A new contract, two wins in four days, and the answer last month's defeat demanded
Arsenal came back from the international break needing to prove the 3-0 defeat at Brighton was a blip. They signed their manager to 2030, came from behind to beat unbeaten Leeds United and then took Lille apart in seven second-half minutes.
The week began with paperwork. On Wednesday 7 October Arsenalconfirmed that Mikel Arteta had signed a new contract, reported as a four-year deal running to 2030. His previous agreement was due to expire at the end of this season.
It was the least surprising announcement of the autumn, and it was treated that way. Arteta, 44, is the longest-serving manager in the Premier League now that Pep Guardiola has left Manchester City. He arrived in December 2019, won the club's first league title in 22 years last season and took them to a Champions League final they lost to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties.
“It's a privilege to commit my future to the club,” Arteta said in the club's announcement. “This club is unique, its character and the way it makes you feel.” He added that this is only the beginning of what we can achieve together. The co-chairs, Stan Kroenke and Josh Kroenke, said: It has been an incredible journey so far and we are excited for what lies ahead.
Two days later, in his press conference before the Leeds game, Arteta spoke more personally. He told reporters the thing he would remember was the moment of signing: looking around the room and seeing excitement in their eyes. He named Stan and Josh Kroenke, chief executive Richard Garlick, James King and sporting director Andrea Berta. Then he closed the subject: Now I have to earn the right every single day to continue at this level, and make the most of it.
He did not have to wait long to start earning it.
Saturday: a crowd that told them to wake up
For fifty-five minutes on Saturday, the Brighton hangover looked real. Leeds United, unbeaten and with only three league goals conceded all season, came to the Emirates for the 12:30 kick-off and did exactly what Daniel Farke's side had done to everyone else. They sat in shape, defended the box and waited.
Arsenal had one meaningful chance in the first half, a Kai Havertz header straight at James Trafford. Gabriel Gudmundsson should have put the visitors ahead just before the break and was denied by a strong save from David Raya. According to the PA Media report, one supporter shouted Wake up as the players went down the tunnel at half-time.
Ten minutes after the restart, Leeds scored. Gudmundsson drove a low cross into the six-yard box, Raya could not deal with it and James Justin blasted in from close range. It was the 55th minute.
The equaliser came seven minutes later and changed the afternoon. Noni Madueke, starting on the left in place of the injured Christos Tzolis, crossed to the far post. Ben White nodded the ball back across goal and Riccardo Calafiori ran in to finish from close range. It was his first goal at the Emirates.
A minute later Arteta sent on three players at once: Bruno Guimaraes for Myles Lewis-Skelly, Jurrien Timber for White and Viktor Gyokeres for Havertz. It took Guimaraes seven minutes to decide the match. A quickly taken free kick was flicked between several players, Declan Rice laid it into his path and the seventy-five million pound midfielder drove it into the bottom corner from just outside the box on 70 minutes. It was his first goal at the Emirates and his second for the club.
This is the level for Arsenal, every week, every game, every minute, every action that you have to be at.
Mikel Arteta, after Leeds
Raya also turned an Ao Tanaka drive over the bar, and Arsenal saw it out. Arteta told TNT Sports the team had come in with something to prove. We weren’t pleased about what we did against Brighton, and today was an opportunity to prove that right, he said, and of the winner: The timing, I think, the connection and the execution of it, it was a beauty.
The losing manager was gracious. Arsenal is the most consistent team in Europe, one of the best in the world, Farke said, before adding that he was heartbroken and gutted for players who had deserved to travel home with points. Justin, the scorer, put it more simply: Their mentality is unbelievable.
Guimaraes had been told publicly that he was not at the level required at Brighton, where he had made his only league start and been withdrawn around the hour. His answer was a goal and a promise. I felt amazing and I can't wait to score more goals now, he said. We know how tight the Premier League is, so we're very happy with the win.
For a little over twenty-four hours, Arsenal were level on points with Manchester City at the top. Then City went to Anfield on Sunday and won 3-0 after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off for a second booking on 62 minutes, with Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki scoring. City have won six from six. Arsenal are three points back.
Tuesday: seven minutes of football
The week ended under a cloud and in a blaze. On Tuesday the club announced the death of its life president, Ken Friar, at 92. That evening the Emirates stood to applaud him before kick-off against Lille, and then watched one of the best spells of football Arsenal have produced this season.
