After months of waiting, Premier League football is finally back at Emirates Stadium on Saturday (5.30pm) as we look to make it two wins from two following the visit of Leeds United.
After beating Manchester United last weekend, last season’s Championship winners are first to visit our home this term, and we are unbeaten in our last 14 meetings with the Whites in all competitions, winning each of the last six.
The Yorkshire outfit though also picked up a 1-0 victory on their top-flight return earlier this week, and will hope to cause a another early-season stir now they’re back dining at English football’s top table.
Elland Road reshuffle
Around £92 million has been splashed out on nine new recruits as Leeds look to buck the trend of recently promoted clubs who fall straight back through the trapdoor. Three of those – goalkeeper Lucas Perri, left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson and defensive midfielder Anton Stach started their 1-0 win against Everton on Monday, with Lukas Nmecha getting his Elland Road career off to the perfect start with a debut penalty.
That leaves the Whites looking to win their opening two Premier League games for the first time since 2002/03 under Terry Venables. Current boss Daniel Farke has seen his options increase this week after the captures of forwards Noah Okafor from AC Milan and free agent Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who’ll try to add firepower to their new club.
Sean Longstaff has also arrived from Newcastle United while Slovenian centre-back Jaka Bijol is tipped to impress following his switch from Udinese. Sebastiaan Bornauw has also come from Wolfsburg alongside Nmecha as Farke’s squad begins to take shape.
What the managers say
Arteta: “I think everybody is very excited for the first [home] game, it builds a different energy around the stadium. I’m sure [our supporters] missed it, they missed the team. We have certainly missed our supporters and that connection, and tomorrow I’m sure from the first whistle, I think everybody is going to be at it and we’re going to have a good game.
“I’ve been watching [Leeds], what they did in pre-season, what they did on Monday, what they did last year. Big compliments to the way they play, to the coach. I’m sure they’re going to put a really difficult match against us tomorrow. It’s great to have them back, wish them all the best, apart from tomorrow.” – read every word from Mikel’s pre-match press conference
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Farke: “We won’t sell out our DNA and park the bus. If you just try to defend, you have no chance to survive. We will try to be there with many periods with the ball, and try and create chances to scare them. There will be periods where we suffer and we have to be well structured.
“It’s our biggest test so far, we have also proven in the first game and also pre-season when we’ve faced sides like AC Milan or Man United or Villareal that we are competitive.”
Team news
Kai Havertz has picked up a knee injury in the build-up to this game and while the severity is still being determined, he will be out.
Christian Norgaard’s wait for his competitive Gunners bow will also continue as he has a slight knee problem, while Ben White missed our open training session and is being monitored, as is Jurrien Timber as he continues to build up his fitness. Gabriel Jesus is a long-term injury victim.
Whites’ skipper Ethan Ampadu’s start to the season has already been derailed after he picked up knee ligament damage against the Toffees and is out for a few weeks.
Okafor and Calvert-Lewin could make their debuts in this game, while Bijol is back from a suspension stemming from his last outing for Udinese.
Talking tactics
Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme: Leeds played in a 4-2-3-1 with a roving No. 10 in the Championship but switched to 4-3-3 on Monday, with a trio of strong, all-action midfielders who can cover lots of ground in a key part of the pitch.
They are an attack-minded side who want to have plenty of possession, averaging 54% against Everton. With a back four which is not especially quick, we could see Leeds holding a lowish block at times in this contest. Pressing with intensity is part of their armoury, and Farke will want to upset our rhythm and flow by showing hostility and abrasiveness out of possession.
The Yorkshire side also loves to build down the flanks, with sharp one and two-touch football. Wingers Willy Gnonto and Dan James are always willing to run at opposition defenders. They both enjoyed wonderful campaigns in 2024/25 and are also supported well by two excellent full-backs.
However six of Everton’s seven chances against them came from dead-ball situations. As this is a core strength of ours, Leeds will be nervous whenever we stand over a corner or wide free-kick.
Facts and stats
We have won our opening home game in five of the last six Premier League seasons, while Leeds haven’t won their opening away game in any of the last five league campaigns.
Leeds have lost 23 of their last 30 away league matches in London, while in the Premier League they’ve lost their last seven in a row since a 2-1 win at Brentford on the final day of 2021/22.
Daniel Farke has won each of his last two Premier League matches (Brentford 1-2 Norwich in November 2021, Leeds 1-0 Everton on Monday), the first time he’s ever won consecutive games in the competition.
Mikel Arteta has faced Leeds more often without losing than any other side as Gunners boss in all competitions (P8 W7 D1), winning all five at the Emirates against the Whites.
Martin Odegaard has provided an assist in each of his last three Premier League appearances at Emirates Stadium. The last player to assist a goal in more successive home games for us was Mesut Ozil in 2015 (7 in a row).
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Declan Rice has been involved in nine goals across his last 12 home appearances in all competitions (6 goals, 3 assists), netting in the last two against Bournemouth and Newcastle.
Gabriel Martinelli has had a hand in four goals across his four Premier League appearances against Leeds (2 goals, 2 assists).
Against Everton, Lukas Nmecha became just the second player in Leeds’ history to score a penalty on his debut, along with Percy Whipp in 1922. The three players to score in their first two Premier League appearances for Leeds are Alan Smith in 1998 and Patrick Bamford and Mateusz Klich, both in 2020.
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Match officials
Jarred Gillett has been handed control of this game, and the Aussie official also oversaw our first home game of last season when we won 2-0 against Wolves. We also beat Tottenham Hotspur away and lost to Bournemouth at home under his watch last term.
Leeds have lost none of the five games he has been in the middle, with the last seeing them beat Norwich City 4-0 in the 2023/24 Championship play-offs. Gillett’s season got underway at Molineux last weekend when Manchester City beat Wolves 4-0, with three yellow cards dished out
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Assistants: Wade Smith, Scott Ledger
Fourth official: Darren England
VAR: Craig Pawson
Assistant VAR: Neil Davies
Recent visits from Leeds
Leeds have lost 10 of their last 12 Premier League away games against us, while they’ve not kept a clean sheet in any of their last 14 in N5, and you have to go back to May 2003 for the last time they returned north with three points.
In our last meeting in April 2023, a brace from Gabriel Jesus as well as goals from Ben White and Granit Xhaka saw us run out 4-1 victors, while the season before an early brace from Eddie Nketiah paved the way for a 2-1 success towards the end of 2021/22.
Nketiah was also on target earlier that campaign when we won 2-0 in the League Cup, while a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hat-trick was the highlight of a 4-2 success in February 2021 as Leeds’ Emirates misery continued. In fact, only Fulham, Sunderland, Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers have had longer waits for a win at our current home than the Whites.
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Live coverage
Live From N5 is back for 2025/26, getting you in the mood for each home game with an hour-long show live on Arsenal.com and the official app.
Nicole Holliday and Jeremie Aliadiere are on presenting duties this weekend, and will be joined by ex-Gunners David Seaman and Glenn Helder to preview the match, plus Viktor Gyokeres discusses his move to the club and is put to the test in our high-pressure Reflex Game!
Continuing the fun, Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri take each other on in a game of Five Second Rule, while our Hero of the Week will take pride of place in the studio for the day.
The first picks for the Live from N5 Hall of Fame will be revealed, the studio audience put their memories to the test by digging into our Time Capsule, and Frimmy poses our Question of the Day.
Then, when the action gets underway, live commentary comes from Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke – so make sure you tune in!
You can also find out which broadcaster is showing the action live, wherever you are in the world
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