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• 'This is the year' for Arsenal, says Saka

  Bukayo Saka believes this is Arsenal's year to end Manchester City's reign over the Premier League, ahead of winless Southampton visiting the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

  Arsenal and City are the only unbeaten teams in the Premier League after six matchdays, with both taking 14 points to trail Liverpool by a single point at the summit.

  Mikel Arteta's team secured a thrilling 4-2 win over Leicester City last week before seeing off Paris Saint-Germain by a 2-0 scoreline in the Champions League on Tuesday.

  With many tipping Arsenal to again challenge City, particularly after the champions lost midfielder Rodri to a serious knee injury, Saka believes the Gunners have a golden opportunity.

  "I don't want to put too much pressure on us but I do think that this is the year," Saka told CBS Sports after the win over PSG.

  "I think we've been close the last two years and we're getting closer but this hopefully will be the year."

  Speaking to Amazon Prime, the 23-year-old later added: "Previous years, I've come runners-up a lot. It's just that spirit in me that I want to win this season and of course, I believe in myself a lot.

  "With those two things, it helps. We believe in ourselves, we believe we're a top team. I did tell the boys we have to make a statement when teams are coming to the Emirates."

  Southampton have taken just one point from six league games since winning promotion from the Championship, making this the joint-worst start to any league campaign in their history (also one point in the top flight in 1998-99).

  They were beaten 3-1 by south coast rivals Bournemouth last time out on Monday, leading defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis to slam their performance levels.

  "I think it's just about taking ownership as players, doing your bit and not going inside yourself, not playing a solo game," he said.

  "It's just about sticking together... we cannot be 3-0 down with the quality and characters we've got in that group, we cannot be. That's obviously including myself."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH 

  Arsenal – Kai Havertz

  One player who has particularly enjoyed turning out at the Emirates lately is Havertz, who netted against PSG on Tuesday and has also scored six goals in his last six league games on the ground. 

  He has netted in four successive home Premier League games, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang the last player to score in five straight for the Gunners, in September 2019.

  Southampton – Aaron Ramsdale 

  Former Gunners shot-stopper Ramsdale could become the ninth goalkeeper to face Arsenal in the Premier League after previously representing them in the competition.

  Only one of the previous eight, Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez, has previously kept a clean sheet in his first such match, doing so in a 3-0 victory at the Emirates in November 2020.

  MATCH PREDICTION – ARSENAL WIN

  Southampton have actually caused Arsenal problems lately, going unbeaten through the teams' last three Premier League meetings (one win, two draws), with both of their matches in 2022-23 finishing level – including a 3-3 draw at the Emirates.

   

  However, Saints have visited Arsenal 24 times in the Premier League without ever tasting victory, drawing eight times and losing 16. That is the most any team has visited another in the competition without winning.

  Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 28 home league games against Southampton since a 1-0 defeat in November 1987. Only against Fulham (a current run of 31) have they had a longer unbeaten home run in their league history.

  Across 2024-25 and their relegation season in 2022-23, Southampton are now winless in 19 Premier League matches, drawing five and losing 14. Only once in their top-flight history have they endured a longer such run, going 20 games without a victory between August and December 1969.

  Arsenal, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last 40 Premier League home games against promoted clubs, winning 35 and drawing five. Only Chelsea (43 between 2001 and 2015) and City (41 between 2007 and 2020) have had longer such runs in the competition's history.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Arsenal – 78.5%

  Southampton – 8.7% 

  Draw – 12.8% 

• Rueful Rodgers remarks Dortmund's clinical edge was 'incredible to see'

  Brendan Rodgers lamented "a game where every mistake we made got punished" after Celtic's 7-1 hammering at the hands of Borussia Dortmund.

  Last year's Champions League runners-up Dortmund extended their club record unbeaten home run in the competition to 12 matches (W8 D4) in emphatic fashion on Tuesday.

  Karim Adeyemi led the way with a first-half hat-trick as BVB led 5-1 at the break, with the forward becoming the first Dortmund player to score three goals in the opening 45 minutes of a major European game since Marcio Amoroso in a 2002 UEFA Cup semi-final against Milan.

