Unai Emery’s first season in charge at Arsenal ended in disappointment, and so he’ll be desperate to make a quick start next time round.
The Gunners eventually missed out on a top four finish in the Premier League, while they suffered defeat to London rivals Chelsea in the Europa League final.
In turn, they’ll sit out of the Champions League for a third consecutive campaign, and so improvements will be needed this coming year to get back to Europe’s top table.
It won’t be easy to make a positive start though, as they begin the season with a trip to Newcastle Utd, while they face Liverpool at Anfield and host local rivals Tottenham in their third and fourth games of the season respectively.
With that in mind, that could apply early pressure on Emery and his men if results don’t go their way, but they’ll undoubtedly go into the new campaign with optimism and high spirits believing that they will make a fast start.
Elsewhere, they face Chelsea and Man Utd consecutively around New Year’s Day while it’s a difficult end to the year too with clashes against Spurs, Liverpool and a trip to newly-promoted Aston Villa in three of their last four outings.
Much will depend on who arrives to strengthen Emery’s squad this summer, but they’ll hope that they add enough quality to put themselves in a stronger position to break back into the top four.
They’ll have to juggle that with deep runs in the domestic cup competitions, while the Gunners boss will hope to continue his impressive record in the Europa League by going one better than last time round.
The Premier League has to be the priority for Arsenal though, as they will be desperate to get back into the top four and qualify for the Champions League through that route.
