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I have to admit that this blog is a bit of a new experience for me. In the past I’ve written about either a specific team - mostly the USMNT - or an entire league - mostly the Premier League and through the lens of a fantasy soccer game. Through that time, I was always an Arsenal supporter so my coverage may have had more depth when it came to the club, but they were only ever part of the ongoing conversation. The Loudoun Soccer partnership with Arsenal and the creation of this blog has been interesting for me as a writer, and is the underlying theme for this week’s post. Beyond focusing on a single club every week with this blog, which is new for me, the rise of the women’s professional game - both in terms of its importance to the club and its availability on TV in the US - has meant that I am covering two teams under one umbrella. Why is that interesting and/or challenging? Beyond having to pay attention to two teams and everything else going on in the competitions that they are participating in - League Cup, FA Cup, Premier League, and Champions League for the men and Women’s League Cup, FA Cup, Women’s Super League, and Champions League for the women - it means figuring out how to summarize a week that might have gone very well for one of the teams and not so well for the other. The opening weeks of the season when the men were either winning or playing good games against top competition and the women were winning comfortably didn’t provide much reason to consider how the task might become more difficult. This past week, unfortunately, has introduced this new complexity into my life at the expense of the women’s performance over the week. The Men Top the Table I’ll start with the easy one. The men, finally through their challenging opening games, got a fairly straightforward assignment in struggling West Ham. While it wasn’t a blowout on the scoresheet, it never really felt like that they were going to lose. Former Hammer Declan Rice scored in the 38th minute and Bukayo Saka scored a penalty in the 67th minute to confirm the win. My takeaways from the match were the following: Injury - Martin Odegaard’s knee injury - he went off in the first half after a clash of knees - is a huge bummer as he’s struggled for form and fitness over the past year and seemed to be getting closer to his best. Depth - Whereas last season, a second injury to Odegaard, coupled with the ongoing absences of other key attackers - in this case Noni Madueke and Kai Havertz - would have had me freaking out that the club was going to crater and lose their chance at the title. This season? The quality in depth is so strong that we’ll STILL have a choice between Declan Rice and Ethan Nwaneri as Eze’s partner in the center of midfield. With Odegaard out, one of those two players (or Martin Zubimendi) will be coming off the bench. That is just insane depth and should allow us to weather the early-season storm of injuries. The other big thing that happened for the men was that Liverpool’s luck with late-match heroics has clearly run out. Through their unbeaten start to the season, the Reds got four extremely late winners – including the miraculous free kick that gave them the win over Arsenal at Anfield. Over their past three matches - two in the Premier League and one in the Champions League - Liverpool have lost all three with the two Premier League losses coming on goals in the 7th and 5th minutes of extra time. The loss in the Champions League will be, perhaps, even more disheartening for the club given that it came against Galatasaray rather than one of Europe’s titans. Liverpool supporters would certainly argue that two late losses in the Premier League do not a crisis make. What they will have to confront is that their two biggest stars - Mo Salah and Virgil Van Dijk - are older and it is reasonable to assume that they will lose a step at some point in the not too distant future. That time might be now. They also have to reckon with the fact that they have played poorly against teams like Burnley, Southampton, and a Newcastle club reeling from the loss of their talisman, Alexander Isak that they would have dispatched with ease at their best last season. The Women Continue to Struggle The Champions League title is the biggest honor a club side playing in Europe can win. The Arsenal women’s unexpected run to that title last season was magical. I wouldn’t trade the experience of watching that final at the Anchor Bar with Loudoun Soccer colleagues and members for anything. What has started to dawn on me is that it may have caused us (or at least me) to ignore that the difference between being successful in a tournament versus a full league season is real and that success in one doesn’t necessarily translate to the other. My assumption after a Champions League title followed by significant investment in the transfer market was that Arsenal would mount a serious challenge to Chelsea in the WSL while at least being in the conversation to repeat their Champions League exploits. Well, five matches into the WSL season and one into the Champions League campaign, it may be time to reexamine my expectations. Now, at the surface, losing to Manchester City, perennial contenders for the WSL title, and FC Lyonnes, the most decorated club in the European women’s game, isn’t a tragedy. Doing both in a single week makes it a little tougher to handle for a club that wants to be considered among the elite of the elite in Europe. Adding the context of draws with Manchester United and Aston Villa in their two WSL matches before