⚽ Champions League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off⚽ Live scoreboard | Read Football Daily | And email Scott2 min: Arsenal are wearing red shorts. Full marks for considering those with colour blindness, and acting with compassion. It doesn’t look good, mind. It’s just not Arsenal.After a moment to remember the victims of the devastating floods in Nepal, Arsenal get the ball rolling. A blistering atmosphere at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona; did anyone expect anything else? Continue reading...
Martin Odegaard has impressed Paul Merson in Arsenal’s first three matches (Picture: Sky Sports) Paul Merson has heaped praise on Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard following the side’s derby victory over Chelsea, claiming the midfielder is looking like a ‘new £100million signing’ this season. Odegaard had a largely underwhelming season by his standards last term, managing just one goal while chipping in with six assists across Arsenal’s title-winning campaign. It represented a major drop-off in return when compared to Odegaard’s second and third years with the Gunners, when he provided a significant goal threat and was twice named Arsenal’s Player of the Season. However, Odegaard has hit the ground running this term, scoring Arsenal’s third goal in the Community Shield before finding the net versus both Coventry City and Chelsea in the Premier League. Sign up for In The Mixer, Metro's football newsletter Get exclusive analysis and previews of the biggest games every Friday. Sign up now for free. The 27-year-old ran the show in Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea and came away with the man-of-the-match award after completing an impressive 24 line-breaking passes as well as scoring the winner at the Emirates. He will no doubt be looking to pick up where he left off this evening when the English champions kick off their Champions League group-stage campaign away to Napoli. ‘I think if Odegaard got injured then Arsenal would get by, but he is back to what he was two years ago,’ Merson said of the Norwegian’s lightning start to the new season on Sky Sports News. Odegaard has flown out of the blocks this season (Picture: Getty) The Gunners have won three from three in the Premier League (Picture: PA) ‘If he can keep on playing like he’s been playing, that’s like a £100m new signing for Arsenal. ‘Over the last couple of years, his standards haven’t been good enough but the goal against Chelsea, they’re the goals you put up there for goal of the season. ‘The dummy by Kai Havertz and the finish by Odegaard… that’s football.’ {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mikel Arteta speaks before Champions League match against Napoli","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/09\/08\/3761798954835882587\/480x270_MP4_3761798954835882587.mp4","description":"Arsenal's Mikel speaks to the press on Tuesday ahead of their Champions League match against Napoli on Wednesday at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.","duration":"T1M34S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/09\/08\/22\/111127717-0-image-m-34_1788904072537.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-09-08T22:46:27+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); Merson believes Arsenal have to be considered among the favourites to win this year’s Champions League after being beaten by PSG in last season’s final. But the ex-Arsenal and England midfielder fears the club’s failure to make a ‘superstar’ addition me to their attack may cost them come the business end of Europe’s premier competition. Asked if Arsenal’s fanbase would prefer to win the Premier League or the Champions League this season, Merson replied: ‘Now they’ve won the Premier League after a long, long time, I think it would probably be the Champions League. ‘I don’t want to talk on behalf of everybody else but there’s a song th
Arsenal fans ‘forget’ how ‘important’ Gabriel Martinelli was at times, says Freddie Ljungberg (Picture: Getty) Freddie Ljungberg has questioned Arsenal fans’ treatment of Gabriel Martinelli, accusing supporters of ‘forgetting’ what the attacker did for the club before his summer exit. Martinelli managed just one goal and four assists in the Premier League as Arsenal finally brought their wait for the title to an end last season, in what was the Brazilian’s seventh year at the Emirates. It was subsequently decided that Arsenal would be open to offers for Martinelli after the 25-year-old was named amongst Mikel Arteta’s substitutes for the club’s last six matches of the campaign in all competitions. Martinelli would go on to complete a move to Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Hilal in a deal worth around £60million, becoming the second first-team winger to depart following Leandro Trossard’s switch to Besiktas a month-and-a-half earlier. Sign up for In The Mixer, Metro's football newsletter Get exclusive analysis and previews of the biggest games every Friday. Sign up now for free. Christos Tzolis was signed from Club Brugge to help fill the void left by the loss of the two title-winning forwards and the English champions worked right up until the end of the window