**Arsenal**are on the home straight: less than two months to go until they decide their fate at the end of a gruelling schedule. While one showpiece event failed to go in their favour, three more opportunities are available to take home silverware and end a six-year trophy drought. How will it all turn out?
The story so far
Mikel Arteta arrived in the new campaign under mounting pressure after a third successive season with a runners-up place in the Premier League. His men had managed a valiant run to the final four of the **Champions League**for the first time since 2009, but patience with progress alone was wearing thin.
Reigning champions **Liverpool**laid down a marker in the title race with a 1-0 triumph at **Anfield**in August, but faltering form in autumn allowed **Arsenal**to assume a commanding position at the top of the table. Highlights have included conceding no goals during October, a 4-1 derby day demolition of **Tottenham**in November and an emphatic 4-1 victory against Aston Villa in the final fixture of 2025.
The team’s first significant stumble involved dropping seven points in January against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United. But the Gunners still sat at the top of the Premier League, and their results across the cup competitions remained faultless throughout the winter.
On the European front, **Arsenal**became the first club to win all eight games in the league phase of the reformatted Champions League, defeating Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich and Inter Milan along the way. By the start of February, they had knocked out **Chelsea**from the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, earning their first trip to Wembley Stadium since the 2023 Community Shield.
Another faulty streak followed with draws against Brentford and **Wolves**before close calls against **Chelsea**and Brighton. But the points have kept coming, and as **Manchester City**continue to stutter, **Arsenal**ended the last block of matches with a healthy nine-point lead at the summit of the standings.
Favourable **FA Cup**draws saw the team reach the quarter-final of the world’s oldest cup competition, and **Bayer Leverkusen**were dispatched in the Round of 16 in the Champions League. But the first big blow for the group came at a checkpoint that could have changed the narrative about this season.
In their last outing before the March international break, **Arsenal**were defeated 2-0 by the Citizens in the **Carabao Cup**final. On an afternoon when a poor performance accompanied being on the wrong side of a high-stakes result, questions about the camp’s ability to get over the line were left to linger.
What key questions must Arsenal answer?
The break has brought a familiar feeling of concern to the camp. Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Piero Hincapie, Martin Zubimendi, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes have all withdrawn from their national teams because of worries about fitness. Noni Madueke also sustained a blow to his leg in a 1-1 draw for **England**against **Uruguay**that left the right winger wearing a brace on his knee.
Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber and Eberechi Eze all entered this period with niggles that ruled them out of the Carabao Cup final. Signings in the summer set out to bulletproof the squad against an injury crisis, and this phase of the season shall be the key test of that recruitment.
Whoever is available for Arsenal, it is time for the team to rise to the responsibility of champions.
The Carabao Cup final defeat demonstrated some of the shortcomings that are levelled at individuals in the side. Most of all, the attack flattered to deceive: the scrutiny around Saka stepped up a notch after he failed to lead by example, Leandro Trossard looked anonymous while **Kai Havertz**and **Viktor Gyokeres**did not assert themselves against a second-choice central defensive City pairing.
Even with all the additions to the offensive roster, Saka still feels like the main man in the final third. Gyokeres’ goal tally has been impressive in the new year and Eze’s explosive moments of magic have been more frequent in the spring. One of the multi-million-pound signings must shoulder the burden of being a difference maker in the next few months to move the needle and deliver titles to the trophy cabinet.
This is not a task that solely relies on the players: the manager must also fulfil his obligations.
The loss to Manchester City came in a fashion that has felt more familiar since the start of the year. The team has been less comfortable in ball possession, unable to lean into their central forwards for a consistent outlet and forced to double down on their defensive discipline to grind out their victories.
Arteta has doubled down on his pragmatic philosophy, but the defensive discipline at the start of the season has been impossible to sustain. The greatest managers are much more than just designers of solid structures, and Arteta will need other tools to take on the best in the business and succeed.
Expectations in the remaining competitions
A historic quadruple is now no longer doable, but a domestic double is still a strong possibility.
Lower-league opposition **Southampton**should not stop Arsenal from swiftly returning to Wembley for the **FA Cup**semi-final. On paper, their biggest obstacles to the trophy are the winner of the tie between Manchester City and Liverpool, both unbeaten against the Gunners this season. However, there is no reason that the team cannot reclaim the crown that kicked off Arteta’s reign in 2020.
Meanwhile, the **Premier League**title race could be a formality by the end of April. The visit of **Bournemouth**precedes a trip to the Etihad Stadium against City. If Arteta’s men manage to avoid defeat against the Carabao Cup champions and also earn a positive result against Newcastle United to round off the month, they will have done most of the hard work on the way to sealing top spot.
The Champions League, however, is a different beast. Arsenal have only reached the final once back in 2006, and they still have some work to do to reach that fixture. Though they are favourites against Sporting, their memories of a Europa League exit in 2023 should caution against complacency. The semi-final would then bring a clash with Spanish giants **Barcelona**or Atletico, and particularly in the case of a contest with the Blaugrana, individual quality and firepower might make all the difference.
**Bayern Munich**and Paris Saint-Germain are on the other side of the draw as sides that seem to have the best balance between collective strength and space for high level individual expression. It is a formula that Arteta’s critics continue to claim he has not struck, and even if the Gunners should fancy themselves to compete against both clubs, history has suggested they might miss out again.
But time will tell if Arsenal achieve new heights, and fans should not sell themselves short. The Gunners have given people the right to dream, and success could mark the start of a new chapter.