Arteta made five changes from Saturday. Guimaraes got his first Emirates start, Eberechi Eze and Gyokeres started, and Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Havertz began on the bench. For an hour it was patient and not particularly sharp. Guimaraes fired wide from close range and had a deflected shot palmed away by Berke Ozer. Mikel Merino headed at the goalkeeper. Eze, arriving on the penalty spot, shot straight at him. Lille had a goal from Ayase Ueda ruled out for offside.
Then it opened up. On 64 minutes Madueke slipped in Timber, and the Dutchman dinked a finish over Ozer. Timber said afterwards that his teammate had been screaming, ‘Shoot, shoot, shoot’ as he went through.
A minute later Arteta made another triple substitution: Saka for Madueke, Odegaard for Merino, Havertz for Gyokeres. On 67 minutes Guimaraes found Saka, whose low cross was turned in by Eze with a slight deflection. On 71, Odegaard slid Havertz through, Havertz cut it back and Saka curled it into the far corner. Three goals in seven minutes, from three different scorers. Sky Sports' match page recorded that Lille did not manage a shot on target all night.
It was a joy to watch, the three goals were unbelievable, the connections, the timings.
Mikel Arteta, after Lille
Arteta was candid about the first half. He said his side's technical quality wasn't good enough to deliver moments of real threat before a positional change at half-time lifted it. The more telling line was about the season as a whole: When other aspects aren't working, we need to make sure we have a variety of ways to win football matches. It is hard not to read that as a reference to set-pieces, which have not yet produced a single corner goal this season.
Lille coach Davide Ancelotti, son of the Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti, told UEFA.com: I don't think the players deserve this scoreline. His side have no points after two games, having lost to Real Betis on matchday one. Arsenal have six, and share top spot in the league phase with Barcelona and Sporting CP.
Not everything about the week was clean. The team that beat Leeds lost two players in a session after the final whistle, and the attack, for all the brilliance of Tuesday, is still not converting enough of what it creates. But Arsenal entered the week with questions about their nerve after Brighton. They leave it with a manager tied down, two wins, five goals across the two games and a bench that changed both matches.
Key Facts: the week in two results
Saturday 10 OctoberArsenal 2-1 Leeds United, Premier League, Emirates Stadium. Justin 55, Calafiori 62, Guimaraes 70.
Tuesday 13 OctoberArsenal 3-0 Lille, Champions League league phase, matchday two, Emirates Stadium. Timber 64, Eze 67, Saka 71.
League Second on 15 points from six, three behind Manchester City, who have won all six.
Europe Six points from six, level at the top with Barcelona and Sporting CP.
Tuesday stats Possession 58 per cent to 42. Shots 16 to 4. On target 8 to 0.
Two triple substitutions, and two matches turned by the players who came off the bench.
On Saturday Arteta sent on three players at 63 minutes, and one of them, Guimaraes, scored the winner seven minutes later. On Tuesday the three he sent on at 65 minutes were involved in both goals that followed inside six minutes, Saka with a goal and an assist and Havertz with an assist.
Arteta called the timing of Tuesday's change instinctive. I felt it was the right moment to make the triple substitution with the way the game was panning out, he said, and he spread the credit: that's credit to the starters, and as well the ones who come in to create those moments.
It is a striking contrast with the start of the season, and with Arsenal Women, whose problem this autumn has been exactly the opposite: games drifting away the moment the changes are made. For the men, at least this week, the bench was the weapon.
Transfer News
After the manager, the midfielder: Rice closes in on a new deal
Within hours of Arteta's extension, the BBC reported that Declan Rice was close to committing his long-term future too.
The window is shut, so the business this week was about keeping people rather than buying them. On the evening of 7 October, BBC Sport reported that Rice was close to agreeing a new long-term contract. Talks, first reported by the BBC in March, were said to be at an advanced stage.
Rice is 27 and joined from West Ham United in July 2023 for an initial one hundred million pounds, with five million more in add-ons. He has made 165 appearances for Arsenal. His current deal runs to 2028 with a club option for a further year. The BBC said he is reported to earn around two hundred and forty thousand pounds a week, and that the new contract would substantially raise that, bringing him level with Bukayo Saka, believed to earn about three hundred and fifty thousand.
