Arsenal Week in Review, Monday 26th October: Rice Rescues Point at Bayern as Saka Injury Overshadows Big Week
It's been a jam-packed week for Arsenal, starting with a routine 1-0 win away at Nottingham Forest, a game which saw Jurrien Timber reach his 100th appearance for the club (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com).
The headline act, though, was Wednesday's trip to Germany to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Arteta made changes to his starting XI ahead of the clash at the Allianz Arena, with Harry Kane's threat flagged beforehand as "another level" for the Arsenal defence to deal with (Football.London) (Football.London) (Football.London) (Sky Sports). Kane duly delivered, playing a hand in both Bayern goals as the Bavarians raced into a lead, before Declan Rice popped up with a dramatic late equaliser to send the travelling fans wild and secure a 2-2 draw (talkSPORT) (BBC Sport) (Arsenal.com). Arteta was full of praise for his side's resilience afterwards, saying it was "impressive" to fight back the way they did in that stadium (Arsenal.com) (Football.London) (Arsenal.com).
The night wasn't without its worries. Bukayo Saka went off with a quadriceps injury that Arteta admitted "does not look good at all", with the manager later confirming an update and conceding Saka's recent robustness to injury has dropped (BBC Sport) (Sky Sports) (Arsenal.com) (Evening Standard). Everton away. There was also a minor scare for academy starlet Max Dowman, who was accidentally caught by Ben White's boot in the warm-up, though he was able to continue (Football.London) (Football.London). Bruno Guimarães, meanwhile, spoke about the draw and his developing partnership with Rice in midfield, as well as reflecting on his emotional departure from Newcastle (Arsenal.com) (The Guardian). Arsenal's U19s also played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with their Bayern counterparts (Arsenal.com).
Back in the Premier League, Arsenal returned to Emirates Stadium to face Everton without the injured Saka, and goals from Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes earned a 2-0 win that moved the Gunners level on points with leaders Manchester City (BBC Sport) (Sky Sports) (Evening Standard). It capped a "colossal" defensive display according to player ratings, though the win was followed by fresh concern after unseen footage sparked questions over a possible knock to Declan Rice (Evening Standard) (Football.London). Piero Hincapie, who had been out with an ankle injury picked up in training, returned to full training ahead of the Everton game and an update on his comeback timeline emerged during the week (Evening Standard) (Evening Standard). Arteta also gave his pre- and post-Everton press conferences in full, covering the squad's mood after a tough week (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com).
Elsewhere, Eberechi Eze continues to be a talking point, with reports suggesting he's been demoted to squad player status and pundits debating how he can rediscover his form, with Paul Merson suggesting he needs to be let off the leash (BBC Sport) (Sky Sports) (TeamTalk).
On the transfer front, there was plenty of noise but nothing confirmed. Reports continue to link Arsenal with PSG's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as a "dream" Arteta target, while TeamTalk claimed Bayern Munich have reached a decision over a possible January sale of Kim Min-jae to Arsenal (Football.London) (Evening Standard) (TeamTalk). Football.London also reported Arsenal are considering a January move for Club Brugge forward Nicolo Tresoldi, and separately that the club are keeping an eye on a highly-rated young Portuguese striker in Serie A for next summer (Football.London) (Football.London). David Raya made headlines after comments about his future led to reports Arsenal plan to open contract talks with the goalkeeper (Evening Standard) (TeamTalk). On the other side of the ledger, Viktor Gyokeres was the subject of claims from Gabriel Agbonlahor that he will "100%" be sold next summer, with further reports suggesting internal complaints about a struggling squad member have emerged (TeamTalk) (BBC Sport) (Football.London).
In the women's game, Arsenal edged a fiery north London derby 2-1 away at Tottenham in the WSL, ending a five-match winless run and easing some pressure on head coach Renée Slegers, with Russo among the goals (Sky Sports) (ESPN) (BBC Sport). That followed a 1-1 draw at home to Birmingham City the previous weekend (Arsenal.com). Lotte Wubben-Moy spoke about her pride in being "Arsenal through and through" this week too (Arsenal.com).
Finally, on the club and community side, Arsenal's U16s are gearing up for the Messi Cup, Hale End coach Luke Webb was profiled for his growing school coaching work, and the club is appealing for support to help young supporter Zach receive life-saving treatment (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com). Former Arsenal football chief Edu has also taken up a new advisory role at Northampton Town (BBC Sport).
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.