty-five home matches, that lone blemish inflicted by Arsenal last August. Unai Emery—whose North London tenure ended under a cloud—seemed driven by a private grievance, shared by the ever-combustible Emiliano Martínez. Their intensity shaped Villa
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Wonder Kid Goal
December 06, 2025 Emirates Stadium, London The international break brought mostly favourable returns. Australia won, with Cooney-Cross striking a thunderous goal; Blackstenius scored for Sweden, and Mead and Russo for England. Caldentey claimed a second Nations League title after Spain’s victory over Germany. Yet the optimism faltered on the medical front: Chloe Kelly returned with a ligament injury, and Daphne van Domselaar was ruled out of starting duties. The psychological
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Still Five Points Clear
December 03, 2025 Emirates Stadium, London A summer of upheaval had reshaped Brentford long before autumn settled over the league. They lost their architect, Thomas Frank, to Tottenham; their captain, Christian Nørgaard, departed for Arsenal; and the attacking axis of Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa was drawn away by Manchester United and Newcastle. Yet from this exodus emerged an unexpected steadiness. In his first managerial post, Keith Andrews has shepherded the Bees to their
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Trench Warfare
November 30, 2025 Stamford Bridge, London Chelsea, newly revitalised after their midweek 3–0 dismantling of Barcelona, entered the derby with conviction. Arsenal arrived as league leaders, unbeaten in sixteen, bearing the momentum of hard-won triumphs over Spurs and Bayern Munich. Both sides had taken four wins and a draw from their previous five matches—form suggesting symmetry. Debate crackled before kick-off over the likely balance of power in midfield—Rice or Caicedo—but
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Paint it RED
November 23, 2025 Emirates Stadium, London Arsenal arrived at this derby defending a 14-match unbeaten run across all competitions, a sequence that has steadied their ascent to the summit of the Premier League. And if there is one figure capable of sustaining such trajectories, it is Mikel Arteta. Since first captaining the side in 2012, he has never lost a home match to Tottenham. Yet Spurs came with a distinction of their own: the only team still unbeaten away from home th
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Stalemate in North London
November 16, 2025 Brisbane Road, London The north London derby has long served as a barometer of Arsenal’s authority in the women’s game. Since Tottenham’s arrival in the top flight in 2019, Renée Slegers’ side have dominated the rivalry with a consistency that borders on the habitual. Eleven league encounters have yielded nine Arsenal victories, a single draw, and just one defeat—statistical proof of a gulf that has yet to close. Across those matches, Arsenal have struck 33
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read


Complacent Toll
November 12, 2025 Allianz Arena, Munich Ahead of tonight’s game, Arsenal suffered a cruel twist of fate. Katie Reid — the 19-year-old defender once hailed as the club’s brightest prospect — has been ruled out with an ACL injury. Player of the Month in September and freshly called up to the Lionesses, her rise was halted just as it began. Kim Little, Arsenal’s heartbeat in midfield, was also unavailable. The margins between these sides have always been fine. Their last two mee
Jan Piekarowicz
2 min read
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