The following day Fabrizio Romano added his stamp. Arsenal are closing in on new deal for Declan Rice after Mikel Arteta, plan 100% confirmed, he posted, adding that Rice has already decided to stay and sign soon with final details of new deal now being discussed. No length or salary figure has been officially confirmed, and nothing had been signed by the end of the week.
There was a footnote on fitness, too. Rice was left out of England's most recent camp, which Arteta described as load management. We have to manage him because he's had a few issues since he came back from the World Cup, the manager said on Friday. Rice then started both games this week and laid on Arsenal's winner against Leeds.
Arseblog News also noted that Martin Odegaard is reportedly in talks over new terms. That one remains a single line in the reporting rather than a story with detail.
Nusa, again, and a door that stays shut
The January left-winger search has a familiar name and a familiar obstacle.
Last week's edition reported the claim that Antonio Nusa of RB Leipzig is Arsenal's top January target. On 7 October FourFourTwo, citing the German outlet Fussball News, reported that Arsenal are working on formalising an offer for the Norway winger. That is the German-side corroboration this digest said it was waiting for.
It came with a large caveat. The same report said Leipzig have no interest in letting one of their best players leave in the middle of the season. No fee has been reported. Transfermarkt values him at forty-five million euros. Stage: concrete interest, no bid.
The logic has not changed. Arsenal sold Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard in the summer, Tzolis is injured again and Madueke was the left-sided starter against Leeds by default. He then set up the opener against Lille, which complicates last week's narrative about him drifting out of the picture.
Contract Watch
SIGNEDMikel Arteta, head coach, to 2030. Announced 7 October. His previous deal was due to expire in June. He has also extended in 2022 and 2024.
CLOSEDeclan Rice, midfielder. BBC Sport and Fabrizio Romano report a long-term deal is close. Current terms run to 2028 plus a club option.
TALKSMartin Odegaard, captain. Reportedly in talks over new terms. No detail.
PENDINGNicolas Jover, set-piece coach. Talks led by Andrea Berta, as reported last week. Nothing new this week.
Compiled from BBC Sport, Arsenal.com and Arseblog News. Contract lengths are as reported unless announced by the club.
The Rumour Mill
A quiet week for January talk, which is how international breaks usually end.
Antonio Nusa, RB Leipzig. As above. Stage: concrete interest, with the selling club publicly reluctant.
And the sale question. Last week this digest said a Madueke sale funding a left-winger was the version of January that fitted the club's finances. A week later Madueke has started two games and assisted once. If he keeps doing that, the sale half of that equation gets harder, and the January budget gets tighter.
The Squad
Two ankles, one warm-down and a scene nobody had seen in seven years
Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi were hurt in a small-sided game after the Leeds win. Hincapie's looks the more serious.
The injuries that cost Arsenal two players this week did not happen in a match. After Saturday's early kick-off, Arteta sent the substitutes and unused players back out for a session of small-sided games, a routine for players who had not had enough minutes. Hincapie, who had come on for Calafiori in the 82nd minute, and Zubimendi, an unused substitute, both hurt their ankles.
Supporters filmed Hincapie in obvious distress. PA Media reported that he was carried off by the third-choice goalkeeper, Illan Meslier.
Arteta confirmed both injuries on Monday. In two very unfortunate actions we lost two players. Not great, he said. Both ankles. They're both going to miss tomorrow's match for sure. Of Hincapie, he added: Piero's one looks a little bit more serious, but we have to wait and see. He also said: It has never happened in seven years that I have been here.
The small-sided games, he explained, had been planned for the following day anyway. When you play these kinds of small-sided games, there is contact, and these things happen. After the Lille match he put a rough frame on the Hincapie absence: It will be a matter of weeks for him, we don't know exactly how many.
For Hincapie it is another interruption. Sports Mole counted sixteen club and country matches missed since he arrived from Bayer Leverkusen, through two groin problems and two muscular ones. For Zubimendi it is a rarity: before Saturday he had not been injured in an Arsenal shirt.
The returns: Havertz, Konsa and Rice all started
The good news was that the break's walking wounded were fit. Kai Havertz, who had come off with what Arteta called a muscular injury on Germany duty, started against Leeds and assisted the third goal against Lille. Ezri Konsa, released by England with a quad problem, played every minute of both games.
Arteta said on Friday that communication with the England camp had been good, and listed Hincapie, Cristhian Mosquera and Max Dowman as back from their own problems. Tzolis, injured with Greece, was the one who would miss a few weeks. Asked if his was the worst of the three, Arteta said: Yeah, he's not available.
