Arsenal Round-Up, Wednesday 4th November: Gyökeres and Madueke Fire Gunners to Nervy Win in Prague
Arsenal made it another away win on their travels, beating Slavia Prague 2-1 at the Fortuna Arena to continue their unbeaten start in this season's Champions League league phase (Sky Sports) (The Guardian) (BBC Sport). Noni Madueke put the visitors ahead early on (ESPN) (BBC Sport), before Viktor Gyökeres got the goal that made the real difference, with The Guardian singling him out as the star man on the night (The Guardian) (BBC Sport). It wasn't all plain sailing though, as Sky Sports and the BBC both described a nervy finish, with Slavia mounting a spirited second-half fightback and giving Arsenal a late scare before the Gunners held on (Sky Sports) (BBC Sport). Football.London's player ratings praised three Arsenal performers with 8/10 showings as Gyökeres took the headlines (Football.London).
Mikel Arteta made six changes to his starting side for the trip to Czechia (Football.London) (Arsenal.com) (Football.London). William Saliba travelled with the squad after returning from injury, though it was Ezri Konsa who had continued to deputise well alongside Gabriel in his absence, according to the Evening Standard (Evening Standard) (Football.London). Max Dowman, who famously became the youngest player ever to feature in the Champions League at this very ground last season, was also recalled to the matchday squad (Evening Standard) (Evening Standard) (Football.London). Arteta has reportedly sent Dowman a message following the youngster's red card for Fleetwood recently (Football.London). Arsenal.com also looked back fondly on a famous past trip to Prague, recalling the night Thierry Henry made Arsenal history there (Arsenal.com), while Mikel Merino spoke in his pre-match press duties about his own memories of the fixture and the pride the squad takes in their defensive work (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com).
Before kick-off, Football.London reported that seven players were set to miss the clash for one side or the other (Football.London), noting that the fixture came almost exactly a year after Arsenal's 3-0 win over Slavia Prague in last season's league phase, when Bukayo Saka and Merino were on the scoresheet (Football.London). On the injury front, former Arsenal Director of High Performance Darren Burgess has reportedly shed some light on the cause of Saka's latest injury problem (Football.London), while Football.London also claim the club have turned to NASA for help with a recurring issue that continues to trouble Arteta (Football.London). Elsewhere, new signing Andria Bartishvili is set to be out for several months with injury before he even gets the chance to make his Arsenal debut (Football.London).
On the transfer front, ESPN report that Arsenal have been keeping an eye on Atlético Madrid winger Álex Baena (ESPN). TeamTalk say Arsenal are among several Premier League clubs, along with Manchester United and Chelsea, stepping up scouting of Galatasaray's Aleksey Batrakov (TeamTalk). There's also plenty of outgoing speculation, with Football.London and TeamTalk both reporting on Martin Zubimendi's situation, with suggestions he could be ready to leave after slipping behind Declan Rice in the pecking order, while Piero Hincapie has also been linked with a possible departure to Barcelona after struggling to dislodge Riccardo Calafiori from the side (Football.London) (TeamTalk). The Evening Standard round up further transfer chatter suggesting Arsenal could be busy with a "triple raid" as clubs across the capital and beyond prepare for the January window (Evening Standard).
Away from the first team, Arsenal's U19s suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Slavia Prague (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com). In the women's game, fans can vote for October's Women's Player of the Month on Arsenal.com (Arsenal.com), while the squad have been put through their paces in training ahead of their away trip to face Liverpool (Arsenal.com).
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.
