2020–21 Arsenal F.C. season

Arsenal's 2019–20 campaign had seen defensive frailties and a lack of creativity lead to a disappointing eighth-place finish in the league, the club's lowest for a quarter of a century, but a successful FA Cup run and increasing promise under new coach and former cup-winning captain Mikel Arteta gave them increased optimism for the season ahead. The season had been defined by a three-month lull between March and June, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; indeed, it was head coach Arteta's positive test that led to the season's pause, and when it returned, it was behind closed doors. The upcoming season was expected to continue in this manner. The league fixtures were released on 20 August, with Arsenal to kick off the new season away at newly promoted Fulham on 12 September.[1] Soon after, the club announced plans to allow fans back into the Emirates Stadium in time for their home encounter with Sheffield United on 3 October.[2]

The club's first major transfer of the season came on 14 August, with former Chelsea winger Willian signing a three-year contract. He had previously featured 339 times for the Blues over a spell of seven years, scoring 63 goals and winning two Premier League titles, a FA Cup, a League Cup and one UEFA Europa League.[3]

Following the departure of assistant coach and former interim manager Freddie Ljungberg,[4] Arsenal permanently signed January loanees Cédric Soares and Pablo Marí,[5] with the latter arriving for a fee of £7 million. Two days later, following the players' return from a two-week break, Arsenal played their only pre-season friendly, at Stadium MK against League One side Milton Keynes Dons. Mohamed Elneny, Emile Smith Rowe, Daniel Ballard, Tyreece John-Jules, James Olayinka and William Saliba were all making their first appearances back from loan spells elsewhere; Saliba and a host of other youth-teamers made their debuts for the club. Arsenal took an early lead after Elneny took advantage of a poor clearance from goalkeeper Lee Nicholls with a long-range effort. A flowing team move ending with Bukayo Saka setting up Eddie Nketiah for a finish made it 2–0, before Rob Holding's own goal halved the deficit. A header from youth-teamer Mark McGuinness made it 3–1 late on, before Reiss Nelson scored a penalty he himself had won as the match ended 4–1 to Arsenal.[6]

Arsenal kicked off their season by taking part in the FA Community Shield for the 24th time in their history, against last year's runaway Premier League champions Liverpool. Liverpool initially dominated the contest, but in the 12th minute, Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang received the ball from youngster Bukayo Saka and then cut away from young Liverpool right-back Neco Williams, before bending a shot into the bottom left-hand corner. Liverpool grew back into the game and equalised late on through Takumi Minamino. The match ended 1–1 and went straight to penalties. Liverpool's Rhian Brewster was the only man to miss as Arsenal clinched their 16th Community Shield, with Aubameyang scoring the winning penalty.[7]

Arsenal's first major action of September was the £23 million signing of Lille centre-back Gabriel, with whom they had been linked for weeks. Gabriel signed after a promising 2019–20 season with the French club, his third total but his first at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy; he had spent the previous two seasons on loan at Avai and Dinamo Zagreb.[8] Less than a week later, the club announced they had re-signed influential central midfielder Dani Ceballos on a second successive loan spell from Real Madrid. Ceballos had made 37 appearances in 2019–20, scoring twice, contributing two assists and providing a strong influence from a deep-lying position.[9]

The Gunners began their Premier League campaign away at Craven Cottage against newly promoted Fulham. Both Brazilian signings, Willian and Gabriel, made their debuts in a comfortable 3–0 win. Alexandre Lacazette opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a left-footed shot after a spill by Fulham goalkeeper Marek Rodak. Willian hit the post with a free-kick soon afterwards before delivering an excellent corner four minutes into the second half for Gabriel to nod in for a debut goal. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wrapped up the three points with a fantastic strike into the corner to finish of a fine team move, with Willian getting another assist after a fine switched ball.[10]

On 16 September, captain Aubameyang signed a new three-year contract with the club, with reports suggesting his salary was now "in the region of £250,000" a week.[11]

Three days later, the club played their first home match of the season against West Ham United, whom they had last played in their final game before lockdown. The Gunners took a first-half lead after Alexandre Lacazette powerfully headed in Aubameyang`s chipped cross — the Frenchman's 50th goal in all competitions for the club — before West Ham levelled through Michail Antonio on the stroke of half-time, after a devastating counter-attack. The Hammers dominated the second period, hitting the bar through Antonio and wasting numerous goalscoring opportunities before Arsenal clinched all three points with five minutes to go as Spaniard Dani Ceballos squared the ball for Eddie Nketiah to tap in the winner.[12]

Arsenal opened their League Cup campaign away at then-league leaders Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. Arsenal had not lost a third-round tie since a 1–2 reverse at home to Southampton in the 2014–15 edition of the competition at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners comfortably won the tie 2–0; a Christian Fuchs own goal in the 57th minute was followed by a 90th-minute second from Eddie Nketiah to seal the win and a fourth-round tie away to Liverpool for the second consecutive year.[13]

