Running the show š®āšØ
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 15, 2026
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After a convincing display in the FA Cup 4th round win against Wigan on Sunday the focus this week for Arsenal shifts again back to the Premier League. With two fixtures in the space of 5 days, wins will be vital as the Gunners bid for their first league title in 22 years. First up is the rearranged visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday (18th February) in a must win game for the Gunners and a chance to increase their lead to 7 points again after the 1-1 draw against Brentford last week.
The beleaguered Wolves are all but relegated at this stage with only one Premier League win this season (against West Ham on January 3rd, 3-0) and with a total of 9 points from 26 games look set to be playing Championship football next season. Nonetheless, and as witnessed on many occasion in the Premier league, no game can be taken for granted especially teams facing relegation and fighting for every point.
That fighting spirit was evident in the reverse fixture against Arsenal back in December when Arokodare scored for Wolves in the 89th minute to equalise only for the Wanderers to see a 94th minute own goal from Yerson Mosquera handing the Gunners victory and a 5 point lead in the table. Nonetheless, the stats don't lie and to this point in the season, the Wolves have scored only 16 goals in total in the league with 48 goals conceded and Arsenal should as their league position suggests, be too strong for the battling Wanderers.
London Derby
The final match of a busy February for Mikel Arteta's team will be a short trip to White Hart Lane to face old adversary, Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby. Having recently parted ways with Thomas Frank, it will be former Juventus manager Igor Tudor taking the reins as intern manager at Spurs until the end of the season and what a game to begin your career with. Tudor won 55 caps for Croatia and made more than 150 appearances for Italian giants Juventus in his playing days and will hope to turn around Tottenham's season in the league.
Arsenal have had the better of their north London neighbours in recent years though, winning 6 from the last 7 match ups and thumped them 4-1 in the home fixture at the Emirates in November. The headliner writers will be out in force but the Gunners are expected to prevail over a team struggling to replicate their European form at home.
Final third
As we enter the crucial final third of the season it will be big performances from Arsenal's key players that will make the difference in winning games like Wolves and Spurs away. Those "big" players, Rice, Gabriel, Saliba, Odegaard, Gykores, Timber and the returning Saka have all contributed greatly this season already but will need to deliver with more consistency as Arsenal fight for trophies on four fronts.
Thinking back to the 2003/2004 Invincible's season where Arsenal went through the whole season unbeaten, it was players such as Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp and arguably the best striker in Europe and maybe the World at that time, Thierry Henry who drove the team to such great heights. Saka has shown his mettle at both club and international level and his return to full fitness will similarly drive his teammates forward but it will ultimately be a combination of a great defence which Arsenal already possess and a midfield general in the mould of Invincible's Captain Patrick Viera, that will make the crucial difference.
Declan Rice
In the current squad Declan Rice has been going from strength to strength in the past few seasons and has grown into the type of role that Vieira mastered so brilliantly. His performance in the 1-1 draw away to Brentford was reminiscent of what Vieira did so consistently when he pulled on the famous red and white jersey and when Rice does put in that type of performance then that is where the similarity begins. One of his main attributes is that he can set the tone with intensity and transition from defence to attack quickly switching the play when Arsenal need to put the pressure on.
However, it was consistency which set Vieira and the rest of the Invincibles apart from the rest and this is something that the current team are striving to achieve. Top drawer performances will be needed from Rice and his fellow team mates in every game in the run in to guide the Gunners to their first league title in 22 years and for success in the cups. Can the Gunners rise to the challenge?
The Opta analyst seems to think so, their predicted finishing points for the season have Arsenal on 82 pts (81.88) with Manchester City in 2nd on 75 (74.53) with Aston Villa in 3rd on 71 points. Nice reading for Arsenal fans but too early for presentations yet and the next game is always the most important one.