to find another top-class attacker for Arteta. But the Arsenal head coach was left disappointed as the deadline came and went, and there are some fears they may be a little short of options on the left flank. ‘A Brazilian football player, he works that hard, the age he has and numbers and stuff, that’s not a cheap football player,’ ex-Arsenal winger Ljungberg said of Martinelli on Viaplay. Martinelli left the Gunners to complete a £60m move to Al-Hilal (Picture: AP) The Brazilian was a substitute in Arsenal’s final six matches of last season (Picture: Getty) ‘And they sold him for quite a lot of money so I was a little bit [surprised] when people really wanted him out and fans wanted him out. ‘I was a bit like, “That’s a good player that you just want out”, but that’s what everybody felt that they seemed to be wanting and they got rid of him. They got good money for him. ‘Sometimes the fans forget, maybe, how much he has done for this club, how many important goals he scored during the years.’ {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mikel Arteta speaks before Champions League match against Napoli","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/09\/08\/3761798954835882587\/480x270_MP4_3761798954835882587.mp4","description":"Arsenal's Mikel speaks to the press on Tuesday ahead of their Champions League match against Napoli on Wednesday at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.","duration":"T1M34S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/09\/08\/22\/111127717-0-image-m-34_1788904072537.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-09-08T22:46:27+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); Though somewhat miffed by some fans’ perception of Martinelli, Ljungberg can understand why the Gunners decided to bring in Tzolis as a replacement. According to Ljungberg, the Greece international – signed for a fee of £34m – perhaps looks a little more ‘tactically aware’ than the man he succeeded on the left. ‘If you talk about Martinelli, sometimes he did irrational things,’ the Swede – who won tw
Rasmus Hojlund has scored in Napoli’s last two matches (Picture: Getty Images) Former Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund has warned Arsenal they will face a ‘special’ atmosphere in Napoli on Wednesday night. The Champions League got underway for the season this week and an eye-catching tie on Wednesday sees the Premier League champions travel to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Having reached the final of the competition last year and started their league season with three straight victories, it is no surprise that Arsenal are fancied to do well in Italy. Napoli have not had such a good start to their campaign, losing two of their first three Serie A games. Sign up for In The Mixer, Metro's football newsletter Get exclusive analysis and previews of the biggest games every Friday. Sign up now for free. Hojlund recognises what a challenge Arsenal will bring with them, but feels his side has a very useful weapon in its…arsenal. In a recent interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, the Dane said: ‘They won the Premier League, and played in the Champions League final after winning their group. ‘They have a strong and very deep squad, with many qualities, but the first Champions League match at the Maradona is always special. Hojlund hopes to keep up his goal-scoring run when Arsenal come to town (Picture: REUTERS) ‘I remember last year, we started well with my first brace for Napoli. We need to play really well, be ready.’ Hojlund did indeed score twice in a 2-1 win over Sporting in Napoli’s first home game of the Champions League last season. He has also started this campaign in good form, scoring in each of the last two Serie A games, although his team lost both. On the feeling of scoring at the iconic Maradona stadium, he said: ‘It’s beautiful. The stadium is special, the fans are fantastic and make themselves heard. I’d like the stands to be closer, but the passion is still strongly felt from the pitch, and it’s fantastic.’ Rasmus Hojlund had a difficult spell at Manchester United (Picture: Getty Images) The 23-year-old also addressed his two-year spell at Manchester United, which went reasonably well for one season, scoring 16 goals, but tailed off badly in the second and led to his departure. ‘I don’t think anything specific went wrong,’ he said. ‘I arrived at a club with a manager [Erik ten Hag]: it was a difficult year, with many injuries, but we won the FA Cup and I was the top scorer. ‘Then we went through a difficult period and [Ruben] Amorim arrived, an excellent coach but with a different playing style. The team had to adapt, and it was complicated. We all struggled. ‘My first year was a success, the second wasn’t. But I played in the Europa League final; if we had won, it would have been a different story. That’s football: sometimes it goes well, other times it goes badly, but I’m very happy to have played for the club I dreamed of as a child.’ Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source
Tap a headline to view metadata and excerpt fields in Sportra, then use the article website button to continue on the original publisher page.
