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Arsenal will aim to keep pace with the Premier League’s title hopefuls in their final game before the October international break against Southampton.

The Gunners enjoyed an impressive return to the Champions League on Tuesday, proving too strong for Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain in a 2-0 victory. Their attention now reverts back to the English top flight, where they are currently a point off Liverpool at the summit.

A win on Saturday could take them top, but manager Mikel Arteta also has some injury concerns to address ahead of the weekend.

Here’s the Arsenal lineup the Spaniard could deploy against Southampton at the Emirates Stadium.

GK: David Raya – Had a solid showing against PSG, making a couple of saves, but wasn’t tested too much. It could be another quiet afternoon for the Spaniard despite Southampton’s willingness to commit numbers forward.

RB: Jurrien Timber – The Dutchman went off injured in midweek and his potential absence would give Arteta a tactical conundrum for the weekend. The boss will hope Timber shakes off his knock and is able to start, with Ben White also struggling with a groin problem.

CB: William Saliba – There are no issues in central defence, with the calm and physical Saliba set to continue his partnership with Gabriel. While his colleague has scored twice, Saliba is yet to strike this season.

CB: Gabriel – The Brazilian defender remains one of Arsenal’s biggest goal threats from set-pieces and will get a chance or two against a Saints side that has conceded 12 goals in six league games.

LB: Riccardo Calafiori – The summer arrival managed to shake off a knock to play against PSG and is likely to be deployed at left-back again, unless injuries on the opposite flank force him to play out of position.

CM: Declan Rice – PSG’s midfielders had little space to breathe in the face of Rice’s omnipresent running and closing down. The 25-year-old has struck in the Carabao Cup but is still on the hunt for his first league goal of the season.

CM: Thomas Partey – There’s a chance Partey could be required at right-back if neither Timber nor White pull through in time. However, the Ghanaian has enjoyed a renaissance at the start of 2024/25 and will hope to continue in midfield.

RW: Bukayo Saka – Tortured PSG left-back Nuno Mendes for the majority of their clash and scored Arsenal’s second to put them in full control.

AM: Leandro Trossard – Enjoyed playing as the number 10 in midweek after his late heroics against Leicester City last Saturday. Has responded in the right manner after his red card at Manchester City.

LW: Gabriel Martinelli – Seems to be rediscovering some confidence and good form after a dry run, scoring and assisting against Leicester.

ST: Kai Havertz – It was Havertz who put Arsenal ahead on Tuesday and the German was too hot for Marquinhos and Willian Pacho to handle throughout the contest. He continues to go from strength to strength since leaving Chelsea.

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Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has admitted he is not responsible for the final decision on the future of manager Erik ten Hag.

Ten Hag, who survived a summer review of his position, is under immense pressure after a poor start to the season, with many fans calling for the Dutchman to be sacked after leading the team on a run of just three wins from their last ten games.

Asked by BBC Sport whether he still has faith in Ten Hag, Ratcliffe responded: “I don’t want to answer that question.

“I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.

“But that team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April – Omar [Berrada] and Dan Ashworth, they only arrived in July.

“They’ve only been there, you can count it in weeks almost. They’ve not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.

“Our objective is very clear: we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously. That’s very clear.”

The likes of Graham Potter, Thomas Tuchel, Eddie Howe, Massimiliano Allegri and Gareth Southgate have all been touted as potential replacements for Ten Hag, who signed a new two-year contract in July after United opted to keep him as part of their post-season review.

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Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall has slammed recent scheduling conflicts with clubs who’ve qualified for the Women’s Champions League as “simply unacceptable”.

Chelsea raised concerns over player welfare last week after their Champions League group game against Real Madrid was scheduled for just two days after their Barclays Women’s Super League clash with Manchester United on 8 October.

In a statement, the club announced they had been forced to postpone their league fixture after “numerous discussions” with the Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) had proved unsuccessful when trying to find an “amicable solution to this scheduling conflict”.

However, things were made even worse when it was revealed that UEFA had in fact shared their match calendar with the WPLL a year ago and had requested that no English team, should they qualify, be scheduled to play on 8 October having predicted the potential challenge.

WSL clubs Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have all qualified for group stage of the tournament for the first time in history. Chelsea, whose Champions League game is on Tuesday, have seen their WSL fixture cancelled, but Arsenal and Man City, who both play again on Wednesday, still have WSL fixtures to play this coming Sunday.

Speaking ahead of the Gunners’ WSL game against Everton, Eidevall was furious about the actions of the WPLL and accused them of “sticking their heads in the sand”.