Following the Leicester win, Arsenal faced back-to-back games against league champions Liverpool at Anfield in the space of four days. First, a Premier League encounter with the Reds ended in a 3–1 defeat, the Gunners’ first of the season; Alexandre Lacazette opened the scoring for the third successive league match after an error by Andrew Robertson, but Liverpool quickly responded with a Sadio Mané goal before Robertson atoned for his error by flicking the ball past Bernd Leno to give Liverpool the lead. Lacazette failed to convert a one-on-one with Alisson midway through the second half, while substitute and debutant Diogo Jota got on the scoresheet with two minutes remaining to seal a Liverpool victory.[14]

Arsenal quickly avenged their league defeat by narrowly progressing past Liverpool in the third round of the League Cup at Anfield. Two much-changed sides were deadlocked for much of the contest, with both goalkeepers, notably Arsenal’s man-of-the-match Leno, producing a number of terrific stops. The game eventually finished goalless and went to penalties; everybody but Mohamed Elneny and Divock Origi scored, leading to sudden death; after Harry Wilson saw his spot kick saved by Leno, Joe Willock scuffed a shot through the legs of Liverpool goalkeeper Adrián to win the tie for Arsenal 5–4 on penalties. The Gunners progressed to the quarter-finals, where they would face seven-time winners and defending champion Manchester City for the third successive season.[15]

A day later, the draw for the Europa League group stage was made; Arsenal were drawn in Group B alongside Norwegian outfit Molde, Austria's Rapid Wien and Irish champions Dundalk.[16]

Arsenal headed into the international break on the back of yet another win at the Emirates, this time against pointless and goalless Sheffield United; two goals in the space of 190 seconds, first a header from Bukayo Saka and then an accurate finish from substitute Nicolas Pépé just after the hour mark effectively sealed the win, despite Sheffield United getting a late goal back after a fine long-range effort from David McGoldrick for a 2–1 scoreline.

On transfer deadline day, 5 October, Arsenal signed Atlético Madrid's Ghanaian central midfielder Thomas Partey, having paid his £45 million release clause. Two loan departures from the club also occurred: Lucas Torreira went the opposite direction to the Spanish club while Mattéo Guendouzi moved to German club Hertha Berlin. The club announced 55 redundancies related to COVID-19 financial stress, including their mascot, Gunnersaurus. A fundraiser had been set up for Jerry Quy, who had played Gunnersaurus for 27 years,[17] and Mesut Özil offered to pay his salary.[18]

The Gunners returned from the international break with a disappointing 1–0 defeat at Manchester City. They fell behind early to Raheem Sterling’s well-taken finish, and failed to really threaten City, despite forcing Ederson into several smart saves and having a penalty waved away for an apparent high foot by Kyle Walker.[19]

On October 20, Arsenal submitted their 25 man squad for the Premier League which excluded Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Özil. This sparked a social media battle between Özil and the club, with the former claiming "loyalty is hard to come by".[20] It is to be believed that Özil will no play for the club again in a competitive match.[20]

The club then played their first-ever came against Austrian side Rapid Wien. Arsenal had so far failed to win a competitive tie in Austria after previous attempts against Sturm Graz in the second round of the 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and against Austria Wien in the first round of the 1991–92 European Cup. They struggled to break down the hosts, and fell behind early in the second half to Taxiarchis Fountas’s strike, after Bernd Leno’s error. However the Gunners, led by debutant and man of the match Thomas Partey, turned the game around, equalising through David Luiz before winning through substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal sixteen minutes from time.[21]

This victory, however, was quickly followed by a bitterly disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Leicester City in the sixth matchweek of the 2020-21 Premier League. The Gunners were controversially denied an opener with Alexandre Lacazette’s fourth-minute header, as VAR (Video Assistant Referee) adjudged Granit Xhaka to have been offside in the build-up to the goal, despite not having clearly interfered with the play. Despite this setback, Arsenal went on to have a strong first half, but faded away in the second half, with only Hector Bellerin’s fierce volley on 68 minutes seriously testing the Leicester back line. The Foxes snatched three points and the win late on, with Youri Tielemans’s simple ball over the top finding substitute Cengiz Under, who volleyed across to find fellow sub Jamie Vardy, who grabbed the winner by heading in his eleventh goal against the Gunners in all competitions.[22]

