Arsenal’s title-winning 2025-26 campaign ended 68 days ago. It is almost time to welcome them back to the pitch, as they officially begin their pre-season preparations by facing Spanish side Girona away on Saturday.Mikel Arteta’s side have already played a behind-closed-doors friendly at their training ground, a 3-0 win over Milton Keynes Dons of third-tier League One, but tomorrow’s game will be the first public glimpse of the players in action ahead of the new season.Here, The Athletic looks at a few areas Arsenal could focus on to tighten their grip on the Premier League trophy in the weeks and months ahead.Midfield dynamics/positional tweaksMidfield is possibly the most intriguing area of the pitch for Arsenal coming into the new season. Arteta’s options are well known for the most part, but how he uses them could change compared to 2025-26.The first reason is the need to preserve those who were depended upon heavily en route to winning the title, namely Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi. The pair ranked first and second respectively in minutes played at Arsenal last season. Looking at the distribution of minutes played in midfield, Arteta can afford to share that game time out more equally across his group of midfielders.