“Unless we have a league organisation that doesn’t act proactively on these matters, it’s damaging for the fans,” he said. “The fans are the backbone of what we are trying to build. I think that it is simply unacceptable to have people’s money and time treated in that way. It’s simply not good enough from the league.

“Do they want the English clubs to be successful at a European level? I would hope the answer to that is yes, but their actions show differently. It shows that having these clubs be successful is not one of their priorities. 

“I think that it’s a very big negative for English women’s club football, too. It’s very important that this is the first time three clubs have reached the group stage and that should be something that we celebrate, instead it has become a problem.”

Eidevall expressed that his team had been put at a “sporting disadvantage” after being scheduled to play three games in the space of a week, one of which is against Chelsea on Saturday 12 October.

“It’s even worse for us,” he explained. “Because of this amateurish behaviour and no proactive plan, we have considerably less preparation time than our opponents and therefore will have a sporting disadvantage in two huge games.

“Now you know me and even better, you know my players and team. We are not the team that’s going to lie down and give up just because situations are tough. We are going to dig deeper than we have ever done before, and try to fuel our performances.”

He went on to stress that a solution to scheduling conflicts need to be found, sooner rather than later.

“You could have alternative playing dates,” said Eidevall. “I’m asking for an approach that when a situation arises, instead of sticking your head in the sand and thinking the problem is going to disappear, be solutions orientated.”

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Thierry Henry has admitted he is shocked by just how good Bukayo Saka has become after the Arsenal star scored in their Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain.

The Gunners cruised to victory over the Ligue 1 champions at the Emirates on Tuesday, with first-half goals from Kai Havertz and Saka sealing the French giants’ fate early on. Last year’s Champions League semi-finalists proved no match for Arsenal, with England international Saka impressing in particular.

This is, of course, no surprise to Arsenal fans who have been raving about the quality of their winger for years. Saka has already provided two goals and five assists in nine appearances this season, stepping up when senior members of his squad were unavailable.

But, Gunners legend Henry has admitted that his talent was not always so obvious.

“I saw him at the academy and I didn’t think he would be that good, I’ll be honest with you,” he told CBS Sports. “But when you work, you have that work ethic, you have a good family behind you, because I know the family, he is clever, he works well.

“I really saw a player reaching his level, because right now he is at a level… hard to arrive. He has been there for almost three years if I am being honest.

“At the European Championships [with England] they are asking him to play wing-back, he plays wing-back. He goes and defends for his right-back, he goes wide, he goes left, he goes behind, he does everything without complaining. He plays every single game.

“He played in the Carabao Cup, he played after the World Cup straight away in the first round of the FA Cup. It will be a dream for a full-back to have a guy like that in front of you, defending like that, going on the counter, he makes the job easier for everybody.”

The Arsenal winger recently admitted that he thinks his team will win the Premier League title this season, after coming agonisingly close over the past two campaigns.

The Gunners return to action on Saturday when they host newly promoted Southampton in the Premier League.

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The group stage of the 2024/25 Women’s League Cup is now in full swing.

Eight games took place with six outright winners at the end of the 90 minutes, while two were decided on penalties after ending in a draw at the final whistle.

Substitute Jess Naz clinched a last-minute winner helping Tottenham Hotspur secure a 2-1 victory over Championship side Charlton Athletic. Meanwhile Women’s Super League rivals Aston Villa comfortably beat Crystal Palace 2-0, thanks to goals from Kirsty Hanson and new recruit Katie Robinson.

Elsewhere, Brighton & Hove Albion continued to impress with a confident 3-0 win over Birmingham City, whereas Leicester couldn’t quite get on top of a newly relegated Bristol City, who ended up beating the Foxes 2-1 on penalties.

The same goes for Everton, who only managed to secure a win over Newcastle United on penalties after ending the game on a 1-1 draw.

Results:

The last two fixtures of the first round will see Sheffield United take on Sunderland, while Southampton line up against London City Lionesses.

The remaining group stage fixtures will take place between October and December, with the quarter-finals scheduled for January. Last year’s winners Arsenal, alongside Chelsea and Manchester City, will enter the competition during the knock-out stages after qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

The Women’s League Cup involves 20 teams from the Barclays Women’s Super League and Championship split into five regionally split groups.

Each cub will play two games, but if a fixture ends in a draw at the end of the 90 minutes, a penalty shoot-out will take place for an additional point.

Only the outright winner of the group stage goes through to the quarter finals.

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