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Aston Villa and Manchester City, the league's two best teams on recent form, have closed the gap and are putting pressure on the Gunners.
Published Dec 18, 2025 • 5 minute read
Arsenal's Noni Madueke celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League match against Club Brugge.
Arsenal's Noni Madueke celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League match against Club Brugge. AP Photo
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It’s a big final two weeks of 2025 for the Premier League-leading Gunners.
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A month ago, it looked like they would run away with the title. But injuries, a lack of goals and some shaky wobbles have seen Aston Villa and Manchester City roar back into the picture and put pressure on the presumptive Champions.
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After finishing second to Manchester City two years in a row, Arsenal’s fans lamented the fact they couldn’t get the job done last season when City slipped far below their standards.
It was instead Liverpool who capitalized on the City slip, earning their second Premier League title in the past five years and the only club to stop the Citizens from winning the trophy in the past nine years.
This season with Liverpool tripping up, Arsenal looked poised to pounce. They haven’t been terrible, but they look to have the trademark nervousness they’ve had since manager Mikel Arteta took the helm.
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They came off a loss to Aston Villa two weeks ago with a sub-par win against dreadful Wolves. A win is a win, but Wolves have managed just two points all season and ran them close with Arsenal taking a 2-1 lead.
Up next is a tricky trip to Everton before hosting Brighton and Villa to close 2025.
There’s no doubt how Arsenal win: They don’t give up goals, just 10 so far this season.
But despite going out and spending lots of money on attackers Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze, they still don’t fill the net. They don’t have a player in the top 10 of Premier League scoring.
Yes, they do operate more on goals by committee (Eze, Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard all have four goals each) you wonder if the lack of splash up front is going to prompt them to spend when the transfer window opens in January.
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Everton are resolute under manager David Moyes. They lead the Premier League in blocks and are ninth in tackles.
The Toffees don’t score a lot, they’ve only netted two or more goals in a match twice going back to Oct. 5, so you’d expect this game to be quite defensive.
The new Hill Dickinson Stadium that opened in August on the Liverpool waterfront hasn’t quite proved to be the fortress of hostility that old Goodison Park was, but Everton have only lost there twice so far.
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Liverpool: From crisis to calmness. The Mo Salah storm has passed as the winger has left the club to join his country at the African Cup of Nations. While the draws with Sunderland and Leeds were clearly below standard, the team is now unbeaten in four league games, five in all competitions with their impressive Champions League win at Inter Milan last week. They’re level on points for the final Champions League spot, just two points back of Chelsea in fourth and are in great shape to qualify for the knockout phase of this year’s Champions League phase. While record-signing Alexander Isak still looks lost in the woods, fellow new signing Hugo Ekitike has been brilliant, scoring four goals in the past two games and fellow additions Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez have looked much better in the past two weeks. This week’s game at Tottenham is far from easy, but Liverpool look to be rounding into form that matches their significant talent.
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Aston Villa: They’ve won six in a row and are pushing to show they’re real title contenders. Morgan Rogers has been in the engine room for this big run. They get Manchester United this week and that’s hard to tell if it’s tough game or not with United’s sketchy form. But in the festive fixtures they have away games at Chelsea on the Dec. 27 and at Arsenal on Dec. 30. After those two games, we should get a handle on who Villa really are.
Manchester City: They’ve won four in a row and face moribund West Ham this weekend. Just two points behind Arsenal. They’ve got the best goal difference in the league at plus-22 and have scored the most goals, 38 in just 16 matches. That’s eight more than the next best, Arsenal and Manchester United. So while Arsenal still set the pace in goals against, City’s firepower is what turns draws into wins.
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Brighton: Haven’t won in three games and are playing tired. They get upstart Sunderland this weekend, a team with juice coming off a massive derby win. They’re still in OK shape sitting 10th in the table, but need to stop this mini-slide as they’re just three points above 16th. It’s awfully tight and, in this period where the games come quickly, it is paramount to at least tread water.
Tottenham: Spurs host Liverpool this weekend and those teams always splash goals when they play each other. Coming off an impressive win over Brentford two weeks ago, they got spanked 3-0 by Nottingham Forest this past weekend. You certainly can argue that while Spurs have looked more promising this season under Thomas Frank, their trademark inconsistency is still there. They could beat Liverpool or they could lose 4-0. Following that match they have Crystal Palace, Brentford, Sunderland and Bournemouth. These are games they have to start picking up points in.
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Bournemouth: The epitome of a team that’s running on fumes, which isn’t a great sign headed into the busiest part of their season. Coming off a crazy 4-4 draw with Manchester United, they simply have to get all three points off woeful Burnley this weekend. While some performances, like their 0-0 with Chelsea can be lauded, they haven’t won a game since before Halloween — Oct. 26 against Nottingham Forest. The vultures are circling for their best players and they simply don’t have the squad depth to survive more losses.
Crisis Club
West Ham: They haven’t won since early November, have two losses and three draws in their past five and only Wolves have given up more goals than them. Oh, and now they travel to the Etihad to face Man City. They’re three points out of safety where Leeds sit above them. You’ll expect them to lose, heavily, this weekend. Through the Christmas fixtures they get Fulham, Brighton, Wolves and Nottingham Forest. If they don’t want to spend the remainder of the season in a relegation scrap they’ve got to win at least two, if not three, of those games.
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This weekend’s schedule
Saturday: Newcastle vs Chelsea; Bournemouth vs Burnley; Brighton vs Sunderland.; Manchester City vs West Ham; Wolves vs Brentford; Tottenham vs Liverpool; Everton vs Arsenal; Leeds vs Crystal Palace.
Sunday: Aston Villa vs Manchester United.
Monday: Fulham vs Nottingham Forest.
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