Tag: Arsenal

Every 2025/26 Champions League contender’s biggest X-Factor
20Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Every 2025/26 Champions League contender’s biggest X-Factor

The Champions League is the time for all the brightest stars to come out and write their legacies in leading their clubs to victory, as the biggest legends of the modern game like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Toni Kroos, and so many others have taken the opportunity to etch their names in history with remarkable Champions League campaigns. But Champions Leagues are also just as much about the X-Factors who step up in key moments or have career years to defy expectations. This is where the Alvaro Moratas, the Francesco Acerbis, and the John Stoneses of the world make their mark. Who could be the biggest X-Factors in the 2025/26 Champions League campaign? Here are eight players to watch from the ...
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Every Premier League club’s most valuable player of the 2020s decade so far
20Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Every Premier League club’s most valuable player of the 2020s decade so far

Debating "value" can often be difficult, because there are so many ways to ascribe a player's value to a team. It can be because of their brilliance on the field, statistical dominance, scarcity of position, lack of star players in surrounding areas, or by being part of a dominant team. Let's do a fun exercise and look through all the current Premier League teams with experience in the top flight this decade prior to the 2025/26 season (so Sunderland is out) and try to pick out each club's most valuable player from the 2020s decade thus far. Wolves Ruben Neves and Pedro Neto both have strong cases, and I think Rayan Ait-Nouri and Adama Traore merit honorable mentions somewhere in there. But the most recent Wolves star, Matheus Cunha, absolutely has to be considered the best on an indi...
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Ranking the 5 best new Premier League transfers of the 2025/26 season so far
18Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking the 5 best new Premier League transfers of the 2025/26 season so far

When clubs make transfer acquisitions, their biggest dream is to bring in players who make an immediate impact. While clubs in the Premier League and abroad invest in players for long-term return, having someone who steps right in and makes a difference both puts a club at ease that their investment will be fulfilled and offers the satisfaction of early results. Premier League clubs were busy making signings this past summer transfer window, and here is a ranking of the five best players to make a considerable impact already in the 2025/26 season. 5. Sunderland CB Omar Alderete Signed from Getafe for just 10 million pounds, Omar Alderete has proven to be one of the best signings of the summer 2025 transfer window thus far, even as he joined Sunderland as a relative unknown to the vast...
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Premier League Power Rankings after Matchday 4
16Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Power Rankings after Matchday 4

Another Premier League matchweek is in the books as Arsenal, Manchester City, and Tottenham put up impressive 3-0 victories, Liverpool and Newcastle ground out tough 1-0 ones, and Chelsea dropped valuable points. Here are the power rankings after Matchday 4. 20. Wolves Wolves cut it close against Newcastle, only losing by a goal, but that's hardly any real consolation. They are easily the worst team in the Premier League right now, and it's going to be a long season for a team that has not come anywhere near replacing the star power left by Matheus Cunha. 19. West Ham Annihilated by rivals Tottenham, really nobody is surprised by the futility the Hammers have displayed, and it feels like only a matter of time before they burn through another notable Premier League manager and then r...
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Premier League Power Rankings: The top 10 teams after the first month of the 2025/26 season
11Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Power Rankings: The top 10 teams after the first month of the 2025/26 season

Now that we've had the September international break to fully digest the first three fixtures of the 2025/26 Premier League season, it's time to do some power rankings and rank the top 10 teams in the English top flight based on what we have seen this season so far. 10. Sunderland Sunderland have been one of the biggest surprises to start the 2025/26 Premier League season and are actually all the way up in sixth in the league table with wins over London sides Brentford and West Ham. While that's not the most impressive competition, it's still been a strong start to the season for the Black Cats, who had one of the most involved summer transfer windows in the league, with the trio of Granit Xhaka, Omar Alderete, and Nordi Mukiele already making a huge impact. 9. Manchester United Man...
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Premier League Power Rankings: The 6 most important midfield anchors in 2025/26
7Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Power Rankings: The 6 most important midfield anchors in 2025/26

Although most of the attention in world football goes to the goal-scorers and the playmakers who grace the highlight reels and pile up the counting statistics, more appreciation has been given to defensive midfielders in recent years. Players like Aurelien Tchouameni and Declan Rice are going for massive transfer fees, others like Rodri and Ryan Gravenberch are winning or have been in contention for prestigious awards, and even fantasy football has increased the attention on and appreciation for the humble No. 6. These players are often vital to the success of their teams, and there's a reason why all the Big Six clubs in the Premier League have been pushing so hard for top defensive midfield talent. Here are the six most important midfield anchors to their respective Premier Leag...
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Premier League Predictions: Every Big Six club’s biggest problem in 2025/26
5Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Premier League Predictions: Every Big Six club’s biggest problem in 2025/26

With the first month of the 2025/26 Premier League season in the books, the big clubs in the English top flight are figuring out how their new-look squads are taking shape, especially after finalizing deadline day transfers on Sept. 1. Over the international break, managers around the Premier League will be busy tweaking their tactics in response to what they saw over the first three matchdays of the campaign Here is the biggest problem every Big Six club in the Premier League needs to address during the 2025/26 season, based on a combination of preconceived notions before the campaign began and what transpired across the first three fixtures. Manchester United Ruben Amorim's rigid marriage to his 3-4-3 system has been well-documented, though the Portuguese manager has shown signs ...
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Premier League Power Rankings: The 10 best strikers for the 2025/26 season
4Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Power Rankings: The 10 best strikers for the 2025/26 season

Now that the summer 2025 transfer window has come to a close, every Premier League club knows who their starting striker is, and there has been a huge influx of talent into the league's top teams at the striker position. That isn't surprising, and it is a response to virtually all the top teams in England having a major need up top, with fans lamenting the comparative lack of striker quality in the Premier League - and world football as a whole - since the 2000s. How do the new faces stack up against the established starters in the Premier League? Who gets snubbed? Which newcomers still have a point to prove before they can be ranked highly? Here are the top 10 strikers in the Premier League for the 2025/26 season as we come out of a very busy summer transfer market. 10. Liam Del...
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Champions League Predictions: 5 clubs at greatest risk of facing complete turmoil in 2025/26 season
3Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Champions League Predictions: 5 clubs at greatest risk of facing complete turmoil in 2025/26 season

The 2025/26 Champions League campaign will officially begin in a matter of weeks with the league phase, as the summer 2025 transfer window has been wrapped up and sealed with a bow. Most of the big players in the Champions League, like Liverpool and Real Madrid, were also major buyers on the transfer market, as superstars like Alexander Isak and Trent Alexander-Arnold moved around this summer window. The Premier League's Big Six, in particular, were big spenders, proving the notion that the Super League is really just the biggest clubs in the Premier League isn't just a prognostication for the future; it's already rapidly happening in front of us. But as teams head into the 2025/26 season with boatloads of optimism, there is reason for trepidation among some of European football's...
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Grading the 10 most expensive Premier League transfers of the summer 2025 window
2Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Grading the 10 most expensive Premier League transfers of the summer 2025 window

The 2025 summer transfer window officially came and went, and the Premier League bossed every other league in European football with numerous record deals and blockbuster transfers, proving that there is indeed a growing gulf between the English top flight and all other leagues. All the spending and blockbuster transfers promise to make an already highly competitive Premier League even more intriguing in the 2025/26 season, and now that the dust has finally settled, it's time to grade all of the biggest transfers of the window. All prices are provided in euros and courtesy of Transfermarkt so that the ranking and comparison of fees can be consistent. 10. Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal, 65.8M Arsenal had to snag a new striker this summer transfer window by any means necessary, and while...
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