Arsenal Round-Up, Monday 5th October: Women's Team Under Scrutiny After City Defeat as Injury Worries Mount Ahead of Leeds
Arsenal Women are facing growing questions after a 4-2 defeat at Manchester City, with City twice coming from behind at the Etihad to leave Renee Slegers' side 10 points off the WSL leaders just five games into the season (BBC Sport) (BBC Sport). Sky Sports columnist Laura Hunter suggested Slegers can "no longer hide behind fine margins" when explaining the team's defensive issues (Sky Sports), and BBC Sport asked openly whether the manager's job could now be at risk (BBC Sport). Arsenal.com's Lotte said it is "up to us to pull ourselves out of it" following the result (Arsenal.com), while fans can relive the game via highlights and an extended highlights package, plus a photo gallery from the trip to Manchester (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com).
On the men's side, attention turns to Saturday's visit of Leeds, with Mikel Arteta facing a selection dilemma after a fresh round of injury blows (Evening Standard). Kai Havertz picked up a hamstring injury on international duty with Germany, which looks set to open the door for Gyokeres in the Premier League (Evening Standard). The Evening Standard also provided wider injury updates on Christos Tzolis, Havertz and Declan Rice ahead of the Leeds game (Evening Standard), and reported Arsenal have been handed a scheduling boost, with Rice given an extended break to manage his workload after withdrawing from the England squad, and Marli Salmon also back in the fold having pulled out of England Under-18s duty (Evening Standard). Jurrien Timber's return continues to be carefully managed, with the defender left out of Netherlands' win over Serbia as Arsenal keep an eye on his fitness after a lengthy lay-off (Evening Standard). There was also an update from Norway's manager confirming Martin Odegaard will not rejoin Arsenal training until later in the week following international duty, with a private jet reportedly booked for his return (Football.London); Odegaard did provide an assist in Norway's defeat in Porto (Arsenal.com).
Ezri Konsa has emerged as a fresh concern, withdrawing from the England squad through injury (Evening Standard) (Fox Sports), with Thomas Tuchel confirming the defender picked up the issue during England's win over Croatia and will miss the Czech Republic game (Football.London). Football.London reported the player has since returned to London after being ruled out of the Czechia fixture (Football.London). Max Dowman has also withdrawn from the England squad, adding to what the Standard described as a run of bad luck with injuries (Evening Standard). On a brighter note for preparations, Football.London listed eight Arsenal players who have been training earlier than usual as the squad ramps up for the Leeds game (Football.London), while Mikel Merino could prove a "secret weapon" given a demanding run of nine games in 28 days starting October 10, potentially playing both in midfield and up front (Football.London).
In transfer talk, Football.London reported Arsenal are "ready to pounce" for Juventus' Kenan Yildiz if the Italian club are forced into a sale (Football.London), a story also touched on by BBC Sport's gossip column alongside interest in Bournemouth's Alex Scott from Real Madrid (BBC Sport). The Evening Standard's transfer live blog claimed Arsenal are planning a move for Nusa as well as continued Yildiz interest (Evening Standard). Football.London also reported Arsenal are monitoring a player dubbed the "next Jude Bellingham" (Football.London), while a separate report claimed Real Madrid have blocked a planned move by Arteta for Como's Nico Paz, a former Cesc Fabregas favourite (Football.London). Elsewhere, talkSPORT reported Noni Madueke is attracting interest from Atletico Madrid and Juventus amid limited game time, having played just 27 minutes in the Premier League so far this season (talkSPORT).
Away from team news, Martin Keown backed Arsenal's decision to shelve plans for an 80,000-capacity Emirates expansion, arguing the club must win several more Premier League titles first to justify it (talkSPORT). Former winger Willian claimed he asked to leave Arsenal just three months after joining, saying Arteta was missing the "human part" of management (Evening Standard). Young goalkeeper Blayney has earned a first-team training call-up as his reputation grows at the club (Evening Standard), while Arsenal.com continued its academy feature series with a look at Tom Smith balancing EFL football with his economics studies (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com). Fans can also vote for September's Emirates Goal of the Month among this month's nominees (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com), and the Standard listed Arsenal and Chelsea players among the 2026 Golden Boy award finalists (Evening Standard).
This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.