the loss to City starts to really raise the level of concern. Going back even further to the end of last season, Arsenal struggled with their mid-table opponents in the WSL. They dropped matches to Brighton, Aston Villa, and Liverpool - none of whom will be mistaken for Chelsea or Barcelona - in either WSL or domestic competitions. Now, maybe they had already conceded the WSL title to Chelsea and were putting all of their eggs into the Champions League basket. Put together one set of results in calendar year 2025 and you can paint a rosy picture of where the Arsenal women sit. They beat Real Madrid, Lyon, and Barcelona to win the Champions League while finishing second in the WSL. That’s impressive. They’ve also been blown out by Aston Villa and Brighton, lost to Manchester City, and drawn with Villa and Manchester United in league play. That’s far less impressive. Somewhere in-between those two sets of results lies the truth as to the current level of this team. Of the difficult matches listed, I saw all of the Aston Villa match, most of the Manchester United and Manchester City matches, but none of the FC Lyonnes match. I’m still trying to figure this side out. They have quality in depth but seem to be lacking…something. I just haven’t figured out what that something is quite yet. Maybe they’re struggling under the weight of so many players playing in the women’s Euros over the summer. Maybe they started to believe their press clippings after winning the Champions League. Maybe it is really one outlier draw (Aston Villa) followed by a brutal stretch of competition in United, City, and Lyonnes. Where Things Stand The men sit first in the Premier League as the PL heads to it’s second international break of the campaign. The women sit 5th behind Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham (ugh!), and Manchester United. What’s Next? The women welcome Brighton to the Emirates on Sunday at 9:30 AM Eastern (ESPN+) while the men don’t return to action until Saturday the 18th when they travel to Craven Cottage for a 12:30 PM Eastern match with Fulham.

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It was a big week across the board at Arsenal FC. The men played their first Champions League match of the 2025-26 campaign, followed by a glamour match-up with Manchester City, while the women learned their opponents for the first stage of their Champions League title defense, followed by a glamour match-up of their own against a strong Manchester United team. Arsenal Men v Bilbao Athletic Once again, the men’s team showcased the value of their summer signings as they successfully navigated a trip to Bilbao. Athletic were incredibly aggressive from the first kick and I worried that this was going to be a frustrating 0-0 draw or 1-0 loss against a less-talented but resolute and well-organized opposition. That was until Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli were introduced late. Inside of a minute of Martinelli coming on, fellow substitute Trossard released him on a break that saw the Brazilian in alone to beat the goalkeeper with a fine finish. Not long after, their roles were reversed with Martinelli driving to the touchline and drawing the ball back for Trossard to score for a 2-0 finish that looked like a more comfortable result than it actually was. While two long-standing players figured in the scoring, the new-found quality of depth proved its worth. With William Saliba, Martin Odegaard, and Bukayo Saka all still missing, Mikel Arteta was able to field an excellent starting line-up featuring Cristhian Mosquera, Eberechi Eze, and Mikel Merino in place of Saliba, Saka, and Odegaard respectively and STILL have quality like Martinelli, Trossard, and Nwaneri available as substitutes. In addition to veterans Martinelli and Trossard, new arrivals like Madueke and Eze make for a lot of options when injury or rotation keeps key players out. The theme continued when league play resumed on Sunday against Manchester City. On to Manchester City Sunday brought the good news that William Saliba was healthy enough to start, with Saka and Odegaard available from the bench. While still not at full strength, it’s great news that the team is on a path to all three starting. The bad news was that the match started off poorly for the Gunners. Despite Arteta’s conservative approach, deploying a midfield trio of Zubimendi, Rice, and Merino, Manchester City broke through early through Norwegian goal-machine Erling Haaland. That Haaland scored is hardly surprising, but it was frustrating that City was able to go straight down the middle past three Arsenal midfielders. If we’re going to be vulnerable to that sort of attack, we might as well do it with players like Eze and Nwaneri in the line-up to break through the lines in the other direction. Other than the goal, Sunday’s match wasn’t easy on the eyes. Without creative forces like Eze, Odegaard, and Nwaneri in the middle of the park, it was largely left to Noni Madueke to create chances from the right side of the attack. Against lesser opponents, that might be enough, but Pep ensured that Madueke was contained by multiple defenders and took his chances that Arsenal’s central midfield couldn’t break down the rest of the City defense. City held their slim 1-0 lead into stoppage time. Then Arsenal’s quality in depth rose up again with Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Martinelli combining for a spectacular stoppage time equalizer. A draw against a high-quality opponent is hardly a tragedy, but there is certainly some concern with Arteta’s approach to both the Liverpool