How Arsenal’s February schedule could shape the Premier League title race | OneFootball

Arsenal claimed their eighth consecutive Premier League win against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend to stay within striking distance of table-topping Liverpool.

Riccardo Calafiori’s second-half winner settled an ill-tempered affair at Molineux, which saw both sides reduced to ten men, keeping Mikel Arteta’s side six points adrift of the Reds.

Referee Michael Oliver sent off Myles Lewis-Skelly on the stroke of half-time. Per the Daily Mail, his controversial decision to give the youngster his marching orders left Arteta ‘fuming’.

Unfazed by Lewis-Skelly’s expulsion, the Gunners took home three precious points, maintaining their see-saw league form at the beginning of 2025.

They’ve alternated between winning and drawing across five top-flight outings in January but kept a clean sheet for the first time in 11 away league games.

However, with Arne Slot’s high-flyers boasting a game in hand, Arsenal’s bid to go one better on last season’s runner-up finish looks tough.

Following a heavily congested January schedule, Arsenal’s fixtures next month won’t be coming as thick and fast as at the start of the new calendar year.

But that doesn’t mean they can rest easy.

Manchester City – Premier League (H) – 02/02/2025

Arsenal are ‘working on a deal to sign’ prodigious midfielder Sverre Nypan from Rosenborg via The Athletic.

However, he is hardly the transformative signing Arteta needs to make a quantum leap in the title race.

Recent league encounters against perennial champions Man City have exposed the Gunners’ attacking vulnerabilities amid the club’s feeble attempt to add a prolific goal-getter.

Before a nail-biting 2-2 draw in September’s reverse fixture, Arsenal had failed to score more than once in five consecutive top-flight matches against Pep Guardiola’s team.

The Cityzens have put their roughest patch under the Spaniard to bed and will be out to challenge Arsenal’s title credentials at the Emirates Stadium, where they had won six straight league games before a 1-0 defeat in October 2023.

Newcastle United – League Cup (A) – 05/02/2025

Arsenal’s top-flight campaign will briefly take a back seat as they head to St James’ Park to meet Newcastle in the return leg of their League Cup semi-final tie.

The Gunners’ quest to bring home the title in England’s second most prestigious cup competition for the first time since 1992/93 is in tatters after a 2-0 home defeat in the first leg.

Eddie Howe’s men have got the better of Arsenal in both competitive encounters this season without conceding, highlighting the size of the task awaiting Arteta’s charges.

Leicester City – Premier League (A) – 15/02/2025

Firmly embroiled in the relegation scrap, Leicester City ended a dreadful seven-game losing league run with a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

However, beating Spurs’ fiercest rivals is an entirely different proposition.

Arsenal can’t afford a slip-up at the King Power Stadium, where they’ve emerged victorious from their last three Premier League clashes against the Foxes.

West Ham United – Premier League (H) – 22/02/2025

Graham Potter’s appointment may have come too late to salvage West Ham United’s European ambitions, but it offers the downtrodden London outfit a fresh start after Julen Lopetegui’s substandard tenure.

Despite experiencing a mixed start to life in the capital, Potter has been a thorn in Arsenal’s side, beating them four times in nine duels while in charge of Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea (D1, L4).

Meanwhile, Arsenal thumped the Hammers in both Premier League meetings last year, netting at least five goals on each occasion, including a stunning 5-2 win in November.

But with Potter in the dugout, the Gunners can’t take West Ham for granted.

Nottingham Forest – Premier League (A) – 26/02/2025

Arsenal take a trip to the City Ground to drop the curtain on the February schedule, seeking a second successive league double over surprise package Nottingham Forest.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have defied every expectation this season to establish themselves as genuine top-four contenders despite being tipped for a season-long fight against the drop.

However, one of their five Premier League losses came against none other than the Gunners in a 3-0 rout at the Emirates in late November.

Replicating that scoreline at the City Ground could be a tall order, considering the Tricky Trees have conceded only 0.9 goals per home game on average this term.