A number of fringe players, including debuting goalkeeper Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson, played as the Gunners continued their perfect 2020-21 UEFA Europa League start by cruising past Irish side Dundalk 3–0. In their first-ever game against Irish opposition, they struggled to break down the visitors, until a misjudgement by 39-year old goalkeeper Gary Rogers just before half-time gifted Eddie Nketiah his tenth goal for Arsenal in all competitions. Joe Willock fired in a second minutes later, before Nicolas Pépé bent a terrific right-footed shot into the top corner for his tenth goal for Arsenal in all competitions as well. Late in the second half, Folarin Balogun made his debut as a substitute as the match ended in a comfortable victory.[23]

On 1 November, Arsenal headed away to Old Trafford to take on traditional rivals Manchester United. In the first half, neither team was able to score, although after a couple half-chances Willian and Bukayo Saka came the closest to scoring; the former hit the crossbar in the 39th minute, and the latter headed unchallenged over the bar just before halftime. In the 68th minute, Paul Pogba clipped the ankle of Héctor Bellerín as the Spaniard tried to collect a pass from Willian just inside the box, and referee Mike Dean awarded the penalty.[24] Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang successfully converted the penalty for his second Premier League goal of the season and his first since the season opener at Fulham by slotting the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal as David de Gea dived in the other direction.[25] The Gunners were able to successfully defend their narrow lead and earn their first away win against another "Big Six" team in almost five years; the last such victory came at the Etihad Stadium against Manchester City on 18 January 2015, which Arsenal won 2–0. The victory was also Arsenal's first away win against Manchester United since 17 September 2006, which was also a 1–0 affair.[26]

The Gunners followed up the Old Trafford match with a first ever competitive meeting with Molde FK at the Emirates Stadium, securing a third consecutive win in all competitions via a 4–1 scoreline. They were, however, made to work for it, as they fell behind to Martin Ellingsen’s well-taken strike halfway through the first half. Two Molde own goals from Kristoffer Haugen before half time and substitute Sheriff Sinyan just after the hour mark put Arsenal into the lead, before two well-taken late goals from Nicolas Pépé and Joe Willock padded the Gunners' lead.[27]

The month ended with the FA Cup third-round draw, in which the holders Arsenal would start their title defence at home to Newcastle United.[28]

The run of good form was ended when the Gunners lost at home to Aston Villa 3–0, marking the fourth time in the past five seasons that Arsenal had been beaten by three or more goals at the Emirates Stadium. Villa took the lead when a well-worked move involving Jack Grealish, Ross Barkley and Trezeguet ended with the lattermost’s cross being turned in for an own goal by Bukayo Saka. Another great move ended with Barkley volleying the ball across the goal to Ollie Watkins, who had scored a hat-trick in the Villans' 7–2 win over defending champions Liverpool the previous month, to head in. A swift counterattack three minutes later ended in Watkins’ second and Villa’s third to seal the result of the game.[29]

Mohamed Elneny and Sead Kolasinac both tested positive for COVID-19 on international duty for Egyptian Football Association and Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Association respectively, and a thigh injury to Thomas Partey against Villa left the Gunners weakened upon their trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United. The first half was dull and goalless, but early in the second half, a headbutt on Ezgjan Alioski earned Nicolas Pépé a red card. From there, Leeds dominated, forcing Bernd Leno into several saves despite wasting numerous chances, including hitting the woodwork three times. However, Arsenal managed to hold on for a 0–0 draw.[30]

The Gunners then made the trip to Norway to take on Molde again in the Europa League group stage. Once more, they started uncertainly, with Sheriff Sinyan, scorer of the second own goal in the first match between the two sides, missing an open goal in an attempt to redeem himself. At half time, it was 0-0, but once again the Gunners came back with three second half goals. After Nicolas Pépé hit the crossbar with a fine curling effort on 48 minutes, the Ivorian atoned for his red card at Elland Road by firing in Joe Willock's overhit cross, before an Eddie Nketiah goal was ruled out for offside. A fine, flowing team move ended with Reiss Nelson tapping in fellow academy graduate Willock`s low cross for the second goal five minutes later. Late in the second half, Folarin Balogun, on just his second senior appearance, scored within 30 seconds of coming as a substitute. He received the ball from fellow substitute and academy graduate Emile Smith Rowe and swivelled before beating goalkeeper Andreas Linde from close range to wrap up a comfortable 3-0 win and book their places in the knockout stages with two games to go.[31]

The side then returned to Premier League action in a crucial home encounter with Wolverhampton Wanderers. As David Luiz and Wolves striker Raúl Jiménez battled for a cross from Willian in the fifth minute, a clash of heads between the two resulted in a stoppage of play. Jiménez suffered a serious head injury that forced him to be stretchered off, while Luiz received on-field treatment and had to be bandaged for a head wound; the latter was eventually taken off at half time out of caution. Wolves nonetheless took the lead through Pedro Neto on 27 minutes after Leander Dendoncker's header rebounded off the crossbar. However, just three minutes later, a short, well-worked corner saw Willian find the head of fellow Brazilian Gabriel to power home. It was the Gunners' first goal in open play in the Premier League since 4 October against Sheffield United, but despite having several other great chances, they fell to a third home league defeat in a row after Daniel Podence smartly finished before the break.[32]

