Jermaine Pennant became the most expensive teenager in Britain when Arsenal secured his services for \u00a32 million back in 1999. His full senior debut \u2013 a hat-trick showing in a 6-1 win over Southampton \u2013 was one to remember and he went on to play 26 times for the Gunners.<\/p>\n
A Hale Ender in the infancy of his career, Pennant is acutely aware of the goings-on at one of London\u2019s biggest clubs \u2013 and he\u2019s recently given an array of takes on Mikel Arteta\u2019s men.<\/p>\n
Pennant \u2013 speaking to ReadArsenal via Gambling.com, where you can find the best UK slots \u2013 delved deeper into Arsenal\u2019s need to win trophies this season and who he things will come out on top this Sunday in the Carabao Cup final.<\/p>\n
Pennant <\/strong>on the importance of Arsenal\u2019s trophy hunt<\/h2>\nPreviously, Pennant had mentioned that no silverware in 2025\/26 would be considered a \u2018failure\u2019 for Arteta\u2019s Arsenal. On that point, ReadArsenal asked him what trophy will be most important for the Gunners to lift this campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the Premier League. I think going 22 years without one and coming second three times, it\u2019s got to hurt. It\u2019s a long wait. I know the feeling Liverpool had when they won their first Premier League, after close to 30 years, and how much it meant to the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"Arsenal](\"https:\/\/media.dave.sport\/readarsenal\/2026\/02\/MixCollage-18-Feb-2026-11-18-PM-4988-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\u201cHow much it meant to the fans and that burden off their back felt amazing after going toe to toe with Man City with how hard and devastating that is. So, for Arsenal, out of everything, I think the Premier League is their main goal and the one they\u2019ve been waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pennant\u2019s favourites for the Carabao Cup final <\/h2>\n
Coming up, on Sunday, is Arsenal\u2019s biggest match of 2025\/26 to date. Not only do they have a chance to win silverware but it could act as a stepping stone between now and the summer when they hope their trophy cabinet will be more bloated.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, it\u2019s going be close because neither side have got the home advantage,\u201d Pennant said when previewing the tie at Wembley Stadium. \u201cI would say, out of the two, Arsenal are better at home and, I\u2019d say out of the two, Man City are more comfortable away from home.<\/p>\n
Read More: <\/strong>Arsenal vs Man City: Two key City stars set to miss Carabao Cup final<\/p>\n\u201cBut, on the flip side, you\u2019ve got Arsenal who are in great form at the moment. It\u2019s going to be tight \u2013 but I just see Arsenal edging this one by the single goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
How important is it for Arsenal to do well in the Champions League<\/strong>?<\/h2>\n\u201cYeah, well they\u2019ve got the easiest path to the final and I expect them to get to the final, although they\u2019ve probably got to get past Barcelona, who absolutely dismantled Newcastle,\u201d said Pennant.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver a two-legged tie, that\u2019s going to be tricky because \u2013 at Camp Nou \u2013 they\u2019re unbeaten there and they (Barca) score goals. Their motto is \u2018Okay, you score two, we\u2019re going to score three. You score three, we\u2019re going to score four.\u2019 And it works for them so that\u2019s going to be a tough tie for Arsenal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arsenal have never become the champions of Europe in a footballing sense. Losing to Barcelona in 2006 was the closest they\u2019ve come \u2013 but can Arteta\u2019s men achieve what Wenger and Co failed to do? Pennant doesn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve then got the monsters on the other side,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got PSG, the current champions, and you\u2019ve got Real Madrid, the 16-times European champions who, for some reason when it comes to this competition, just know how to get it done.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, yeah, there\u2019s no loss in losing the Champions League because of the teams that are there, but I do expect them to get to the final. Getting to the final will be one step closer to what they have been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pennant has his say on the Kai Havertz or Viktor Gyokeres debate<\/strong><\/h2>\nMuch has also been made of Arsenal\u2019s options in the centre-forward berth \u2013 and most notably whether Kai Havertz or Viktor Gyokeres should start moving forward in such a crucial period for the Gunners.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tough one,\u201d Pennant claimed when asked about who should start between the aforementioned frontmen.<\/p>\n
In reference to a potential Champions League final, he claimed: \u201cI think it will all depend on who\u2019s in the final because it\u2019s a one-game knockout. It\u2019s not a \u2018Let\u2019s get a good result there and go back to our place\u2019 and so you\u2019ve really got to pick the squad on who they\u2019re facing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nStatistic<\/td>\n Viktor Gyokeres<\/td>\n Kai Havertz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nMinutes<\/td>\n 1903<\/strong><\/td>\n265<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nGoals\/Assists<\/td>\n 11\/0<\/strong><\/td>\n0\/1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nShots per match<\/td>\n 1.5<\/strong><\/td>\n0.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nKey passes per match<\/td>\n 0.6<\/td>\n 0.7<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nDribbles per match<\/td>\n 0.2<\/td>\n 0.5<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nPass success rate (%)<\/td>\n 59.7<\/td>\n 63.6<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nOverall rating<\/td>\n 6.67<\/strong><\/td>\n6.58<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>Kai Havertz vs Viktor Gyokeres\u2019 25\/26 Premier League stats per WhoScored (19\/03\/26)<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cIf you\u2019ve got a team that plays a high line, you\u2019ve got to put in a player who can get behind, who can run and someone who\u2019s got legs. If you play a team who are defensively strong, you\u2019ve got to look at whether Gyokeres is going to be that guy. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe they\u2019ll need some more creativity around there like a Havertz, who can make a little bit of a difference. I think it\u2019ll all come down to who they face in the final in terms of who they are going to play up top,\u201d Jermaine Pennant concluded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jermaine Pennant became the most expensive teenager in Britain when Arsenal secured his services for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure>\n\u201cHow much it meant to the fans and that burden off their back felt amazing after going toe to toe with Man City with how hard and devastating that is. So, for Arsenal, out of everything, I think the Premier League is their main goal and the one they\u2019ve been waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pennant\u2019s favourites for the Carabao Cup final <\/h2>\n
Coming up, on Sunday, is Arsenal\u2019s biggest match of 2025\/26 to date. Not only do they have a chance to win silverware but it could act as a stepping stone between now and the summer when they hope their trophy cabinet will be more bloated.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, it\u2019s going be close because neither side have got the home advantage,\u201d Pennant said when previewing the tie at Wembley Stadium. \u201cI would say, out of the two, Arsenal are better at home and, I\u2019d say out of the two, Man City are more comfortable away from home.<\/p>\n
Read More: <\/strong>Arsenal vs Man City: Two key City stars set to miss Carabao Cup final<\/p>\n \u201cBut, on the flip side, you\u2019ve got Arsenal who are in great form at the moment. It\u2019s going to be tight \u2013 but I just see Arsenal edging this one by the single goal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, well they\u2019ve got the easiest path to the final and I expect them to get to the final, although they\u2019ve probably got to get past Barcelona, who absolutely dismantled Newcastle,\u201d said Pennant.<\/p>\n \u201cOver a two-legged tie, that\u2019s going to be tricky because \u2013 at Camp Nou \u2013 they\u2019re unbeaten there and they (Barca) score goals. Their motto is \u2018Okay, you score two, we\u2019re going to score three. You score three, we\u2019re going to score four.\u2019 And it works for them so that\u2019s going to be a tough tie for Arsenal.\u201d<\/p>\n Arsenal have never become the champions of Europe in a footballing sense. Losing to Barcelona in 2006 was the closest they\u2019ve come \u2013 but can Arteta\u2019s men achieve what Wenger and Co failed to do? Pennant doesn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve then got the monsters on the other side,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got PSG, the current champions, and you\u2019ve got Real Madrid, the 16-times European champions who, for some reason when it comes to this competition, just know how to get it done.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, yeah, there\u2019s no loss in losing the Champions League because of the teams that are there, but I do expect them to get to the final. Getting to the final will be one step closer to what they have been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Much has also been made of Arsenal\u2019s options in the centre-forward berth \u2013 and most notably whether Kai Havertz or Viktor Gyokeres should start moving forward in such a crucial period for the Gunners.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a tough one,\u201d Pennant claimed when asked about who should start between the aforementioned frontmen.<\/p>\n In reference to a potential Champions League final, he claimed: \u201cI think it will all depend on who\u2019s in the final because it\u2019s a one-game knockout. It\u2019s not a \u2018Let\u2019s get a good result there and go back to our place\u2019 and so you\u2019ve really got to pick the squad on who they\u2019re facing.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019ve got a team that plays a high line, you\u2019ve got to put in a player who can get behind, who can run and someone who\u2019s got legs. If you play a team who are defensively strong, you\u2019ve got to look at whether Gyokeres is going to be that guy. <\/p>\n \u201cMaybe they\u2019ll need some more creativity around there like a Havertz, who can make a little bit of a difference. I think it\u2019ll all come down to who they face in the final in terms of who they are going to play up top,\u201d Jermaine Pennant concluded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jermaine Pennant became the most expensive teenager in Britain when Arsenal secured his services for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How important is it for Arsenal to do well in the Champions League<\/strong>?<\/h2>\n
Pennant has his say on the Kai Havertz or Viktor Gyokeres debate<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\n
\n Statistic<\/td>\n Viktor Gyokeres<\/td>\n Kai Havertz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Minutes<\/td>\n 1903<\/strong><\/td>\n 265<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Goals\/Assists<\/td>\n 11\/0<\/strong><\/td>\n 0\/1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Shots per match<\/td>\n 1.5<\/strong><\/td>\n 0.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Key passes per match<\/td>\n 0.6<\/td>\n 0.7<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Dribbles per match<\/td>\n 0.2<\/td>\n 0.5<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Pass success rate (%)<\/td>\n 59.7<\/td>\n 63.6<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Overall rating<\/td>\n 6.67<\/strong><\/td>\n 6.58<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>