match and the City match, where he has been more conservative rather than taking his newly-acquired attackers out for a spin and try to win from the start. The View from the Other Side of Manchester Just before the men kicked off against City at the Emirates, the women’s side were in Manchester facing Manchester United’s table-topping women’s side. Coming into the match, both teams were undefeated after two matches, with United leading the table on goal differential. Like the blockbuster men’s match in London, the actual match failed to live up to the hype. While there was no shortage of effort, the post-match statistics show only four shots on target combined for both teams and none of them stood out as particularly dangerous. Getting a draw on the road against a title contender isn’t a bad outcome, but for a team with title aspirations, it didn’t feel like quite enough. Keeping pace with a dominant Chelsea club is going to be incredibly difficult. Dropped points, even on the road against Manchester United, cannot happen. Previewing the Women’s European Journey Before heading to Manchester to face the Red Devils, the women learned who they would be facing in the first stage of the 2025-26 Champions League as they look to defend their title. Repeating won’t be an easy road though. Here’s a quick look: OL Lyonnes - the most storied club in the women’s game, now owned by Michelle Kang as the crown jewel of her women’s football empire. Not an easy way to start off a title defense. Bayern Munich - while not as dominating as the Bayern men’s side, they made it to the Champions League quarterfinals and dominated Germany to win the domestic treble. The schedule-makers are doing Arsenal no favors here. Real Madrid - Again, not quite up to the otherworldly standards of their male counterparts but, like Bayern, they advanced to the Champions League quarterfinalists last term, while contenting themselves as runners up to Barcelona domestically. Benfica - dominant at home in Portugal, but not really a force in Europe at this time. Twente - after going out in the group stages last season, the reigning Dutch champions shouldn’t be a significant hurdle. OH Leuven - making their first Champions League appearance, the newly-minted Belgian champions and are probably in the “happy to be here” club, rather than presenting a real threat. Where Things Stand Arsenal Men: Liverpool are chugging along, winning 5 of 5. After five weeks in the Premier League, the Arsenal men sit five points behind Liverpool, tied on points with Tottenham and Bournemouth, but ahead of those two on goal differential. While slightly disappointing, given that they have already played Liverpool on the road and Manchester City at home, that’s not a bad place with Chelsea and City both struggling. Arsenal Women: After three weeks, the women are third in the table. Like Liverpool on the men’s side, the Chelsea women just keep churning out unimpressive wins, but style points aren’t awarded in the table. Manchester United remain tied with Arsenal on points and a goal ahead in differential, and Manchester City sit a point behind in 4th. What’s Next Arsenal Men: The men play their first Carabao Cup match of the season on Wednesday against Port Vale, followed by the always tough trip to St. James Park on Sunday at 11:30 AM to face Newcastle United. Arsenal Women: It’s an early 7 AM start for Americans watching them face off with Aston Villa this coming Saturday at the Emirates Stadium.

Chilly temps and rain in North London didn’t put a damper on the Arsenal Men and Women, as both romped to decisive victories. Neither opponent was especially daunting, but the class that each side showed in seeing off credible opposition is exactly what should be expected of teams who compete for championships. Friday Night Lights The Arsenal women kicked off the weekend Friday night at the home of the West Ham women’s side, Chigwell Construction Stadium. The trip across London meant that attendance dropped from the 38,000+ that saw the season opener at the Emirates to just north of 3,000 ( Pro Tip: If you’re considering going to see the Arsenal Women this season, you might want to catch a road match.) Once the match got underway, the script seemed almost identical to what we saw from the Gunners in last weekend’s season opener against London City, with a rough start as Gunners goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar misplayed a high cross that she would handle easily 99 times out of 100. As in their opener, however, there was no panic about being down a goal. The Gunners held the bulk of the possession and the breakthrough came in the 21st minute from Frida Maanum from a Beth Mead assist. Both Mead with her pass and Maanum with her shot nutmegged their defenders to produce the first goal. Arsenal kept the pressure up through the rest of the first half, but couldn’t get the go-ahead goal before the break. As with London City, the introduction of Stina Blackstenius changed the match. The Sweden international came on at halftime, and the goals started flowing.Although Blackstenius scored first in the second stanza, the plaudits for the goal should go to Alessia Russo, whose one touch backheel made Blackstenius’ job routine for a striker of her quality. From 2-1, the rout was on. A goal from Caitlin Foord in the 62nd, and a stoppage time brace from Russo delivered the final 5-1 scoreline. To see more, check out an extended highlights package (requires free sign-up) from the match. The early-match jitters against modest opponents that Arsenal have shown in both matches so far are the only quibble