The Christmas period began with the return of fans to the Emirates Stadium for the first time in nine months as Arsenal took on Rapid Wien in the fifth Europa League group stage game. A stunning long-range goal from Alexandre Lacazette gave the Gunners an early lead, which they added to with Pablo Marí's first goal for the club in just his fourth appearance, after a long-term ankle injury sustained in June. A fine passing move just before half-time culminated in Eddie Nketiah being denied from close-range by goalkeeper Richard Strebinger before heading in the rebound. Just after half-time, striker Koya Kitagawa pulled one back for the visitors before substitute Emile Smith Rowe capped off a dominant display with his first goal of the season on just his second appearance (both as a substitute) to cap off a 4–1 victory for Arsenal.[33]

Once again, Arsenal failed to take their terrific European form into their domestic games. This time, Mikel Arteta's side fell to another disappointing defeat, their fifth in seven league games, in the North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham capitalized on individual defensive errors with first-half goals from Son Heung-min and Harry Kane on counter attacks to condemn the Gunners to a 2–0 defeat. Arsenal failed to be clinical having numerous half-chances as the side registered just two shots on target to Spurs' three. Spurs went top of the league after the win, while Arsenal slumped to 15th.[34]

Arsenal recovered by completing a perfect European group stage for the first time in the club's history when they beat Dundalk 4–2 in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin as their first-ever club game in the Republic of Ireland ended in a success. Eddie Nketiah scored his fifth goal of the season, Mohamed Elneny got his first goal in nearly three years, Joe Willock scored his third of the campaign, and Folarin Balogun contributed with a goal and an assist after coming on as a substitute.[35]

Against Burnley on 13 December at home, a red card for Granit Xhaka and an own goal by club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sealed a win for the visitors.[36]

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ended his five-game goal drought with a second-half equaliser in a 1–1 home draw with Southampton, cancelling out former Arsenal player Theo Walcott's goal on his Emirates Stadium homecoming. There were more disciplinary problems as Gabriel was sent off for two yellow cards in a span of four minutes.[37]

Aubameyang picked up a calf injury which kept him out of the starting lineup of the 2-1 Premier League defeat at Goodison Park against Everton. A Rob Holding own goal and a Yerry Mina header on either side of Nicolas Pépé's converted penalty before half-time gave the Toffees the win, with David Luiz coming closest for Arsenal in the second half when he hit the post with a well-struck half-volley.[38]

This was followed by a bitterly disappointing performance against Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium in the League Cup quarter-finals. Gabriel Jesus scored for City inside two minutes and although Alexandre Lacazette equalised against the run of play, second-half goals from Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Aymeric Laporte gave City a comfortable 4-1 win, as Arsenal's League Cup run came to an end in the quarter-finals for the second time in three years.[39]

However, this was followed by a spectacular win over Chelsea at home in the Premier League, Arsenal's first in nearly two months. Aubameyang was still struggling with a calf injury as Mikel Arteta reshuffled his side, giving starts to youngsters Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe, with Pablo Marí making his first league appearance and start of the season and Granit Xhaka returning from his suspension. In the thirty-third minute, the Swiss midfielder found Kieran Tierney with a floated pass to the left side of the field. Tierney cut inside past Chelsea right back Reece James, who clipped the Scotsman's ankles inside the box. Referee Michael Oliver immediately awarded the penalty, which Alexandre Lacazette converted past Édouard Mendy. Before halftime, Xhaka scored a spectacular free kick to increase Arsenal's lead. In the second half, Arsenal continued to add to their lead. After receiving a pass from Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka seemed to attempt a cross to the far post, but his errant pass managed to chip Mendy and find the top corner. Arsenal nearly managed to add a fourth when a Saka corner in the eighty-fourth minute fell to Mohamed Elneny on the edge of the box, but the Egyptian's half-volley rattled off the crossbar. Less than two minutes later, a cross from Callum Hudson-Odoi was chested in by Tammy Abraham, which, after VAR ruled it to be correctly onside, made the score 3–1. In stoppage time, Pablo Marí conceded a late penalty when he clipped Mason Mount in the box, giving Chelsea the opportunity to halve the deficit. However, Jorginho, a second-half substitute, had his spot kick saved by Bernd Leno to cap off a 3–1 victory for the Gunners.[40][41]

A hard-fought 1–0 win away to Brighton at the Amex Stadium saw Arsenal rise to thirteenth after spending the previous five matchweeks at fifteenth place. After a run by Bukayo Saka down the left in the sixty-sixth minute, the youngster found Alexandre Lacazette, who scored just 29 seconds after coming on in the 66th minute. Despite Saka limping off later with an injury, the three points ensured Arsenal ended 2020 on a high.[42]

