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Two trophies gone, two to go, but can Arsenal deliver?

By on May 19, 2026

arsenal saka

Arsenal fans were not quietly confident this season, and anyone who spent any time around them knew it. With the Gunners flying in all competitions, the talk coming out of north London had gone well beyond hope into something closer to inevitability.

In the space of two weeks, their chances of the quadruple have vanished. They have lost a cup final and been knocked out of another domestic competition, and anyone who placed a football bet on Arsenal winning all four should have anticipated this kind of fall from grace. The quadruple is gone, and the double is all that remains.

So, can they still deliver in 2025-26, or will it all slip away again and retain their status as the biggest bottle jobs in football?

Where it went wrong

The Carabao Cup final looked like Arsenal’s to lose. They dominated the first half at Wembley, with James Trafford making a brilliant triple save to deny Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka, but City came out transformed after the break. Kepa Arrizabalaga dropped a looping ball from Rayan Cherki, and 21-year-old Nico O’Reilly headed into an empty net before adding a second from Matheus Nunes’ cutback minutes later. A 2-0 defeat that felt more damaging than the scoreline suggested.

The FA Cup exit was harder to stomach. Arteta withdrew 11 players from international duty with supposed “injuries” during the break, a figure that raised eyebrows and looked far more like a managed rest period ahead of a crucial run of fixtures than a genuine medical crisis. Whatever the reasoning, the tactic did not pay off. Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice were left out of the squad entirely at Southampton, and the patched-up side that took to the pitch at St Mary’s were punished for it. Ross Stewart put the Championship side ahead on 35 minutes after Ben White misjudged a long ball, and though Gyokeres levelled on 68 minutes, substitute Shea Charles found the bottom corner with five to play. Two domestic cups, two exits, and a growing sense that this squad struggles when the margin for error disappears.

The Premier League

Arsenal’s lead at the top is nine points, though City have a game in hand, and that fixture is against Arsenal themselves. Mikel Arteta’s side have lost just twice all season, but the Southampton defeat exposed a real vulnerability. With Saka, Jurrien Timber, Eberechi Eze, and Piero Hincapie unavailable, Arsenal looked short in the places that matter, and Gabriel Magalhaes limped off with a knee concern that will be monitored closely. If City win that game in hand and cut the gap to six, this title race may look very different in the final weeks.

The Champions League

Arsenal finished the league phase of the Champions League with a perfect record, conceded just four goals across eight European games, and Havertz’s stoppage-time winner in Lisbon in the first leg of the quarter-final handed them a 1-0 lead going into the second leg against Sporting CP at the Emirates. Anyone tracking the Champions League odds will know Arsenal are firmly in the conversation for the latter stages, and with good reason. David Raya has been exceptional throughout, and a semi-final against Atletico Madrid or Barcelona, while daunting, is far from beyond them.

The question is whether consecutive cup exits have left a mark. But Arsenal went deep in Europe last season and fell short. Doing it again, with key players injured at a critical point, is the challenge that will define this group.