that anyone might have after two dominant matches. They will have to get things sorted out this week, though, when they face current table toppers Manchester United on their home ground. New Arrivals Shine Where the women’s successful weekend was driven by returning stars, the men’s victory over visiting Nottingham Forest was notable for the contributions of new arrivals. With Bukayo Saka and William Saliba still injured, Mikel Arteta started five summer signings–Cristhian Mosquera, Martin Zubimendi, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, and Viktor Gyorkeres. Each was excellent. The most obvious star of the match was Zubimendi, who opened the scoring with a screaming goal from long distance. After an attempted Forest clearance from a corner, the ball fell to Zubimendi and he struck true. A slight touch from a defender on the way through provided just enough change of direction to ensure that goalkeeper Matt Sels didn’t have a chance to get a hand on it. While the Gunners were dominant in the first half, going into the break up only a goal certainly wasn’t the most comfortable feeling. Fortunately, in less than a minute Eberechi Eze combined with Viktor Gyokeres to double the lead.(The play started with early-season star Ricardo Calafiori who played a long ball for Eze who crossed it immediately into the path of Gyokeres for an easy finish.) Zubimendi once again closed the scoring in the 79th minute with an unlikely strike from the diminutive holding midfielder–a headed goal. The build-up came from a set piece on the right side of the attack. Declan Rice worked the ball across the pitch to substitute Leandro Trossard, who clipped the ball into the box where Zubimendi rose to head it home for the final 3-0 scoreline. For video highlights of the match, click here (requires free sign-up). While three of the five new arrivals who started - Zubimendi, Eze, and Gyokeres - figured prominently in the scoring, the other two - Mosquera and Madueke - showed even better. Madueke, the subject of supporter ire when he was purchased from Chelsea over the summer, was excellent for the 79 minutes he played, consistently driving at defenders and opening up potential scoring opportunities that Arsenal could have done better converting. Mosquera made his most obvious contribution when he prevented a Forest attacker from being in on goal after some less-than-impressive work clearing the ball from David Raya. Mosquera dispossessed the attacker without looking even mildly panicked, and ensured that Forest’s best opportunity came to nothing. Beyond that one play, the extent to which Mosquera, acquired more as “one for the future” rather than being targeted for a starting role, has stepped in for William Saliba and looked every bit the Frenchman’s equal. With a Tuesday Champions League opener against Athletic Club, Arsenal’s newboys will have to excel for the Gunners to get a positive result in Bilbao. The Results: WSL Week 2/PL Week 4 With both the men’s and women’s teams now playing league matches with Champions League to come soon for each, I’m going to condense the details to results, place in the table, what happened to their title rivals, and what fixtures are upcoming. Women’s Result: 5-1 win @ West Ham Men’s Result: 3-0 win vs. Nottingham Forest Women’s Place in the Table: 2nd (tied for first with 6 points, second behind Manchester United by one goal on goal difference tie breaker) Men’s Place in the Table: 2nd (3 points behind first place Liverpool) WSL Title Contender Round-up: Chelsea: The Blues won 3-1 over Aston Villa and welcomed back striker extraordinaire Sam Kerr, who scored on her return to the pitch after the better part of two years out. Manchester City: City came from behind to beat Brighton 2-1 and record their first win of the new season. Manchester United: The Red Devils, unlike their male counterparts, are in fine form, one-upping Arsenal’s result against London City from last weekend to maintain their slim lead at the top of the table on goal differential. PL Title Contender Round-up Liverpool: The Reds struggled mightily to break through against newly-promoted Burnley only, to see a Clarets player wrongly sent off late in the match. A minute before the final whistle a foolish hand ball in the box led to a Mo Salah penalty and an extremely lucky 1-0 win to maintain Liverpool’s perfect start to the season. Tottenham: Tomas Frank has wasted no time in transforming Spurs into a credible side. West Ham aren’t very good and were even worse after a 54th minute red card, but Arsenal’s North London rivals did what they have failed to do so often in recent seasons and took care of a weak opponent with a minimum of fuss. Chelsea: I debated whether to include the Blues in this space or not. They just don’t seem to be able to get the best of the talent on their squad let alone actually being more than the sum of their parts. They conceded well into stoppage time against West London rivals Brentford and had to settle for a disappointing draw. Up Next Women - 9/21 9:50 AM EDT: Arsenal travel to current leaders Manchester United for a top-of-the-table clash. Men (UCL) - 9/16 12:45 PM EDT: Arsenal travel to Bilbao in Spain to face Athletic Club and frequently-rumored transfer target Nico Williams in the Champions League opener for both sides. Men (PL) - 9/21 11:30 AM EDT: Hopefully, the women have their tie in hand and you can switch over to the men’s clash against Manchester City at the Emirates on Sunday. City haven’t looked quite right yet this season but this is, without question, the match of the weekend in the Premier League.

