Martin Zubimendi of Arsenal celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammates Gabriel and Noni Madueke during the Premier League match between Leeds United and Arsenal at Elland Road on January 31, 2026 in Leeds, England.placeholder image
Martin Zubimendi of Arsenal celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammates Gabriel and Noni Madueke during the Premier League match between Leeds United and Arsenal at Elland Road on January 31, 2026 in Leeds, England. | Getty Images
Arsenal are in pole position to win the Premier League title after beating Leeds United 4-0 on Saturday
Arsenal fired some much-needed momentum back into their Premier League title chase as they beat Leeds United 4-0 at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.
Prior to their visit to West Yorkshire, the Gunners had lost to Manchester United and drawn with Nottingham Forest and Liverpool - scoring just two goals in the defeat to the Red Devils and failing to net in the other two games.
However, Mikel Arteta’s side led 2-0 at half-time via goals from Martin Zubimendi while Karl Darlow was credited with an own goal. Viktor Gyokeres put the visitors 3-0 up on 69 minutes with Gabriel Jesus capping a fine afternoon with four minutes of normal time to play.
With Man City and Aston Villa both in action on Sunday, Arsenal can sit back with a seven-point lead as their rivals play their games.
If City and Villa win all of their remaining games, they can reach a maximum of 91 points. Arsenal can achieve a total of 95 points. Mathematically, they need just 92 to win the title but it is highly likely going to take much more than that.
According to Opta, the Gunners are expected to finish the season on around 82 points. That will be enough to win the title, with Villa predicted to finish the campaign with 73 points, one point and one place above Man City.
It means that Opta’s prediction would only require Arsenal to reach 74 points to finish above Villa and win the title. That would be just another 21 points from their last 14 games.
According to the Premier League website, the average points accumulated by champions across the 32-year Premier League era - including the three seasons when clubs played 42 league matches a season - is 87.7.
The highest points tally from a Premier League champion was Manchester City, who racked up 100 points in 2017-18. The fewest points to win the title was Manchester United with 75 in 1996-97.
Asked about dealing with the pressure and outside noise around his side, Mikel Arteta said after the win over Leeds: “It's very impressive. We talk about that noise, but it was a great noise as well, the fact that we were the first team in the Champions League to win eight in a row.
“That's a lot of noise, but a very positive one, but we want to always talk more about the other noise. The other noise is part of that, the expectation is to win every game. We compete against incredible opponents and we know that's the case, but that has to fuel your energy and desire to win more than anything else, in my opinion.”
Continue Reading