Arsenal 2022/23 season preview: How to watch, summer transfers & league prediction
Arsenal head into the 2022/23 season with high hopes after a promising 2021/22 campaign and fruitful summer.
The Gunners just about missed out on Champions League qualification to bitter rivals Tottenham on the final day of last season, but after a stagnant first 18 months under Mikel Arteta, the red half of north London have reason to be optimistic again.
There’s been a flurry of transfer activity at Arsenal and you would expect such a young squad to keep on improving this year.
Here’s 90min’s Premier League season preview for Arsenal.
Ins:
Outs:
Numbers subject to change before end of transfer window
1) Bernd Leno
2) Hector Bellerin
3) Kieran Tierney
4) Benjamin White
5) Thomas Partey
6) Gabriel
7) Bukayo Saka
8) Martin Odegaard
9) Gabriel Jesus
10) Emile Smith Rowe
11) Gabriel Martinelli
12) William Saliba
13) Runar Alex Runarsson
14) Eddie Nketiah
15) Ainsley Maitland-Niles
16) Rob Holding
17) Cedric Soares
18) Takehiro Tomiyasu
19) Nicolas Pepe
21) Fabio Vieira
22) Pablo Mari
23) Albert Sambi Lokonga
24) Reiss Nelson
25) Mohamed Elneny
26) Folarin Balogun
27) Marquinhos
30) Matt Turner
32) Aaron Ramsdale
34) Granit Xhaka
35) Oleksandr Zinchenko
Star player
Arsenal pride themselves on their team ethic and selfless style, but their crown jewel remains winger Bukayo Saka.
He finished last season as the Gunners‘ top scorer with 12 goals in all competitions (11 of which came in the league), won Arsenal’s in-house player of the season award for a second successive year and was nominated for the PFA Player of the Year gong.
If he can continue improving at the rate he has so far in his young career, the 20-year-old could end the 2022/23 season considered as one the Premier League’s best players.
One to watch
The signing of striker Gabriel Jesus will transform Arsenal’s attack, but every Premier League fan knows what he is going to offer.
So our pick here is fellow summer arrival Fabio Vieira, who only broke into Porto’s starting lineup midway through last season. Nevertheless, he looked so impressive that the Gunners sought to splash nearly £30m up front on the playmaker, who is capable of playing in midfield and on the wing.
Home kit
Away kit
Third kit
Our Arsenal 22/23 third kit has arrived! 🦩
Available now at Arsenal Direct, https://t.co/OblCU7YfdX and selected retailers 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 29, 2022
On paper, Arsenal are undoubtedly stronger this season compared to last.
Replacing Lacazette, who scored just four times in his final campaign in N5, with Jesus is a huge upgrade, while Arteta’s men have looked formidable in pre-season.
Nevertheless, question marks remain over their resilience – they picked up fewer points from losing positions than any other Premier League side last season – and Arteta has struggled to get his charges firing when playing more than once a week.
Arsenal are strong and will continue to strengthen, but there are just too many other good teams ahead of them right now.