The Arsenal women had the Emirates and the spotlight all to themselves this weekend in about as perfect a season-opener as the club could have wished for. As the Premier League took the weekend off for the season’s first international break, the women took full advantage of the opportunity to showcase both their new and returning stars. Saturday was a glorious early Fall day in North London for the opening of Arsenal’s Women’s Super League campaign. For the occasion, the Gunners welcomed over 38,000 spectators and the newly-promoted London City Lionesses and owner Michelle Kang to the Emirates Stadium. The Arsenal women were certainly favored heading into the match, but with a hint of uncertainty due to Ms. Kang’s investment in new arrivals preparing for their debut in the top flight. Lingering concerns that London City might be a surprise package in their first season in the WSL were exacerbated when they scored a penalty in the 17th minute to go up a goal. It took a further 12 minutes, but new signing Olivia Smith announced herself to the home crowd with a wondrous debut goal from 30+ yards out to level the score. Once back on level terms, it was Arsenal’s core group of attacking stars who blew the match open. After a few opportunities went begging, Alessia Russo’s clever dribble around a lunging defender gave her space to find Chloe Kelly who slotted home the go-ahead goal just before the stroke of halftime. The second half saw a brief flurry from London City that culminated in a shot hitting the post and bouncing out, but they were unable to convert and Arsenal’s quality in depth took over down the stretch. The luxury of bringing in stars like Stina Blackstenius, Beth Mead, Caitlin Foord, and Frida Maanum proved too much for the WSL newbies. Mead and Blackstenius came in in the 77th minute and it only took five minutes before the two connected for Arsenal’s third. Mead, as she so often is, was the catalyst as Blackstenius scored off of her cross to put the Gunners up 3-1. Only a minute later, it was Mead again as she crossed for fellow substitute Frida Maanum, who scored the final goal and sent the crowd home happy. The two assists marked a milestone for Mead as they made her the first woman to record 50 assists in WSL play. The Result: WSL Week 1 Starting Line-up: van Domselaar, Catley, Reid, McCabe, Fox, Pelova, Caldentey, Little, Russo, Kelly, Smith Substitutes: Hinds (McCabe), Maanum (Pelova), Blackstenius (Russo), Mead (Kelly), Foord (Smith) Arsenal Result: 4-1 win vs. London City Goal(s): Kosovare Asliani, Olivia Smith, Chloe Kelly, Stina Blackstenius, Frida Maanum Assist(s): Alessia Russo, Beth Mead (x2) Place in the Table: 2nd (tied for first with 3 points, second behind Manchester United by one goal on goal difference tie breaker) Title Contender Round-up: Chelsea: Last season’s champions were undefeated in the WSL and kicked off the season with a 2-1 win Friday against a Manchester City side that should finish in the top three in the WSL. A statement of intent from the Blues to open the campaign. Manchester City: See above, City lost to reigning champions Chelsea in their opener but should be in the race all season. Up Next Women - 9/12 2:30 PM: Arsenal travel south and east to face a West Ham women’s side coming off a 1-0 loss to Spurs. Men - 9/13 7:30 AM: Arsenal host former technical director Edu and his new side, Nottingham Forest at the Emirates to kickoff Match Week 4. NOTE: WSL TV Coverage A note to those who are interested in following the Arsenal Women’s WSL action on TV: In an announcement that came just before the season’s Friday kickoff, the League announced that all WSL matches will be available to US audiences on ESPN+. As of late last week, the plan seemed to be for matches to be available in the US via the FA’s FAPlayer app, but the late-breaking change should be an improvement. The Arsenal Men on International Duty As mentioned above, the men were on a break from Premier League action over the weekend, but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t playing with many of Mikel Arteta’s squad turning out for their countries late last week and early this week. Here’s a list of the 15 Arsenal players who were called up by their countries and then a link to a page that is tracking results : England (4): Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Myles Lewis-Skelly Spain (3): Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino, David Raya Brazil (2): Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Italy (1): Ricardo Calafiori Norway (1): Martin Odegaard Sweden (1): Viktor Gyokeres Netherlands (1): Jurrien Timber Belgium (1): Leandro Trossard Ecuador (1): Piero Hincapie Two bonus mentions as Max Dowman (England U19s) and Cristian Mosquera (Spain U21s) were called up by youth teams in their respective countries. Of particular note from the matches that have been played so far have been Mikel Merino’s four goals and an assist in two matches for Spain against Turkey (3 goals) and Bulgaria (1 goal, 1 assist) and Declan Rice’s tally for England against Andorra.