Max Dowman has been named in Arsenal's starting line-up for the match at Crystal Palace on Sunday, and he will become the youngest player to start a Premier League match when he takes the field at Selhurst Park. Dowman will be 16 years and 144 days old, breaking a record that has stood since 2008.
Jose Baxter had held the mark after starting for Everton at 16 years and 198 days old, but Dowman is now set to move it on again in a season that has already seen him pile up age-related milestones for Arsenal. He became the youngest Premier League player when he made his debut in August 2025 at 15 years and 235 days old, then the Champions League's youngest player in November 2025 at 15 years and 308 days old, before scoring at 16 years and 73 days old against Everton in March. He was also named the youngest Premier League winner when Arsenal clinched the title.
The timing adds another layer to a match that carries little pressure for Arsenal but plenty of attention. The club will receive a guard of honour at Selhurst Park on Sunday after clinching the title, a formal nod from the home side as the champions walk out. For Dowman, the occasion is another chance to turn a statistical footnote into a headline, and it comes with the kind of scrutiny that follows every record he has touched this year.
There is still one practical detail in the background of that celebration: players only qualify for a medal if they make a minimum of five league appearances. Dowman has already done enough to keep his name in the conversation around Arsenal's title season, but Sunday's start underlines how quickly he has moved from promising debutant to a central figure in the club's senior story. The next landmark is no longer whether he can break through. It is how far the record book will stretch before the season is done.
