Arsenal 2019/20 season preview guide: Full Premier League fixture list, latest betting odds and transfer news for Unai Emery's Gunners campaign
Check out our guide including big fixtures, transfer news and questions to answer.
Arsenal's big games
- Liverpool (A) - Aug 24
- Tottenham (H) - Sept 1
- Manchester United (A) - Sept 30
- Manchester City (H) - Dec 14
- Chelsea (H) - Dec 28
- Manchester United (H) - Jan 1
- Chelsea (A) - Jan 22
- Manchester City (A) - Feb 29
- Tottenham (A) - Apr 25
- Liverpool (H) - May 2
Last season at a glance
A year of change at the Emirates, with Unai Emery in his first season after replacing Arsene Wenger. Some Arsenal fans were getting impatient, some understanding that it is going to take time for the transition and for the Spaniard to get his message across.
It was the same old story with the modern-day Arsenal, playing some good stuff going forward but defensively all over the place at times.
After losing their first two games, a tough start against Man City and Chelsea, they did not lose again in the league until mid-December at Southampton. An inconsistent start to 2019, and prioritising the Europa League in April, cost them their place in the top four, as they finished fifth and just a point behind rivals Tottenham.
Positives to take - the fact they reached the Europa League final (albeit losing 4-1 to Chelsea), and the blossoming partnership between Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, the former sharing the Premier League Golden Boot with Sadio Mane and Mo Salah.
Big questions for 2019/20
Fairly simple but: can they improve on last season? Missing out on Champions League football for the second year running was a huge blow for the Gunners, who have subsequently had less to spend in the transfer window. They lost a big player in Aaron Ramsey in the summer and will be hoping Dani Ceballos can prove to be an ideal replacement after arriving on loan from Real Madrid while Nicolas Pepe's arrival is full of promise.
They've at least added in defence with Kieran Tierney and David Luiz coming in on deadline day, and those signings were much needed as with Laurent Koscielny gone, they have Shkodran Mustafi - not so popular with fans - Sokratis, Rob Holding, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Calum Chambers, who returns from a decent loan spell at Fulham.
They lost to Lyon in pre-season recently and looked easy on the eye on the attack but defensively awful.
Star man - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
The Gabon forward did not come cheap when he arrived from Borussia Dortmund 18 months ago - a club-record £60million - but it is fair to say he has proven himself in the Premier League already.
As mentioned, he shared the Golden Boot after finishing on 22 goals, 31 in all competitions, and his partnership with Alexandre Lacazette was key to their league and Europa League campaigns, so Gunners fans will be hoping to see that understanding blossom with new winger Nicolas Pepe also adding to their firepower.
While Mesut Ozil can be inconsistent, Aubameyang is incredibly important leading the line and fans will have been relieved to see those summer transfer links to China fail to materialise.
Arsenal special bets
- To win the Premier League - 66/1
- To finish in the top four - 6/4
- To win a trophy - 11/4
- To win FA Cup & Europa League - 50/1
Click here for more Arsenal specials with Sky Bet
Major transfer activity
In: David Luiz (Chelsea £8m), Nicolas Pepe (Lille £72m), Kieran Tierney (Celtic £25m), Dani Ceballos (Real Madrid, loan), Gabriel Martinelli (Ituano, undisclosed), William Saliba (St Etienne, undisclosed)
Out: Alex Iwobi (Everton £35m), Aaron Ramsey (Juventus, free), Petr Cech (retired), Julio Pleguezuelo (FC Twente, undisclosed), Charlie Gilmour (Norwich, free), Daniel Ballard (Swindon, loan), Ben Sheaf (Doncaster, loan), Dejan Iliev (SKF Sered', loan), Danny Welbeck, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Cohen Bramall (all released), William Saliba (St Etienne, loan)
Squad 2019/20
1. Bernd Leno, 2. Hector Bellerin, 3. Kieran Tierney, 4. Mohamed Elneny, 5. Sokratis Papastathopoulos, 6. Laurent Koscielny, 7. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, 8. Dani Ceballos, 9. Alexandre Lacazette, 10. Mesut Ozil, 11. Lucas Torreira, 14. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 15. Ainsley Maitland-Niles, 16. Rob Holding, 18. Nacho Monreal, 19. Nicolas Pepe, 20. Shkodran Mustafi, 21. Calum Chambers, 24. Reiss Nelson, 25. Carl Jenkinson, 26. Emiliano Martinez, 27. Konstantinos Mavropanos, 28. Joe Willock, 29. Matteo Guendouzi, 30. Eddie Nketiah, 31. Sead Kolasinac, 32. Emile Smith Rowe, 33. Matt Macey, 34. Granit Xhaka, 35. Gabriel Martinelli, TBC: Takuma Asano, David Luiz TBC.
Manager: Unai Emery
Like when David Moyes replaced Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, it was always going to be a tough ask to follow Arsene Wenger at the Emirates.
Considering Moyes did not last a full season, Emery has not done so bad. His side were so close to sealing that top-four finish and the Spaniard will rue taking his eye off the ball when they opted to prioritise the latter stages of the Europa League.
To get to a major final and finish above Manchester United, on paper, looks like a decent first season. But in reality, it was just even worse for the Red Devils; Arsenal didn't achieve what they set out to achieve.
Rome was not built in a day though and Emery is making his mark. He came to England with a reputation of being a master tactician and, slowly but surely, you can see his methods getting across to the players.
The model Arsenal work with under with a head of football in Raul Senllehi and new technical director Edu allows Emery to concentrate more on the football side of things on the training field while the others secure their targets.
They have a manager with silverware on his CV in Spain and France and the potential and intelligence to bring the good times back to north London.