Jamie Carragher warns Arsenal: Title slip could impact PSG final
Jamie Carragher believes Arsenal are walking a tightrope between a defining season and a deeply painful one – and it all starts with West Ham.
Mikel Arteta’s side have taken control of the Premier League race over the past week, beating Newcastle United and Fulham while Manchester City stumbled against Everton. The table looks healthy: Arsenal sit five points clear, City still clutch a game in hand, but the champions no longer control their own fate.
This weekend, the tension sharpens. City go first, at home to Brentford on Saturday night. Arsenal follow, away to relegation-threatened West Ham on Sunday afternoon. For Carragher, that trip across London feels like a hinge point.
“That’s the game that can go either way, but if Arsenal get over the line against West Ham, I can’t see them messing it up from there,” he told The Metro at The 2026 Women’s Football Awards.
He didn’t dress it up. West Ham v Arsenal, in his eyes, is not just another stop on the run-in.
“When you think about it, it could arguably be the biggest game of the season. But for lots of other teams, it’s probably the biggest game for West Ham. They have to get something.
“It’s a huge game for Tottenham, because of the angle of West Ham. It’s a huge game for Man City, because of Arsenal’s situation.
“I just think that game at the weekend is so big, not just for the two teams involved, it’s huge for both of them. But also what it does for City and Tottenham.”
The pressure finally told in previous title races for Arsenal; this time, Carragher is effectively saying: win at West Ham and the doubts start to evaporate. Fail there, and the whole landscape shifts again.
League or Europe? Carragher’s stark warning
Carragher’s sharpest line, though, came when the conversation moved to Europe. Arsenal have a Champions League final looming against PSG, a stage the club has craved for years. Yet in his view, that showpiece could turn sour if the domestic job is not finished.
“That game will be a real problem if they don’t win the league,” he said of the final.
“I think that’ll be a problem. Yes, you want to win everything, but I think Arsenal really want to win the league.
“They wouldn’t turn their noses up at the Champions League, but I think Liverpool were in that situation a few years ago, where they’d gone so long without winning the league that they just wanted it done.”
Carragher has always rated the European Cup as the pinnacle, and he didn’t move away from that.
“For me, more often than I always say, the Champions League is a bigger trophy to win. But I think when you’ve gone so long without the league, they’ll be desperate for that.”
That desperation, he argues, cuts both ways. Win the title, and it feeds into Europe. Lose it, and the Champions League final risks feeling like an emotional minefield rather than a coronation.
“But I think if they win it, which they should do, the position that they’re in right now, I think it’ll give them a huge boost.
“They will need that going into the final. I think we all know PSG are the better team, but that doesn’t mean Arsenal can’t win a one-off game.”
So the equation is brutally simple in Carragher’s mind. Take care of the league from this position – starting with that fraught visit to West Ham – and Arsenal stride into a Champions League final with momentum and belief. Let the title slip, and PSG won’t be the only problem staring them in the face.
