Slavia Prague vs Arsenal live: Merino leads Gunners line in Gyokeres absence for tricky Champions League trip | OneFootball

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Arteta 'concerned' by Gyokeres injury

Arsenal’s injury-hit squad will be tested again as Mikel Arteta’s side face a tricky Champions League clash with Slavia Prague.

Arteta, already dealing with a number of absentees in forward areas, was dealt another blow with striker Viktor Gyokeres ruled out of this clash having been withdrawn at the interval of the weekend win over Burnley. That 2-0 success kept Arsenal six points clear at the top of the Premier League table and they have made an excellent start in this competition, too, winning their first three games of the campaign without conceding a goal.

They will expect a tough evening, though, in the Czech capital, with Slavia Prague boasting a strong home record and Arteta expecting to face a hostile atmosphere. Two points from three games represents a middling start as Slavia attempt to navigate out of the league phase — and a win here would provide a huge boost.

A long wait for a win

Slavia Prague are winless in their last 14 Champions League matches (six draws, eight defeats) since winning their first game in the competition in September 2007 against FCSB.

It’s the longest current run of any of the 36 sides in this season’s competition, and the joint longest run by a Czechia side – Sparta Prague also went 14 without a win between February 2004 and December 2005.

Mike Jones4 November 2025 17:10

Mikel Arteta has won 63% of his Champions League matches as Arsenal manager (won 17 of 27 games).

That’s the eighth best win ratio for a manager to take charge of 20+ games at a club, and the best at an English side.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Mike Jones4 November 2025 17:05

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal ‘want respecting again’

Mikel Arteta has called on the Premier League to move Arsenal’s match against Everton, saying the club “want[s] respecting again” as complaints over fixture congestion mount.

Arteta wants to avoid his side having two games in three days, after the EFL announced on Monday that the Gunners’ Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace had been moved.

Mike Jones4 November 2025 17:00

Who is the best midfielder in the Premier League?

This weekend the pundits drooled over two Premier League midfielders in particular. Micah Richards called Declan Rice “one of the best players in world football”, while Jamie Redknapp described Moises Caicedo as “the best of his type in world football”. Jamie Carragher hailed both and said: “Right now we are watching two of the best midfielders in world football, there’s no doubt about that.”

Putting aside how annoying the phrase “world football” has become, they have a point. Rice and Caicedo are both doing exceptional midfield things every week. On Saturday, Declan Rice arrived on the scene with a flying leap into the box to power in a header at Burnley and, a couple of hours later, Caicedo was tackling three Tottenham players in six seconds, the third of which set up Joao Pedro to score.

Lawrence Ostlere4 November 2025 16:30