WHO COULD fail to be very impressed with the way Arsenal dismantled the current media-darlings of the Premier League, Aston Villa? Such an emphatic scoreline probably dismissed Villa as title contenders and will stop any further comparisons between Unai Emery’s team and his former club. At the same time, recent results – five points dropped in two home games – have also suggested Chelsea cannot be regarded as serious challengers. Liverpool, too, are not likely to be in a position to retain their crown. The only realistic contenders are Arsenal and Manchester City and over the next three or four months, the title race will see their fortunes fluctuate, with one or the other being written-off or pronounced champions-elect by the week. For Arsenal, the current leaders, this season’s big hurdle is still to come. They go into 2026 with a five-point advantage over Manchester City, but Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand. City have closed the gap on the Gunners and despite still having the upper hand, there seems to be some nerves around Arsenal’s ability to keep cool and go one better than they have in the past three seasons. For the first time in this four-year sequence, Arsenal look capable of keeping calm and completing the task for the first time since 2004.
Their squad is undoubtedly stronger than it has been for some years, but interestingly, the one area critics insisted needed strengthening has not yet delivered. Mikel Arteta’s side needed a striker, so they paid a lot of money for Sporting’s Viktor Gyökeres, one of Europe’s most prolific forwards. Gyökeres has netted five goals in the Premier of which two have been penalties. Arsenal’s strength, however, has been their ability to get goals from all over the pitch and only Manchester City have scored more. Nobody has conceded less than Arsenal’s 12 goals, which underlines their improved defensive performance. Their home form has been outstanding, with nine wins and a draw in 10 games. Impressively, they have achieved all of this in spite of a lengthy list of injuries, which demonstrates they have a wealth of talent in their squad. Aside from Chelsea, who have spent aggressively in the last four seasons, Arsenal have been more competitive in the market and their expenditure since 2022-23 has totalled € 824 million with a net spend of € 636 million. Chelsea and Manchester United are the only clubs with a higher net outlay. According to Transfermarkt, Arsenal (€ 1.29 billion) have the highest valued squad in the Premier League.
Arsenal’s character has been tested at times and they are at their best when they are in command of the situation. They generally start slowly and have only scored five goals in the first half hour of the game. Their strongest period tends to be the 15-minute spells either side of half-time. Over 50% of their goals have come in this timeframe, while 25% have been scored in the final 15. In six games, Arsenal have fallen behind and only once have they emerged as winners. The team’s two defeats – against Aston Villa and Liverpool – and their three draws, have all come when they have not scored the first goal of the match. In 13 of their 19 games, they have been in almost total control. Their results against fellow top six clubs have been inconsistent, with two wins, two draws and two defeats. In the second half of the season, they have to visit Manchester City (April 18) and play host to Liverpool (Jan 8), Chelsea (March 1) and Manchester United (January 28). If the current form of Arsenal and City continues, April 18 at the Etihad could go a long way toward deciding the destination of the Premier League trophy.
While Arsenal’s goals have come from all departments, Manchester City, who have scored 45 overall, are over-reliant on a certain Erling Haaland. The big Norwegian has 19 in the Premier League, which amounts to 42% of City’s total. This is a far higher percentage than Haaland’s three previous seasons with City. Should he lose form or suffer an injury, City may find their hopes become compromised.
Of course, the two-horse race could expand to three or even four, but it would seem unlikely that the likes of Aston Villa, Chelsea and Liverpool will be consistent enough to mount a challenge. The January window may help these clubs attain more quality, but there are no signs of Arsenal losing their momentum, it could be that after three consecutive second-place finishes, they have learned valuable lessons and have the right level of motivation to stave-off the challenge of Manchester City. Although their London rivals may not like it, they do appear to be the best team in the Premier at the moment. It’s worth reminding ourselves that the Gunners are unbeaten in the Champions League, in the last four of the EFL Cup and they still have the FA Cup to come. 2025-26 could be a truly memorable season for Arteta and his men.
Game of the People was founded in 2012 and is ranked among the 100 best football websites by various sources. The site consistently wins awards for its work, across a broad range of subjects. [View all posts by Neil Fredrik Jensen](https://gameofthepeople.com/author/georgefjord/)