Arsenal's Premier League title hopes suffered a blow after losing 2-1 to Aston Villa on Saturday, with Viktor Gyokeres questioning the Gunners' creativity and two team-mates falling out
07:31, 08 Dec 2025
Mikel Arteta has been told what Arsenal must do better after seeing their lead at the top of the Premier League table cut to just two points
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Mikel Arteta has been told what Arsenal must do better after seeing their lead at the top of the Premier League table cut to just two points
Arsenal have been hot favourites for the Premier League title but their dreams of ending a 22-year drought took a severe hit on Saturday.
They suffered a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, with Emi Buendia delivering a heartbreaking injury-time winner. This marked only their second league loss of the season, but it allowed Manchester City to narrow the gap at the top to a mere two points. The Gunners have now lost points in three of their last five league matches. Even more worryingly, they've started leaking goals at an alarming rate.
After conceding just four goals in their first 16 games across all competitions, Mikel Arteta's side have since let in six in six. Once on track to shatter Chelsea's record of only 15 league goals conceded in a single season, Arsenal's immediate focus is now simply to regain their form and build a convincing lead again. With that in mind, here's all the latest news from the Emirates.
Gyokeres
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Viktor Gyokeres has scored just four Premier League goals this season(Image: Getty Images)
Gyokeres raises issue
Viktor Gyokeres believes Arsenal are currently lacking creativity, reports the Mirror.
Reacting to the weekend's defeat at Villa Park, the Swede encouraged his team-mates to be more creative in the final third and to take more shots if they want to reignite their title challenge.
Speaking after the defeat, he said: "We have to keep creating chances and get shots on goal because then you'll eventually score more goals. If we focus on what we can control and do in our favour and focus on the next game, we'll be better, I think."
Since featuring in Arsenal's opening 10 league matches, Gyokeres has found himself relegated to substitute appearances following his return from a muscle problem in November.
With just six strikes in 17 outings across all competitions, the forward needs to up his numbers if he's to spearhead the Gunners' title charge.
Rice and Odegaard bust-up
Declan Rice was not happy with his Arsenal team-mate
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Declan Rice was not happy with his Arsenal team-mate(Image: Getty Images)
Declan Rice was spotted having a go at Martin Odegaard after the Norwegian skipper pulled out of a crucial tackle in the dying seconds of Arsenal's heartbreaking loss to Unai Emery's men.
The flashpoint happened just moments before the North London outfit shipped a devastating late winner - a goal that might have been prevented had Odegaard shown more spirit against Ian Maatsen.
Despite being cornered by three Arsenal defenders, Maatsen managed to escape after Odegaard, who reached him first, seemed to dither instead of going in hard.
Mikel Arteta
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Mikel Arteta had a bad afternoon on Saturday with Arsenal(Image: 2025 Getty Images)
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Rice was absolutely livid, pointing and yelling at his team-mate in the aftermath. Odegaard did little to make amends for Buendia's winning goal.
He failed to track Boubacar Kamara's run into the box and was caught off guard during a chaotic scramble in front of the goal - a sequence where Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori threw themselves in front of shots in a desperate bid to clear the danger.
The ball eventually bounced into Buendia's path, who curled it home from close range with the game's final kick. Despite Odegaard's failings, Arteta declined to single out any individual following the match.