Arsenal hoped to win their third straight league game in a row and started off 2021 away to West Brom at The Hawthorns, who had conceded thirteen goals in their previous three league games. A snowstorm before and during the game made for less-than-ideal conditions, but Arsenal were on the front foot from the start, and a cross from Bukayo Saka to the back post proved to be just too far for captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the fifteenth minute. Arsenal opened the scoring in the twenty-third minute when Kieran Tierney ran in from the left past Darnell Furlong and curled in a shot past Sam Johnstone. Five minutes later, Alexandre Lacazette passed out to Emile Smith Rowe on the right side of the box, who found the onrushing Saka, who in turn tapped in Arsenal's second goal of the game. In the closing minutes of the first half, Héctor Bellerín received a yellow card for a late tackle on Conor Gallagher; this was the Spaniard's sixth yellow card of the season and a league-leading mark at the time. The score stayed 2–0 at halftime. Two minutes into the second half, West Brom came the closest they were to scoring all game when winger Matheus Pereira's shot across goal hit the far post and Callum Robinson put in the rebound from just outside of the box for West Brom, but the goal was ruled out due to Pereira being offside. An early second-half substitution saw Ainsley Maitland-Niles replace Bellerín at right back, so as to avoid the danger of the Spaniard receiving a second yellow and a subsequent red card and suspension. In the sixtieth minute, Arsenal continued to pad their lead. A cross from Saka from the right was nearly put in by West Brom defender Semi Ajayi, who hit the post. The rebound fell to Smith Rowe, whose shot was parried away by Johnstone but fell to Lacazette, who slotted in the third Gunners goal of the game. This also marked the third straight game in which Lacazette has scored. The French striker added a fourth goal and his second of the game minutes later after connecting with a Tierney cross a few yards in front of the goal. The score remained the same and the game finished 4–0. Along with the Gunners' third win in a row, this was the second consecutive clean sheet for Bernd Leno and the first time all season that Leno has had consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League. With the win, Arsenal moved up to eleventh and their goal difference became positive for the first time since early November.[43][44][45]

Arsenal began their FA Cup defense in the third round against fellow Premier League side Newcastle United at home on 9 January. At halftime, the score was 0–0, as neither side was able to break the deadlock, though Arsenal had more of the chances. In the second half, Joe Willock's header in the sixty-fifth minute and Newcastle striker Andy Carroll's strike in second half stoppage time, both of which forced close-range saves out of Martin Dúbravka and Bernd Leno, respectively, represented each team's best opportunity to score. In the final moments of the second half, referee Chris Kavanagh sent off Emile Smith Rowe with a straight red card for a foul on Sean Longstaff, but after VAR review, the red card was downgraded to a yellow. In the first half of extra time, despite Arsenal continuing to dominate the chances, they were unable to score; Granit Xhaka's volley from outside the box was tipped over the crossbar by Dúbravka, while a potential penalty was dismissed by Kavanagh and VAR when Matt Ritchie tripped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the latter attempted to dribble past the former into the box. Smith Rowe was able to redeem himself early in the second half of extra time as he chested down a pass from Alexandre Lacazette before firing a shot from a tight angle across the goal and off the near post to put Arsenal ahead. A few minutes later, Aubameyang sealed the win for the Gunners when he tapped in a low cross from Kieran Tierney. With the 2–0 win, Arsenal advanced to the fourth round.[46][47]

The Gunners returned to Premier League action on 14 January at home against Crystal Palace, hoping to make it five wins in a row in all competitions. However, neither team was able to find the back of the net, and the game finished 0–0. The Eagles landed nine shots on target in the first half, which was the most that Arsenal had given up the first half in a home Premier League game all season. All game, the visitors had more of the higher quality chances. James Tomkins' header from an Eberechi Eze free kick in the thirty-ninth minute hit the crossbar, while Christian Benteke's header from a Tyrick Mitchell cross minutes later was parried wide by Bernd Leno. On the other hand, Arsenal struggled to seriously trouble Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, and arguably their best performer was Granit Xhaka, who put in key tackles to stop Wilfried Zaha on several counterattacks. One silver lining that Arsenal could take away from the goalless draw was that they kept a fourth consecutive clean sheet and their third straight in league competition.[48][49]

