Do Arsenal Have the Best Squad Depth in the Premier League? How Gunners Keep Firing Despite Injury Issues

Arsenal will start December in a phenomenal position. Mikel Arteta’s side sit top of both the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, while also remaining alive in both domestic cups.

After winning 16, drawing two and losing just once across their first 19 matches in all competitions, it is little wonder that Arsenal fans are daring to dream of a historic quadruple.

The raw probability remains tiny – just 0.62% according to bookmakers – but one factor continues to fuel belief more than any other. That is Arsenal’s impressive squad depth.

Arsenal beat Bayern Munich despite injury issues

Arsenal’s statement 3-1 victory over Bayern Munich — in a Champions League game billed by some as a clash between the two best club teams in the world — encapsulated their season in microcosm. A fixture once associated with heavy European scars became a showcase for the depth and adaptability Mikel Arteta has assembled.

The Gunners achieved that win without several senior figures. Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres all missed the match due to injury issues, while Gunners captain Martin Odegaard was used sparingly as a late substitute following a recent knee problem.

Yet Arsenal still overpowered a Bayern side that had won 17 and drawn one of their previous 18 matches. Jurrien Timber headed the hosts in front from a Bukayo Saka corner, before Arsenal’s bench decisively tilted the contest in the second half.

Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli both came off the bench to find the net, while fellow substitute Riccardo Calafiori delivered the assist for the go-ahead goal.

Mikel Arteta proud of Arsenal “mentality”

For Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, Wednesday’s performance was less about star names and more about mentality. Speaking after the game, Arteta said: “I’m extremely proud of what I’ve seen tonight.

“We’ve seen a team that, in my opinion, playing against the best team in Europe, has behaved with a real presence, authority, determination and belief, and that’s what I wanted. You need some huge performances individually. We certainly had that. We took our moments and I think overall we just deserved to win the game.”

The focus of his post-match press conference later shifted to Arsenal’s squad depth. On the impact of his substitutes, Arteta added: “Everybody’s ready. Whether it’s a starter and a finisher, the impact that the boys are having is tremendous because we have dealt with a lot of injuries this season already.

“But the fact that everybody’s raising the level is hiding a lot of those issues, and I’m very pleased because everybody’s important. We’re going to need them and I’m happy that the ones given the chance are constantly taking it.”

Arsenal’s squad rotation in numbers

Arsenal have already used 25 different players across their first 19 matches in all competitions. In the Premier League alone, 23 players have featured, with 18 different starters rotated through Mikel Arteta’s line-ups.

Among England’s so-called ‘Big Six’, only Chelsea have used more players than Arsenal this season, with Tinkerman II Enzo Maresca using 25 in the Premier League.

Arsenal players used in first 19 games of 2025/26 season

Player	Premier League		Champions League		EFL Cup
	Starts	Sub apps	Starts	Sub apps	Starts	Sub apps
Kepa Arrizabalaga	0	0	0	0	2	0
Riccardo Calafiori	12	0	1	1	0	0
Max Dowman	0	2	0	1	1	1
Eberechi Eze	8	2	3	2	2	0
Gabriel Magalhaes	11	0	4	0	0	2
Gabriel Martinelli	2	6	2	2	1	0
Viktor Gyokeres	10	0	3	0	0	1
Andre Harriman-Annous	0	0	0	1	1	0
Kai Havertz	0	1	0	0	0	0
Piero Hincapie	1	2	1	1	1	0
Myles Lewis-Skelly	0	8	3	1	2	0
Noni Madueke	4	2	1	1	0	0
Mikel Merino	5	6	4	1	2	0
Cristhian Mosquera	2	6	2	2	2	0
Christian Norgaard	0	2	1	2	2	0
Ethan Nwaneri	0	6	1	1	2	0
Martin Odegaard	4	2	1	1	0	0
David Raya	12	0	5	0	0	0
Declan Rice	11	1	4	1	0	2
Bukayo Saka	9	1	3	1	1	1
William Saliba	10	1	4	0	1	0
Jurrien Timber	11	1	4	1	0	1
Leandro Trossard	8	2	3	1	0	2
Ben White	1	0	1	3	2	0
Martin Zubimendi	11	1	4	0	0	0

From substitutes to “finishers”

Mikel Arteta rejects the traditional hierarchy of starters and substitutes, so much so that he calls them starters and finishers. Earlier this season, after bench contributions decided another win, he explained how seriously he values those late-game interventions.

Speaking after goals from “finishers” Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard earned a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, Arteta said: “I looked on the bench, I looked at him, and in his eyes I could see that he [Martinelli] was ready, Leo as well.

“That’s going to help us a lot for the future, it is going to dictate the quality of our season. The finishers are going to be more important this year than the starters. I love it. That’s the attitude I need from all of us. It’s always very difficult emotionally to leave players out. I know how much they want to play in this competition and what it means to them. Every time you do a line-up, you are disappointing a lot of players. It hurts me.”

That thinking has been visibly embedded into Arsenal’s game management. When matches remain tight past the hour mark, Arteta now consistently introduces players capable of changing the flow, not merely preserving it. The Bayern victory was a clear example of that policy paying off on an elite stage.

Leadership has remained strong despite absences

Arsenal have also shown rare stability at leadership level, even without two of their most recognisable on-field leaders. Odegaard’s recent seven-week absence and Gabriel Magalhaes’s injury would once have risked destabilising the side.

Instead, responsibility has been shared seamlessly, with fellow leadership group members Saka and Declan Rice captaining the side with confidence and with the support of their teammates.

There was one sour note from the Bayern win as Trossard was forced off with a suspected injury. However, the return of Odegaard later in the game softened that blow, adding yet another creative option into an already crowded midfield rotation.

Providing an update afterwards, Mikel Arteta said: “With Leo, he felt something. We didn’t wanna take any risk. I don’t know the extent of that injury or if it’s an injury. And Martin, yeah, is our captain. Great to have him back in the team and contributing. So he’s welcome.”

With Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz also edging closer to fitness, Arsenal’s squad is likely to become deeper still as the season intensifies rather than thinner.

Do Arsenal now have the best depth in the Premier League?

On current evidence, it is increasingly difficult to oppose the argument that Arsenal now boast the best all-round squad depth in the Premier League.

The Gunners can replace virtually every position in their system without a tactical rethink. They can change full-backs without losing balance, midfielders without losing control, and attackers without losing penetration.

The same cannot be said of wannabe title rivals Manchester City, whose growing over-reliance on Erling Haaland appears problematic, while Liverpool’s squad is large but still contains several players who are yet to look fully sharp or settled.

Depth, after all, is not about how many big names you own. It is about how little your level drops when those names disappear. Arsenal’s level has barely dropped at all since their one and only defeat back in August.