Saliba: back on the grass, still weeks away
William Saliba trained individually on the grass at London Colney on Monday, the first public sighting of him outdoors since the back injury that he carried through the World Cup and aggravated in France's semi-final against Spain. In the next few weeks we can start to introduce him with the team, Arteta said. Asked whether that meant before or after the November international break, he answered: We're still talking about weeks.
Set-pieces: none from a corner yet
The most revealing number of the week came from the manager himself. Arsenal, whose corner routines set a Premier League record last season, have not scored from a corner in this one. Artetasaid on Friday that his side had created better corner situations than last year and should have scored several. On the league's tighter refereeing of contact in the box, he said the team must adapt to what is now allowed, and that the change opens another window for different ways to score.
On Monday he widened the point. He called the attacking output before the break better than any other year, but said: We need to be more clinical now to finish more actions. And on mentality, with Brighton in mind: We have to be emotionally dominant regardless of what the context is.
Availability: end of the week
OUTPiero Hincapie, ankle, a matter of weeks. Martin Zubimendi, ankle, scanned on Monday. Christos Tzolis, hamstring, a few weeks. William Saliba, back, individual work on grass.
BACKKai Havertz started against Leeds and came off the bench against Lille. Ezri Konsa played 180 minutes. Declan Rice started both. Cristhian Mosquera was on the bench against Lille.
WATCHMax Dowman, fit again after his England under-19 knock, made a cameo from the 85th minute against Lille.
Compiled from Arseblog News, Sports Mole and PA Media.
Hale End
A Champions League cameo, a Messi endorsement and still no under-21 win
Max Dowman got five minutes in Europe. The under-21s twice came from behind. The under-18s kept winning.
Max Dowman's week ended on the Emirates pitch. Fit again after the knock that cut short his England under-19 camp, the sixteen-year-old replaced Eze on 85 minutes against Lille and had two late shots blocked. Two other academy players, Ceadach O'Neill and Marli Salmon, were among the substitutes.
Dowman also turned up in an advert. Lionel Messi named him as a future star in an Adidas campaign, and Arteta was asked about it on Monday. He saidDowman has something special and praised his movement and touch, while noting that Messi's judgement of talent is rather good.
Myles Lewis-Skelly, nominated for the Golden Boy award last week for the second time, started both senior games, alongside Rice in midfield against Leeds and again against Lille.
Under-21s: still waiting for a win
David Horseman's under-21s are still waiting for their first Premier League 2 win. On Saturday at Meadow Park Sunderland's Trey Samuel-Ogunsuyi scored twice. James Scanlon, who scored for Gibraltar during the break, got one for Arsenal, and Andre Harriman-Annous, who made his England under-20 debut in the same window, rescued a point with a late equaliser set up by substitute Teshaun Murisa. Sunderland finished with ten men after Ajibola Alese was shown a second yellow card.
Arseblog News reported that Salmon captained the side for almost an hour on his return from injury. Emerson Nwaneri, sixteen, started on the right wing. Mylo Bernard, recently signed from Crystal Palace, made his under-21 debut off the bench having just scored for England under-17s against Germany.
Under-18s: four in a row
The under-18s beat Birmingham City 3-2 in the Premier League Cup to make it four straight wins. Jaden Maghoma scored two penalties and Abraham Owusu-Gyasi got the other.
UEFA Youth League: a first defeat
On Tuesday, the same day as the first team, the under-19s lost 3-2 to Lille in the UEFA Youth League, having beaten Napoli in their opener. Josh Ogunnaike and Elijah Upson scored, the second from a corner delivered by Luis Munoz, who is fourteen. Goalkeeper Jack Porter, eighteen, made several fine saves. Joshua Sesay, Hakeem Abubakar and Theo Odaji-Ukueku made their Youth League debuts off the bench. O'Neill, on first-team duty, was missed in midfield. Next for them is Bayern Munich away.
Academy Results: 10 to 13 October
Under-21s 2-2 Sunderland, Premier League 2, Meadow Park. Scanlon, Harriman-Annous.
Under-18s 3-2 Birmingham City, Premier League Cup. Maghoma 2 (pens), Owusu-Gyasi.
Under-19s 2-3 Lille, UEFA Youth League. Ogunnaike, Upson.