For the second time in nine days, Arsenal welcomed Newcastle United to the Emirates Stadium, this time in league competition. Like in the previous encounter, neither team was able to score in the first half, despite a near miss in the fifteenth minute when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the post from a tight angle. However, this time, Arsenal managed to secure the victory in regulation time. In the fiftieth minute, Thomas Partey, who made his first Premier League start since early December, hit a long pass out to Aubameyang out on the left, who in turn took on and ran past Newcastle right-back Emil Krafth before hitting a left-footed strike past Karl Darlow. Ten minutes later, another attack down the left-hand side of the field resulted in a second goal when Bukayo Saka struck home Emile Smith Rowe's low cross. Arsenal continued to utilize their good wing play, this time from the right side of the field. Saka found the overlapping right-back Cédric, who ran along the goal line before flashing a pass across goal that found Aubameyang for the latter's second goal of the game. The 3–0 win saw Arsenal extend their unbeaten streak in league competition.[50][51]

Southampton's win over Shrewsbury Town in the third round of the FA Cup meant that Arsenal would face the Saints in consecutive away games at St Mary's Stadium within a four-day span. The first of these meetings was a fourth round FA Cup match on 23 January. An own goal from Gabriel, who deflected a shot by Southampton right-back Kyle Walker-Peters past Bernd Leno, proved to be the difference, handing the Saints a 1–0 win and ending the Gunners' six-match unbeaten streak in all competitions. Che Adams and James Ward-Prowse also came close to scoring for Southampton, while a potential penalty call from Shane Long was dismissed by referee Peter Bankes. On the other hand, Eddie Nketiah's deflected shot in the second half was Arsenal's best chance of scoring the whole game, and Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster was seldom called into action. With the loss, Arsenal, the cup holders, were knocked out of the competition, while Southampton advanced to the fifth round to face Wolverhampton Wanderers. Notably, this was the first time in five attempts that Southampton defeated Arsenal in the FA Cup. For manager Mikel Arteta, this was his first loss in fifteen FA Cup games as either a player or a manager since he played in a fifth round loss to Blackburn Rovers in the 2012–13 FA Cup.[52][53][54]

In the second of these meetings, this time a Premier League match on 26 January, both teams got on the board early. In the third minute, a corner from James Ward-Prowse found Stuart Armstrong on the edge of the box, and the Scotsman powered a half-volley past Bernd Leno. However, Arsenal was able to capitalize on the absences of both of the Saints' usual starting full-backs, those being left-back Ryan Bertrand (serving a one-match ban due to yellow card accumulation) and right-back Kyle Walker-Peters (out due to a quadriceps injury). A few minutes after the Saints' opening goal, Granit Xhaka cut a pass between Saints defenders Yan Valery and Jan Bednarek to find Nicolas Pépé, who held off Valery and fired past Alex McCarthy to the far post to level the score. In the thirty-ninth minute, Alexandre Lacazette played a pass to Bukayo Saka, who managed to get past Jake Vokins. McCarthy rushed outside of his penalty box to confront Saka before pulling back to avoid committing a foul, but the Southampton goalkeeper's mistake allowed Saka to easily get around him and tap in a second goal for the Gunners. In the second half, Arsenal sought to extend their lead and close out the game. A high floating pass from Cédric found Saka across the field in the seventy-second minute, and this time, Saka turned provider for Lacazette. A first time low cross from Saka found the French striker, who ran between and past Southampton center-backs Bednarek and Jack Stephens to tap in Arsenal's third goal. Despite a threatening free kick from Ward-Prowse late in the game that forced Leno to parry it away, Arsenal hung on for the 3–1 win, which saw Arsenal return to the top ten for the first time all season since Matchday 7 at the beginning of November.[55][56][57]

Arsenal finished off the month by welcoming rivals Manchester United to the Emirates Stadium on 30 January. Both teams were evenly matched and had several opportunities each to score. In the twentieth minute, a corner from Luke Shaw that was headed away by Rob Holding fell to Fred just outside the box. The Brazilian midfielder managed to get the ball out from underneath himself and scooped it towards the top corner, forcing a fingertip save from Bernd Leno. Shortly before the hour mark, a sequence of passes by Manchester United in and around the box ended up with Shaw laying off a pass to Edinson Cavani, but under heavy pressure from Cédric, the Uruguayan striker flashed the shot wide from six yards out. In the sixty-fifth minute, Alexandre Lacazette hit the crossbar with a free kick from the edge of the box. Less than a minute later, with Arsenal still on the attack, Cédric hit a looping cross into the box that met the head of Victor Lindelöf and fell to an unmarked Emile Smith Rowe, whose low shot towards the bottom corner forced de Gea to get down quickly and parry it away. A late substitution saw Norwegian attacking midfielder Martin Ødegaard, who had just signed on loan from Real Madrid until the end of the season, make his debut for the Gunners, coming on in place of Smith Rowe. In the eighty-ninth minute, Manchester United had the chance to steal the win, but a lapse in communication saw Cavani and Anthony Martial in the same location trying to connect with a cross from Aaron Wan-Bissaka. It was the former who got there first, but his scissor-kick only managed to divert the ball just wide of the post. The 0–0 draw meant that both teams shared the points, and while the result meant that Arsenal maintained their seven-game unbeaten streak in the league and a top ten placing, it also meant that Manchester United dropped points for the second game in a row and missed the opportunity to close the gap to league leaders Manchester City.[58][59]

