5 Key Premier League Fixtures for Arsenal to Focus on in 2015/16 Season

The June 17 announcement of the 2015/16 Premier League fixtures has already got supporters of all 20 clubs checking their calendars and looking up the key dates, but what are Arsenal’s most important matches?

Of course every fixture is important when you are a club such as the Gunners, who are chasing Premier League glory, but these five might just prove to be the most crucial.

(All dates are subject to change due to television schedules and/or European involvement)

Liverpool (Home), 22 August 2015

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The brutal 4-1 win over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in April killed off any pretensions that Brendan Rodgers and his side had about Champions League qualification, with Arsenal also able to wipe away memories of the embarrassing 5-1 loss at Anfield the previous February.

With this meeting coming so early in the campaign and right at the start of an incredibly tricky run of away games for the Reds, this clash presents a perfect opportunity for Arsenal to establish themselves in the hierarchy at the top end of the table and deal a crushing blow to a potential rival early on.

Liverpool spiralled into a tailspin after that 4-1 loss at Easter, and a similar result this time around could see their season wrecked from the very beginning and give Arsenal a timely boost.

Chelsea (Away), 19 September 2015

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It is possible to see the Gunners winning each of their first five games (West Ham home, Crystal Palace away, Liverpool home, Newcastle away and Stoke home) and springing to a perfect start to the season, but then they’ll run into Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea roadblock.

Arsene Wenger’s side barely laid a glove on the Blues in a 2-0 defeat last October—as opposed to the duelling managers on the touchline—but this will represent a perfect opportunity to show they have evolved since then, with January’s 2-0 win at Manchester City perhaps the best example of that.

Stand up to the challenge at Stamford Bridge—maybe with Chelsea favourite Petr Cech in goal—to perhaps nick a point and the Gunners will be flying, but lose and allow Mourinho’s trademark grin to spread across his face, and Wenger might find himself back at square one.

Southampton (Away), 26 December 2015

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Boxing Day fixtures have long been an English football tradition, and this time around the Gunners will head for a venue where they were awful in a 2-0 defeat on New Year’s Day this year.

It remains to be seen whether Ronald Koeman’s Southampton will be as impressive in 2015/16 as they were in the campaign just passed, but a trip to St Mary’s during the busy festive period is going to be a tough one for Wenger’s side. He will hope that the influences of Southampton old boys Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Calum Chambers can help them to a positive result.

Whatever happens they’ll just hope to turn in a better display than the one they gave in January, when two Wojciech Szczesny errors proved costly in what was possibly their worst performance of the season.

Tottenham (Away), 5 March 2016

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After leading at half-time, Arsenal’s 2-1 north London derby defeat to Harry Kane and Tottenham in February felt all the more damaging, and at the time it looked as though it could help Spurs finish above their great rivals.

Of course that didn’t prove to be the case as the Gunners battled back to take the local bragging rights again, but having now won on only one of their last seven trips to White Hart Lane, the Gunners will be desperate to add another success to the win column and keep their rivals in check, especially at what will surely be a crucial time of the season.

Bragging rights are all well and good when it comes to local derbies, but you get the feeling that the three points on offer here will be the most important element.

Manchester City (Away), 7 May 2016

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You can never predict the future, but it seems implausible to think that either one or both of Manchester City or Arsenal will arrive into this penultimate fixture of the season with nothing to play for.

Last season’s aforementioned 2-0 success at the Etihad Stadium was one of Arsenal’s best away Premier League performances for some time, with Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla proving they are the best combination for Wenger in midfield and completely running the show from the centre.

Whatever is on the line here—a title challenge or a Champions League place—it promises to be a fascinating watch, with Wenger no doubt plotting a similar game plan to the one he executed perfectly in January.