Coming up: the under-21s are not back in Premier League 2 until a trip to Leicester City on 24 October.
Academy results via Arseblog News. Fixture dates via FotMob.
Arsenal Women
No match, three more injuries, and Russo and Stanway shine for England
The WSL took a week off. Renee Slegers's squad did not get any healthier during it.
There was no club football for Arsenal Women this week, which after a 4-2 defeat at Manchester City and a collapsed 2-0 lead in Paris might have been welcome. It was not restful. The break produced three fresh fitness problems and left Slegers without her most creative player for the next block of games.
Mariona Caldentey pulled out of Spain's friendly double-header against the United States with a hamstring injury picked up at the Etihad. Arseblog News reported she was due to see a specialist and looked likely to miss the whole run of matches before the late-November international break.
Selina Cerci withdrew from Germany's squad for friendlies against Japan and Australia. The German federation's website said simply that she was unavailable due to knee problems. She has played forty minutes for Arsenal this season. In Sweden, Smilla Holmberg sprained her foot in training. Sweden's head of performance, Niklas Egnell, said: She sprained her foot during yesterday's training session.
That leaves Slegers, already short of a forward who can stretch a low block, without the player she has been using wide to create. The WSL resumes on Saturday 17 October against newly promoted Birmingham City at the Emirates.
The Lionesses: 8-1 and through to the decider
The Arsenal players who did go away came back in form. In the first leg of England's World Cup play-off on Friday, at the Pankritio Stadium in Crete, Georgia Stanway opened the scoring before half-time and Alessia Russo added the third after Maya Le Tissier's goal, in a 3-1 win. Sarina Wiegman told ITV: We started well, they started very aggressively too, but we stayed calm. She added, of the late Greek goal: I'm not happy with the goal we conceded.
The second leg at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night was a rout. Russo scored early, from a Lauren James pass, and again on 75 minutes. Stanway headed in on 34 minutes. James scored twice. England won 5-0, 8-1 on aggregate, and now play Ukraine in the final round of the play-offs for a place at the 2027 World Cup.
For Russo, who scored in the defeat at the Etihad nine days earlier, that is three goals in two games for her country. For Stanway, signed from Bayern Munich in the summer, it was a goal in each leg. If Slegers is looking for something to build on, the in-form centre-forward and the midfielder arriving in the box is not a bad place to start.
Where they stand
League Tenth in the WSL, five points from five matches, one win, two draws, two defeats. No league win since the opening day.
Goals Four scored, six conceded. Manchester City lead with fifteen points from five.
Europe Unbeaten in the Champions League league phase after a 1-0 win over HB Koge and the 2-2 in Paris. Benfica visit on 28 October.
InjuriesMariona Caldentey (hamstring), Selina Cerci (knee), Smilla Holmberg (foot sprain, on international duty).
Standings as of the start of the international break, via Soccer News. No WSL matches were played between 7 and 13 October.
Off the Pitch
Ken Friar, 1934 to 2026: the boy who chased a ball and stayed eighty years
The club's life president died aged 92. He saw the men's team win twenty-five major honours under seven managers, the last of them in May.
On Tuesday 13 October Arsenal announced the death of Ken Friar OBE. It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of Life President Ken Friar OBE, the club's statement began. It went on to say that no one has had an influence on the club quite like Mr Friar.
His story is the kind that clubs no longer produce. He was born in Islington on 13 August 1934. In 1946, aged twelve, he was retrieving a ball outside Highbury when the manager, George Allison, noticed him. He was given a job running messages from the box office for half a crown a week, and joined the permanent staff in 1950.
He became club secretary in 1973, succeeding Bob Wall, and managing director in 1983, appointed by Peter Hill-Wood. As managing director he handled player and manager contracts. With director Danny Fiszman, he was central to the move from Highbury to the Emirates, which opened in 2006. He received an OBE for services to football in 2000 and the freedom of Islington in 2004. He stepped down from the board in 2020, after seventy-four years of service, and became life president.
The bridge that links the stadium with the surrounding streets is named after him, and a statue at its entrance shows him as a boy playing football outside Highbury. This week, scarves and flowers were laid there.
It's a really sad day for everybody that loves Arsenal Football Club or anybody that has come across him.
