By Alessandro Schiavone at Johan Cruijff Arena, Amsterdam Netherlands 4-0 Lithuania Goals : Reijnders 16', Gakpo penalty 58', Simons 60', Malen 62' Xavi Simons showed glimpses of his former inspirational RB Leipzig self as he awoke from a first-half slumber to get on the scoresheet in the Netherlands's 4-0 trashing of Lithuania in Amsterdam. With qualification to the World Cup already secured thanks to a 1-1 draw in Poland last week, the confidence-shot Xavi was given a rare

By Alessandro Schiavone in Arnhem Eerste Divisie Vitesse Arnhem 0-4 Cambuur Not sure a midfield trio of Nemanja Matic, Martin Odegaard and Mason Mount added to the other eight players would turn the tide at Vitesse Arnhem right now. Bottom of Eerste Division, Vitesse had to be really on it to cause a shock against promotion favourites and second-in-the-table Cambuur. Yet despite producing a couple of goal chances early on in the game and keeping the door shut for 21 minutes,

By Alessandro Schiavone in Prague Christian Norgaard has sung the praises of false attacker Mikel Merino who took his tally for 2025 to a staggering 18 goals for club and country with his double against Slavia Prague. Those numbers would be nothing out of the ordinary or mind-blowing if the Spaniard was a classic centre-forward. But it's easy to forget that the ex-Real Sociedad star is a midfielder by trade. Norgaard, who made his first start for Arsenal in the Czech Republic

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone in Prague Capital Football had the honour to speak exclusively to Slavia Prague defender David Zima after the Czech giants' 3-0 reversal at home to Arsenal. Here is what he said. David, it was always going to be difficult for Slavia Prague against Arsenal. But did you expect the puzzle to be that difficult to solve? Apart from the first 10 minutes and maybe the last five the Gunners didn't give you a sniff.. "In my opinion Arsenal are one of

By Alessandro Schiavone at Fortuna Arena, Prague Champions League Matchday 4 Slavia Praha 0-3 Arsenal Goals: Saka 32' (penalty), Merino 46', Merino 68' There are 18 bridges in the city of Prague. But Slavia always knew they would be in for one hell of a ride to bridge the gap with Premier League big hitters Arsenal. Because, whether it's on the pitch or in the bank, the chasm between the two sides is evident. And how it showed. Mikel Arteta, who handed Max Dowman his Champio

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone The dice appears to be well and truly loaded in Arsenal's favour this season according to a West Ham legend. A 2-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor saw Mikel Arteta's men extend their victorious streak to nine games and open up a seven-point gap at the top of the Premier League. Remarkably the Gunners haven't conceded a goal since their 2-1 away win at Newcastle in late September. There's been a surge of optimism and wind in their sails since th

By Alessandro Schiavone in Paris Ligue 1, Matchday 10 Paris FC 3-3 Olympique Lyonnais Goals: Tolisso, Sulc 2x (L), Camara, Kebbal, Marchetti Arsenal flop Ainsley Maitland-Niles had a face like thunder at the end of the game. The reason? His Lyon side cocked up a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Paris FC under the watchful eye of club minority shareholder and Red Bull global head of sport Jürgen Klopp in the stands. With French football high society in the shape of Emmanuel Petit and

Cup favourites : Chelsea have a great chance of another League Cup semi-final There is only one club outside the Premier League left in this year's Carabao Cup and Chelsea have drawn them. The Blues will head to the Cardiff City Stadium in December to take on the Welshmen, who defeated Wrexham in this week's Fourth Round, while Enzo Maresca's men were edging a nervy tie at Wolves 4-3. There are five sides from the capital among the last eight, but only one of them has been dr

Retro-perspective. The shirt in the club shop that was all the rage when the League Cup was last won by Arsenal 32 years ago : Picture by @YTJourno Carabao Cup Fourth Round Arsenal (0) 2 Nwaneri 57, Saka 77 Brighton (0) 0 Arsenal's pursuit of the gold standard trophies meant this League Cup tie was never going to feature highly in the list of priorities, but the Gunners' classic blend of fringe players, reserves and teenagers got the job done to clinch a quarter-final place.

Arsenal (1) 1 v Crystal Palace (0) 0 Eze 39 By Kaz Mochlinski at the Arsenal Stadium Premier League Matchweek 9 Arsenal tantalisingly increased their lead at the top of the Premier League as Eberechi Eze conjured a super strike to score the only goal of the game and overcome his former club Crystal Palace. It produced another “one-nil to the Arsenal”, with another goal resulting from a set-piece, combined with another clean sheet. This time with the addition of the notorious