What Arsenal need to do over the next six games
After a dramatic yet uninspiring win over relegation haunted Wolverhampton Wanderers last Saturday night, Mikel Arteta and his team enter the busy Christmas period with a few key fixtures that with a positive outcome would set them up for success across multiple fronts.
These upcoming games will play an important part in determining the realisation of Arsenal's ambitions for the 2025/2026 season and could be vital come May and what they would really like and need to do, is win all six matches but football is far from predictable and there are a few potential banana skins in there for Arteta to contend with. As far as form goes though, its so far so good as the Gunners are sitting atop the Premier League and Champions League tables in late December and this consistency will surely give a massive confidence boost to the manager and players. The club are well aware also that this season could offer a huge opportunity to add their names to a prestigious list of past champions from N5.
Their form for example in the Champions League is formidable, played six, won six, no mean feat in the modern game where European match ups can be extremely difficult and unpredictable but at the same time, undeniably a factor of the strength in depth that Arsenal currently enjoy. In the Premier League, Arsenal lead after 16 matches played and are two points clear of Manchester City and three points ahead of former Arsenal manager, Uni Emery's Aston Villa (who defeated the Gunners 2-1 in their meeting earlier this month.) The rematch with Villa comes on Tuesday the 30th December and Arsenal hopefully with a fully fit Gabriel will target this game as a must win.
Upcoming fixtures
In a hectic time for most clubs, Arsenal will play six fixtures across nineteen days in the Premier League and Carabao Cup over the Christmas season. First up is an away game against Everton in the Premier League this coming Saturday the 20th December and it's a first visit by Arsenal to the Toffemen's new stadium, the Hill Dickinson Stadium. The new stadium with a capacity of 52,769 will be packed to capacity and the Merseysiders will be right behind manager David Moyes and their team.
Arsenal will need to be on their best form to suppress the Everton threat but can approach this game with a measure of confidence having fared pretty well in recent times against the Toffees, winning 22 of the last 38 encounters although with both teams averaging 1.75 points at home and away respectively, this could be another closely fought win for the north London giants. Arteta will be asking for full concentration from his Gunners as they seek three valuable points in the title race yet will have fond memories on his return to Everton having spent six years there in his playing days before Joining Arsenal in August 2011.
Carabao Cup
A delayed Carabao cup fixture is up next for Arteta's Gunners, facing London neighbours Crystal Palace for a place in the last four and a chance to meet Chelsea in the semi-finals. With the final due on March 22nd at Wembley, this is an extra incentive for the Gunners to book their place in the semis and grab an early chance at silverware in 2026. Palace managed by Austrian Oliver Glasner will be no pushovers however, are will be keen to add to the FA cup winners medal they picked up last season and will field a strong starting line-up for this all London clash. If form is anything to go by then the most recent meeting between the two was back in October of this year and went the way of Arsenal, winning 1-0 courtesy of a goal by former Palace player, Eberechi Eze, Arteta happily would settle for a repeat scoreline here.
Christmas
A welcome break then for Christmas is followed by a December 27th Premier league match up at home against south coast club, Brighton & Hove Albion. Despite both meetings last season finishing in 1-1 scorelines, Arsenal will fancy this one having won their previous encounter against the seagulls this season in the Carabao cup courtesy of goals from Nwaneri and Saka, sealing a 2-0 win for the Gunners. Three days later on Tuesday December 30th, the busy Christmas schedule continues with the Gunners at home in the league again, this time versus Aston Villa in what promises to be another tough encounter for Mikel Arteta's men. A home win here would be vital against a genuine title contender and an opportunity to avenge the 94th minute defeat experienced back on December 6th, Buendia and Cash the scorers for Villa on that occasion.
A further three days rest is followed on Saturday January 3rd with a tricky league visit to Bournemouth away and five days later the nineteen days are rounded off when Arsenal serve up a mouth-watering encounter against Liverpool on the 8th January with a 8.00pm kick off. With the fixtures coming thick and fast for the Gunners, it is imperative that home advantage is utilised to its full and maximised to ensure that all the points stay in north London.
Our house. pic.twitter.com/IhqFwqQDxv
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 16, 2025