Mikel Arteta, after Lille
The Emirates held a moment of reflection before the Lille game and stood to applaud. Afterwards Artetasaid: I had the privilege, the honour to meet him, to spend time with him, to learn from him. Former players followed. Tony Adams called him the epitomisation of all that Arsenal stands for. David Seaman said: Ken Friar is an Arsenal icon and his achievements will never be forgotten.Charlie George, speaking to Arsenal.com, said: He knew everything and every person in the building.
Supporters' groups joined in. The Arsenal Supporters' Trust said Ken's extraordinary lifetime of service to Arsenal speaks volumes about his loyalty, dedication and love for the club. A fuller tribute, arranged with his family, is planned for the home game against Everton on 24 October.
In a 2012 interview with the journalist Nick Ames, quoted again this week, he explained himself in a sentence: But look, I work because I love the place and the people.
Arteta on the verdict: no comment until the appeal
The manager who spent three years as Guardiola's assistant was asked the obvious question, twice.
Manchester City were found guilty on 29 September of the serious financial charges brought by the Premier League, and have appealed. Arteta was on City's coaching staff from 2016 to 2019, and on Friday he was asked about it. I fully understand the question, he said, but I will respect the process, it is still an ongoing process that is not resolved because it has been appealed. He added: My position and the club's position is not to make any further comment until it is resolved.
Asked separately whether he had a clear conscience about his time there, he answered with one word: Yes.When it's resolved, I can talk with clarity and tell you exactly how I feel, he said. Last week's edition set out why the verdict matters to Arsenal, both as a potential claimant for compensation and as City's nearest challenger. This week City extended the gap at the top to three points.
The general counsel leaves after seventeen years
A quiet departure from the executive team, reported first by The Lawyer.
Svenja Geissmar, Arsenal's first in-house lawyer, has left the club, Arseblog News reported on 7 October, citing The Lawyer. Her profile lists her time at the club as September 2009 to August 2026. She headed the legal, safeguarding and data protection department, helped set up The Arsenal Foundation in 2012 and chaired it, and sat on the boards of the Women's Super League and Women's Championship. The club had not announced the departure or a replacement by the end of the week.
Gunners Abroad
The final reckoning: sixteen players, thirteen goals, four sent home early
Last week's edition went out with England and Spain still playing. Here is how the men's window finished, and what it cost.
Spain. The match that was in progress as last week's edition went out ended with Mikel Merino doing what he tends to do in red. He came off the bench in Split and scored twice late on as Spain came from behind to beat ten-man Croatia 2-1 and reach the Nations League quarter-finals. Martin Zubimendi came on and provided an assist. David Raya was part of the squad.
The timing was comic. On the eve of that game Arteta had told reporters how he had teased Merino: before joining Arsenal he scored one goal every 13 games for his country, and since arriving it had been one every 93 minutes. Then Merino went and improved the rate.
England. England beat Czechia 3-0 at Wembley. Myles Lewis-Skelly and Eberechi Eze played the full ninety minutes. Bukayo Saka stayed on the bench, which, given what he did against Lille a week later, may have been no bad thing.
The totals.Arseblog News's round-up counted sixteen men's players on international duty, 2,771 minutes played, thirteen goals and seven assists. Viktor Gyokeres scored in all four of Sweden's games and played 345 minutes. Martin Odegaard played all 360 of Norway's minutes and provided four assists. Riccardo Calafiori scored his first Italy goal.
The cost. Four players came home early: Kai Havertz and Christos Tzolis with hamstring problems, Max Dowman with a knock from England under-19 duty, and Ezri Konsa as a precaution. By Saturday, three of the four were available. Only Tzolis missed the week.
What the travellers did next
The break's heaviest-used players were handled carefully. Gyokeres, still without an Arsenal goal after his record-breaking run for Sweden, began on the bench against Leeds, came on at 63 minutes and started against Lille. Odegaard started against Leeds and was a substitute on Tuesday. Calafiori, scorer of the equaliser on Saturday, started that game and was on the bench for Lille. Merino came on late on Saturday and started on Tuesday.
The Brazilians finished their trip earliest. Gabriel Magalhaes started both games. Bruno Guimaraes scored the winner against Leeds and started on Tuesday.
The women away
England.Alessia Russo scored three goals across the two legs of the 8-1 aggregate win over Greece, and Georgia Stanway scored once in each. England now play Ukraine in the final round of the play-offs.
