Arsenal warmed up convincingly for Double Gameweek 26, beating Sunderland 3-0 to take a nine-point lead – even if it was only for 24 hours.
These are the most important conclusions from the Emirates.
TROSSARD INJURED?
Arsenal did it all without Bukayo Saka (£9.9 million) and Martin Odegaard (£7.8m), not that their absence was a surprise.
Towards the end of the match the Gunners got another scare.
Leandro Trossard (£6.8m), who was impressive against the Black Cats, seemed to struggle as the clock tickedand running away – at least without help – shortly afterwards.
There was no fitness update on Mikel Arteta’s Trossard after full-time. Arteta did discuss the winger in the post-match interviews, praising his contribution but not citing any problem.
With the Gunners not playing until Thursday, there is a good chance that Arteta will only appear in the media after Deadline for Gameweek 26 from Tuesday. So much may still be unknown about Trossard, Saka and Odegaard heading into the first Double Gameweek of 2025/26.
Our greatest hope? Probably some early week training footage from the Sky Sports cameras, like we had last Thursday. Even then, that may simply present something of a red herring Jurriën Hout (£6.4 million). The Dutchman not only started Saturday but also finished the game.
GYOKERES’ SHARES RISE FOR DOUBLE GAME WEEK?
Bar Declan Rice (£7.5 million) and Martin Zubimendi (£5.2m), one of the biggest problems in beating Arsenal’s midfielders and forwards is their lack of guaranteed minutes in the Double Gameweek. Anything from 60-160 minutes is possible.
Viktor Gyokeres‘ (£8.7m) xMins probably got a boost here, mind you. Coming on as a substitute against Sunderland (proving the point of the rotation scare), he came off the bench to score a second-half brace. His goals owed a lot to the game situation and to his teammates: Trossard’s fine slide rule and Kai Havertz‘s (£7.3m) square pass found him in the center of the penalty area for the opener, while his second goal in stoppage time was a tap-in after fine work on the counter-attack from Gabriel Martinelli (£6.8 million).
Six of the Swede’s eight Premier League goals have come against newly promoted clubs.
Still, you would expect Gyokeres to start over now Gabriel Jesus (£6.4m) on Thursday, so get a rest against Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup, and then potentially return for the Gameweek 26 final at Molineux. A North London derby will of course follow four days later.
“[Confidence] is the magic word, I think. When you feel confident, when you feel important, when you feel your best, then you can really take your game to the highest level. We’re all trying, the first one, the teammates, but obviously all the staff is behind him at every moment to help him, try to support him, and he’s delivering results and he’s in a very good moment now. – Mikel Arteta on Viktor Gyokeres
A Trossard injury would increase Martinelli’s playing time potential, but we have actually seen the Brazilian finish the game on the right flank in the last three matches. On each occasion, Saka was a substitute Call Maduyke (£6.8 million) is hooked early on. You might get two starts from Madueke in Gameweek 26, but you’ll always keep an eye on the clock:
| Agreement | Minutes by Noni Madueke |
|---|---|
| vs Leeds (Gameweek 24) | 60 |
| at Chelsea (EFL Cup semi-final) | 68 |
| v Sunderland (Gameweek 25) | 59 |
Madueke was largely unproductive, although he almost forced an own-goal and won possession for Arsenal’s first goal.
RARE SALIBA + RAYA ‘EXTRAS’
There has been a lot of discussion before Gameweek 26 about how little David Raya (£5.9 million) and William Saliba (£6.0m) provides clean sheets at the bar. It is therefore ironic that the pair delivered ‘extras’ on Saturday.
Saliba, engaged in a physical battle with the impressive Brian Brobbey (£5.5m) collected DefCon points for the first time since Gameweek 1. Raya, meanwhile, collected more than six FPL points in a match for the second time since the opening weekend.
It was even more incongruous that Raya earned a bonus point since a) he only made two stops and b) he was pretty poor. Both saves came from attempts outside the area, the second was unconvincingly repelled. Raya also dropped a cross at the feet of Brobbey for Sunderland’s only big chance, and it had to be saved by Gabriel Magalhaes (£7.1 million) on another occasion.
Despite Raya’s best efforts and a rusty display of Riccardo Calafiori (£5.6m) at left back, this was another impressive defensive performance in which the opposition xG was kept well below:
RICE’S DEFCON ENDS DRY
Rice’s four-match run ended, so to speak, with the return of DefCon.
He was also inches away from scoring with a shot from the edge of the penalty area as he put the substitute ahead God bless you (£7.2m) for a very presentable opportunity after the break.
Zubimendi scored from a similar position to where Rice missed; both opportunities were set up by the influential Trossard. While Rice’s effort went agonizingly wide, Zubimendi’s hit the post and went in. Fine margins.
Remarkably, the unheralded (in FPL terms) Zubimendi is now Arsenal’s joint second top scorer in 2025/2026!
Statistically, the Spaniard creates, shoots and collects defensive contributions less often than Rice, but he’s not doing too badly at all for a £5.2m midfielder. Back-to-back 10-point flights have earned his century of FPL points.
FORGET AND MOVE ON FOR SUNDERLAND
There is no shame in losing to one of the best teams in Europe.
Sunderland actually did quite well for long parts of this match, limiting the hosts to some clear-cut chances. After Havertz’s header went wide in the first minute, the Gunners didn’t really have a good opening until Gyokeres’ goal in the 66th minute.
It is Sunderland’s third defeat in a row, and in each of those they have conceded three goals. However, this was different from the surrender at Brentford and West Ham United.
“The score is the same, but it wasn’t the same match.” – Regis Le Bris on the recent away losses
The Mackems are also now crucially back on home soil, where they are unbeaten in 2025/26, in matchweeks 26 and 27.
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