On 2 February, Arsenal traveled to Molineux to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the Gunners dominated the game for most of the first half. Around 30 seconds into the game, Thomas Partey hit a long ball to Bukayo Saka, who managed to just sprint past Max Kilman for control of the ball. Saka continued to drive into the box and fired a left-footed shot that hit the far post. After Saka had another shot on target in the third minute, he seemed to have scored in the ninth minute. A pull-back pass from Alexandre Lacazette was met with a half-volley from the edge of the box by Saka, but VAR quickly disallowed the goal, having found Lacazette offside on a knock-on header from Rob Holding. Arsenal continued to lay on the pressure and had another close miss when Emile Smith Rowe layed off a pass for the onrushing Nicolas Pépé, who could only managed to hit the woodwork. Minutes later, after wriggling past Nélson Semedo and nutmegging Rúben Neves, the Ivorian winger curled the ball to the far post and in to finally put Arsenal on the board. In first-half stoppage time, Daniel Podence played a pass between Arsenal defenders Holding and David Luiz to the advancing Willian José. As the Wolves striker continued his run into the box, his heel struck the knee of David Luiz and brought down both Brazilian players. Despite the minimal contact, characterized as "accidental" by NBCSN commentators Peter Drury and Phil Neville, referee Craig Pawson immediately brandished a red card to David Luiz, a call that VAR referee Jon Moss agreed on. With Arsenal down to ten players, Rúben Neves curled the penalty into the top corner to bring Wolves level. The penalty seemed to have marked turn in the tides of the game, as Wolves began to dominate the game coming out of halftime. A few minutes into the second half, a strike by João Moutinho from 25 yards out hit the post and flew in past a diving Bernd Leno to put Wolves into the lead. Arsenal's misfortunes were compounded on in the seventh-second minute with their second red card of the game, this time for Leno. Semedo played a long ball for the speedy Adama Traoré to chase, but the slightly overhit pass was met first by Leno just outside of the box. In a desperate attempt to parry the ball away from Traoré, the German misjudged the bounce of the ball and scooped it out of bounds with his hand, an illegal action for goalkeepers outside of their own penalty area. Pawson once again brought out a red card for the infraction, reducing Arsenal to just nine players for the remainder of the match, while backup goalkeeper Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson came on in goal. Arsenal were unable score again, and the 2–1 loss saw their winning streak came to an end, while Wolves completed a league double over Arsenal and snapped an eight-game winless streak.[60][61][62]

Arsenal continued their Premier League campaign on 6 February with another away game at Villa Park against Aston Villa and former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, who had signed with the Villans in the summer transfer window. The Gunners hoped to overturn the 3–0 loss from earlier in the season, but an early goal from the home side within 75 seconds turned out to be the only goal all game. John McGinn tried to play a through pass to Ollie Watkins, but it was cut out by Gabriel, who touched it to Cédric. The Portuguese full-back immediately tried to play it back to Gabriel, but the weight of the pass was not enough, and Bertrand Traoré rushed in to intercept it. Traoré then ran past Gabriel before crossing it to Watkins, who fired through the legs of Rob Holding. The deflection off Holding's legs was enough to take it past the reach of Mathew Ryan, who was deputizing in goal for the red-card-suspended Bernd Leno. The best opportunity from Arsenal to tie it up came from a Granit Xhaka free-kick in the twenty-ninth minute that was tipped over by Martínez. The 1–0 loss saw Aston Villa complete their first league double over Arsenal in 38 years, who remained winless against the Villans in their last three Premier League meetings dating back to last season, the first of which also happened to be a 1–0 loss at Villa Park.[63][64]