Spain, Germany, Sweden.Mariona Caldentey (hamstring) and Selina Cerci (knee) withdrew before playing. Smilla Holmberg sprained her foot in Sweden's camp ahead of their game in Lithuania.
The youngsters away
Mylo Bernard scored for England under-17s against Germany before making his Arsenal under-21 debut on Saturday. James Scanlon returned from Gibraltar and scored against Sunderland. Andre Harriman-Annous came back from his England under-20 debut and scored too.
Numbers of the Week
7
Minutes it took Arsenal to score three times against Lille, from Timber on 64 to Saka on 71.
0
Shots on target by Lille at the Emirates. Also the number of corner goals Arsenal have scored this season, by Arteta's own account.
2030
The year Mikel Arteta's new contract is reported to run to. If he sees it out, he will have passed a decade in charge.
25
Major honours won by Arsenal's men during Ken Friar's association with the club, under seven managers.
2,771
Minutes played by Arsenal's sixteen men on international duty, with thirteen goals and seven assists between them.
3
Goals for Alessia Russo across England's two play-off legs against Greece, won 8-1 on aggregate.
In Brief
Giroud's return
Olivier Giroud, now 40, came on for Lille in the 78th minute on his return to the club where he scored 105 goals in 253 appearances. He did not add to the total. Arteta called him a great character and a great person to have around the dressing room.
Gabriel's old club
Gabriel Magalhaes faced the club that brought him to Europe in 2017, where he made 52 appearances and learned the French he still uses with William Saliba. I have a lot of love for LOSC, he said beforehand.
Timber the man of the match
UEFA's technical observers named Jurrien Timber player of the match against Lille, saying his opener was crucial because Arsenal then found it much easier to make adjustments to win.
A penalty shout waved away
Arsenal had a second-half penalty appeal against Lille rejected by the referee and VAR after Alex Sandro challenged Guimaraes.
A first defeat for the visitors
Saturday's loss was the first of the league season for Leeds United, who had not lost any of their previous eleven matches when taking the lead, according to the Irish Examiner.
Meslier, stretcher-bearer
Third-choice goalkeeper Illan Meslier, signed from Leeds in the summer, did not play against his old club. He was the man footage showed carrying Hincapie off after the warm-down.
What to Watch
The seven days after this edition, 14 to 20 October, as they were scheduled at the time, with every kick-off converted to Pacific time. Arsenal Women return to the WSL and the men go to the City Ground.
The week ahead: 14 to 20 October
Saturday 17 October
Arsenal Women v Birmingham City, Women's Super League, Emirates Stadium. Tenth against newly promoted opposition, without Mariona Caldentey or Selina Cerci. Sky Sports.
12:45 p.m. in London. 4:45 a.m. Pacific.
Sunday 18 October
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal, Premier League matchweek seven, City Ground. Hincapie, Zubimendi, Tzolis and Saliba are the known absentees.
4:30 p.m. in London. 8:30 a.m. Pacific.
Standings snapshot: the top two, after six matches
Team
P
Pts
1. Manchester City
6
18
2. Arsenal
6
15
Manchester City have won all six. Arsenal have won five and lost one, at Brighton. Positions confirmed by Flashscore after the weekend's games. In the Champions League, Arsenal are level at the top on six points with Barcelona and Sporting CP.
Beyond next week: the men travel to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on 21 October and host Everton on 24 October, when the club will pay a fuller tribute to Ken Friar, before the Carabao Cup fourth round at Fleetwood Town on 27 October. Arsenal Women are at Tottenham Hotspur on 24 October and host Benfica in the Champions League on 28 October. The under-21s go to Leicester City on 24 October.
Kick-off times are converted from British Summer Time, which is eight hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time until 25 October. Later fixtures are listed with dates only, because broadcast selections could still move them at the time.
Sources and notes
BBC Sport · Sky Sports · PA Media · Associated Press · Al Jazeera · UEFA.com · Arsenal.com · Arseblog News · Sports Mole
Every item above is attributed in the text. Transfer stories are labelled by certainty, from link through concrete interest and advanced talks to official. Anything that could not be stood up with a reliable source has been left out. Where reports gave different minutes for a goal, the figure carried by the majority of match reports is used.
The Weekly Arsenal Digest. Catch-up edition for the week of 7 to 13 October 2026, compiled for the archive on 26 October 2026. Companion edition to The Weekly Soccer Digest.