  Celtic, who equalised just two minutes after Emre Can had opened the scoring from the penalty spot at Signal Iduna Park, became the first British team to concede five goals in the first half of a game in major European competition since Cwmbran Town against Progresul Bucharest in the 1997-98 UEFA Cup Winner's Cup.

  For the third time in his managerial career, after 7-0 and 7-1 drubbings by Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain respectively in 2016 and 2017, Rodgers saw his side ship seven goals in the Champions League.

  "I don't think I've been involved in a game where every mistake we made got punished," Rodgers told TNT Sports.

  "It was a tough watch, to be honest. We weren't at our best. They showed why they are a top, top team. We didn't make the start we wanted.

  "We went in high in confidence. We felt we were in a really good place. We had to start much better than we did, as we gave away really cheap goals. And we got punished for loose bits of play and passes.

  "They were ruthless in their finishing. It was incredible to see.

  "My job is to go away and inspire the players again. We need to learn from it or we will get punished at this level."

  Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin, meanwhile, said his team have set a "benchmark" for their level of performance moving forward, after what has been an inconsistent start to the season.

  Speaking to Amazon Prime, Sahin said: "Of course I'm extremely happy, but I can also put the game in Stuttgart [a 5-1 loss] into perspective – and today.

  "What makes me happiest is how the guys worked up front. Goals like that come when you run up front like that. We didn't manage that at all in Stuttgart.

  "With the speed and quality up front, we’re hard to beat. This coverage, the will to win the ball, has to be the benchmark. We've made steps in our notorious development."

  Dortmund matched their joint-highest victory in the Champions League, matching a 6-0 win over Legia Warsaw in 2016.

• Arsenal boss Arteta praises 'unbelievable' Havertz

  Mikel Arteta hailed Kai Havertz as "unbelievable" after the Germany international's star turn against Paris Saint-Germain.

  The 25-year-old put Arsenal on the path to a 2-0 home win over PSG in the Champions League on Tuesday with a well-timed run and header in the 20th minute.

  After taking 10 games to get off the mark for Arsenal last season, it was his fifth goal for the club in the 2024-25 campaign and he was deservedly named Player of the Match.

  Havertz got both of his two shots on target, while also playing one key pass as he scored just his second goal in his last 14 Champions League appearances, with his other goal coming for Arsenal in November 2023 against Lens.

  "He has been unbelievable. His football brain, the way he understands space, his timing, he brings people together," said Arteta.

  "His work ethic is incredible and now he is a real threat around the box. He is one of our main players at the moment."

  It was a satisfying night for Arteta, whose team dominated one of Europe's heavyweights in the first half and then comfortably contained them after the break, with Bukayo Saka doubling the Gunners' tally before half-time.

  Saka has now been directly involved in eight goals in six home Champions League appearances for Arsenal, with all five of his goals coming at the Emirates. In Champions League history, only three players have more goals with all coming at one stadium – Diogo Rincon at NSK Olimpijs'kyj, Esteban Cambiasso at the San Siro and Lee Bowyer at Elland Road (six goals each).

  "Really, really happy with the performance. We played an opponent that has a lot of personality, is really difficult to deal with when you don't have the ball," he said.

  "The first half was very dominant and we created a lot of chances and then the second half was a different story.

  "We suffered much more than we should have done. The Champions League brings different demands but I think we handled it really well."

  Victory, following the 0-0 draw away to Atalanta, propelled Arsenal to eighth in the 36-team table and Arteta said it was far too early to start predicting how many more wins his side will need to qualify automatically for the last 16.

  "I'm not even looking at the table," he said. "But I think it will be a long journey."

  Another boost for Arsenal was the sight of new signing Mikel Merino coming off the bench for his first appearance in the second half after missing the start of the season with injury.

  On the downside, full-back Jurrien Timber was forced off at half-time with a muscle issue.

  "He was unbelievable in the first half, but he felt something muscular and he wasn't certain," Arteta said of the Dutchman.

  "So I didn't want to take any risks. He's been out for a year and he's played a lot of minutes, probably more minutes than we would have wanted in the past few weeks."

  The Gunners' defensive grit was also on show. Arsenal have kept 17 clean sheets in 32 games in all competitions in 2024, the most of any Premier League side. Indeed, across Europe's big-five leagues this year, only Real Madrid have kept more (18).