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Date	Position	Name	To	End date	Team	Ref.
16 July 2020	CB	Konstantinos Mavropanos	VfB Stuttgart	End of season	First team	[117]
10 August 2020	CB	Zech Medley	Gillingham	13 January 2021	Under-23s	[118][119]
	RB	Zak Swanson	MVV Maastricht	1 December 2020	Under-23s	[120][121]
13 August 2020	RW	Trae Coyle	Gillingham	13 January 2021	Under-23s	[122][123][124]
17 August 2020	CM	Matt Smith	Swindon Town	1 February 2021	Under-23s	[125][126]
25 August 2020	RB	Jordi Osei-Tutu	Cardiff City	End of season	Under-23s	[127]
4 September 2020	DM	Ben Sheaf	Coventry City	End of season	Under-23s	[128]
8 September 2020	ST	Tyreece John-Jules	Doncaster Rovers	End of season	Under-23s	[129]
22 September 2020	CB	Mark McGuinness	Ipswich Town	End of season	Under-23s	[130]
5 October 2020	CB	Daniel Ballard	Blackpool	End of season	Under-23s	[131][132]
	CM	Matteo Guendouzi	Hertha BSC	End of season	First team	[133]
	DM	Lucas Torreira	Atlético Madrid	End of season	First team	[134]
8 October 2020	GK	Dejan Iliev	Shrewsbury Town	28 January 2021	Under-23s	[135]
	DF	Tolaji Bola	Rochdale	31 January 2021	Under-23s	[136]
16 October 2020	DF	Harry Clarke	Oldham Athletic	End of season	Under-23s	[137]
17 October 2020	MF	James Olayinka	Southend United	End of season	Under-23s	[138][139]
17 October 2020	GK	Tom Smith	Dover Athletic	22 January 2021	Under-23s	[140]
31 December 2020	LB	Sead Kolašinac	Schalke 04	End of season	First team	[141]
4 January 2021	CB	William Saliba	Nice	End of season	First team	[142]
1 February 2021	CB	Joseph Olowu	Wealdstone	End of season	Under-23s	[143]
	RB	Ainsley Maitland-Niles	West Bromwich Albion	End of season	First team	[144]
	CB	Zech Medley	Kilmarnock	End of season	Under-23s	[145][146]
	CM	Matt Smith	Charlton Athletic	End of season	Under-23s	[126]
	CM	Joe Willock	Newcastle United	End of season	First team	[147]

1.^ For an undisclosed loan fee. (~4m [148])

2.^ For an undisclosed loan fee.)

3.^ For an undisclosed loan fee. (~3m [149][150])

4.^ For an undisclosed loan fee. (~1.8m [151])

The league fixtures were announced on 20 August 2020.[153]

The third round draw was made on 30th November, with Premier League and EFL Championship clubs all entering the competition.[154] The draw for the fourth and fifth round were made on 11 January, conducted by Peter Crouch.[155]

The group stage draw was held on 2 October 2020.[157]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ARS	MOL	RW	DUN
1	Arsenal	6	6	0	0	20	5	+15	18	Advance to knockout phase		—	4–1	4–1	3–0
2	Molde	6	3	1	2	9	11	−2	10			0–3	—	1–0	3–1
3	Rapid Wien	6	2	1	3	11	13	−2	7			1–2	2–2	—	4–3
4	Dundalk	6	0	0	6	8	19	−11	0			2–4	1–2	1–3	—

Rapid Wien v Arsenal

22 October 2020 1	Rapid Wien	1–2	Arsenal	Vienna, Austria
18:55 CEST (UTC+2)	Grahovac  15' Fountas  51' Arase  61' Kara  63' Ritzmaier  70'	Report	Lacazette  27' Partey  35' Nketiah  38' David Luiz  70' Aubameyang  74' Leno  90+2'	Stadium: Allianz Stadion Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Pavel Královec (Czech Republic)

Arsenal v Dundalk

29 October 2020 2	Arsenal	3–0	Dundalk	London, England
20:00 GMT (UTC±0)	Nketiah  42' Willock  44' Pépé  46'	Report		Stadium: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Filip Glova (Slovakia)

Arsenal v Molde

5 November 2020 3	Arsenal	4–1	Molde	London, England
20:00 GMT (UTC±0)	Haugen  45+1' (o.g.) David Luiz  58' Sinyan  62' (o.g.) Pépé  69' Saka  77' Willock  88'	Report	Ellingsen  22'	Stadium: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Halil Umut Meler (Turkey)

Molde v Arsenal

26 November 2020 4	Molde	0–3	Arsenal	Molde, Norway
18:55 CET (UTC+1)		Report	Pépé  50' Nelson  55' Balogun  83'	Stadium: Aker Stadion Attendance: 600 Referee: Irfan Peljto (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Arsenal v Rapid Wien

3 December 2020 5	Arsenal	4–1	Rapid Wien	London, England
20:00 GMT (UTC±0)	Lacazette  10' Marí  18' Elneny  42' Nketiah  44' Mustafi  61' Smith Rowe  66'	Report	Ullmann  39' Kitagawa  47' Sonnleitner  79'	Stadium: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Radu Petrescu (Romania)

Dundalk v Arsenal

10 December 2020 6	Dundalk	2–4	Arsenal	Dublin, Ireland
17:55 GMT (UTC±0)	Boyle  10' Flores  22' Mountney  61' Cleary  70' Shields  77' Kelly  82' Hoare  85'	Report	Nketiah  12' Elneny  18' Cédric  28' Willock  30',  67' Balogun  80'	Stadium: Aviva Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)