The 2020–21 season was Arsenal's 29th season in the Premier League, their 95th consecutive season in the top flight of English football and 104th season in the top flight overall. In addition to the domestic league, Arsenal participated in the FA Cup and EFL Cup. They also participated in the UEFA Europa League for the fourth consecutive year. Arsenal kicked off the season by defeating league champions Liverpool in the FA Community Shield, which ended up being their only trophy.
Managed by Mikel Arteta in his first full season, Arsenal finished eighth in their Premier League season, and following eliminations from the FA Cup, EFL Cup and UEFA Europa League, they failed to qualify for any European competition for the first time since the 1994–95 season.
Review Background 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. 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.
August Pre-season 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.
Following the departure of assistant coach and former interim manager Freddie Ljungberg, Arsenal permanently signed January loanees Cédric Soares and Pablo Marí, 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.
Community Shield 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.
September 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. 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.
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 Rodák. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
October 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 Bernd 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 champions Manchester City.
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.
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, and Mesut Özil offered to pay his salary.
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.
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." It is to be believed that Özil will no play for the club again in a competitive match.
The club then played their first-ever game 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.
This victory, however, was quickly followed by a bitterly disappointing 1–0 home defeat to Leicester City in the sixth matchweek of the 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.