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Arsenal: FA Cup defeat at Southampton turns up heat in trophy hunt

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The Gunners have not won the Premier League for 22 years and have finished in second place for three successive seasons.

The Carabao Cup final was Arsenal’s first chance to win a major trophy for six years.

And after losing to City and now being knocked out of the FA Cup by a lower league team for the first time since 2021-22 – a third round loss to Nottingham Forest – the Gunners need to ensure these defeats do not turn into a slump in form.

“They have to not let the season run away from them,” former Arsenal and Southampton forward Theo Walcott told BBC Sport.

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“Everything they have built this season, don’t let it affect them. They have been in this situation before and they don’t want to relive that.”

Mikel Arteta has consistently spoken about everyone at the club’s desire to win but with the end of the season approaching, games running out, and a £250m spend in the summer, the pressure is at an all-time high.

Walcott said he noticed a “nervous energy” on the touchline at St Mary’s that has been seen before in recent years.

“Visually watching Mikel on the sidelines, it was elements of previous years where that energy reflected into the team,” he said.

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“It was very tense. Not just Mikel but a lot of the staff were out there at times. It was like too many cooks in the kitchen, too many messages.”

It was a poor Arsenal performance by the high standards they have set throughout the season.

And despite dominating possession, having 23 shots and levelling the game in the 68th minute, the Gunners never really looked like they would go onto win.

“I love my players. What they have done for nine months. I’m not going to criticise them because we lost a game here in the manner that they tried,” Arteta said.

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“And the way they are putting their bodies through everything. Some of them probably didn’t even have to be here. I’m not going to do that. I’m going to defend them more than ever.

“Someone has to take responsibility. That’s me and we have the most beautiful period of the season ahead of us.

“In the season, you always have moments. Normally two or three. This is the first moment that we have.

“So stand up, make yourself comfortable and deliver like we’ve been doing all season.”

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The Gunners boss was then asked how he can prevent this form rolling into the rest of the season and derailing their Champions League and Premier League campaigns.

“Giving them [the players] clarity, giving more conviction, trusting our players, believing in what we are doing,” Arteta said.

“And continue to do that with the tweaks that every game demands.

“But especially maintaining the speed, the attitude and the energy at the highest possible level. Because that’s critical to perform at the level that we need to win matches.”

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Is the Championship heading for financial ‘catastrophe’?

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Four of the ever-present Championship sides since 2020-21 are also among the top six current second-tier clubs hardest hit by losses.

Bristol City (£111m), Preston (£84.4m), QPR (£82.9m) and Middlesbrough (£80.4m) have all failed to record a profit for five consecutive seasons – as have Derby, Millwall, Oxford, Portsmouth and Swansea.

Coventry City, who are on course to win promotion to the Premier League this season, have lost £29.5m in the past five years, while Ipswich Town are down £72.4m.

Maguire likened Championship owners striving for the top flight to “buying a EuroMillions ticket” with clubs chasing a TV deal worth £106m plus parachute payments in the Premier League compared to £12m in the second tier.

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“If I’m a Championship owner, I know at the start of the season, in theory, I’ve got a one in eight chance of getting promoted,” he said, which is in turn causing owners to “act like the the bank of mum and dad”.

“They hand over money effectively unquestioningly, which is nominally a loan, but both parties know there is no chance of repayment.

“The owner of Stoke wrote off £90m, the Hemmings family in Preston put in £1m a month.

“And that now becomes the norm.”

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RCB vs CSK LIVE Score, IPL 2026: Virat Kohli Out After Breaking Own Record, RCB One Down vs CSK

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma, Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam Dar, Kanishk Chouhan, Venkatesh Iyer, Josh Hazlewood, Mangesh Yadav, Vihaan Malhotra, Vicky Ostwal, Jordan Cox, Swapnil Singh, Satvik Deswal

Chennai Super Kings Squad: Sanju Samson(w), Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Matt Henry, Khaleel Ahmed, Jamie Overton, Rahul Chahar, Matthew Short, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, MS Dhoni, Shreyas Gopal, Spencer Johnson, Mukesh Choudhary, Urvil Patel, Aman Khan, Dewald Brevis, Zakary Foulkes.

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How to watch Caroline Dubois vs Terri Harper – TV channel, live stream and ring walk time

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How to watch Caroline Dubois vs Terri Harper – TV channel, live stream and ring walk time – Manchester Evening News