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The Arsenal statistic that should chill Mikel Arteta - and give Premier League rivals hope

1 Jun 2026 12:28 BST | 5 min read

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal, 2025/26

Robin Bairner

Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

Accredited football journalist and editor covering the game since 2006

Rarely, perhaps never before, have the statistics of a losing team been as closely scrutinised as Arsenal's following their Champions League final loss to PSG.

To recap: 25% possession, 10 completed passes combined for Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, two missed penalties, one shot on target and, most importantly of all, still no Champions League.

But it's unfair to capture a snapshot of what has been a highly successful season over just 90 minutes.

Mikel Arteta led his side to their first Premier League title in a generation, and for a period were chasing the quadruple.

The message after the PSG loss was loud and clear: we'll be back.

But while the numbers from those two-and-a-bit hours in Budapest are still echoing in the ears of all connected with the club, there's an altogether more alarming pattern that's emerged over the last 18 months – one that Arteta needs to find a solution to if a prolonged period of success is to follow.

Mikel Arteta led Arsenal to Premier League glory this season

Arsenal’s big result failures

Arsenal's record against big clubs is poor, bordering on dreadful. Against the other teams that made up the top five of the Premier League table by the end of this season - Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool - they have won only three times since the beginning of 2025. While the Gunners have won three of 13, PSG have six victories in nine against the same opponents over the same timeframe.

There was the admittedly spectacular 5-1 win over City in February 25, but aside from that statement victory, they have only beaten Ruben Amorim's historically bad United and Villa, a club that is very much acting as the interloper in this group.

In other words, Arsenal won the Premier League and reached the final of both the League Cup and the Champions League without a landmark win over one of their direct rivals.

Yes, there was that group stage win over Bayern at home, but the Swiss format renders these matches of limited importance to teams virtually guaranteed of progression.

Meanwhile, the Gunners' run in the knockout rounds was as straightforward as they could possibly have wished, with a semi against an Atletico Madrid side that finished fourth in Spain, a full 25 points off the pace of Barcelona, as tough as it got.

Arsenal got to where they did by bullying weak teams and limiting their damage against more impressive opponents. While their failure to get over the line in the cup competitions has been painted as a lack of bottle in some quarters, it starts to look more like a lack of quality with these figures in mind.

Is the attack really the problem?

For all the talk of Arteta needing to bolster his attack, Arsenal finished the Premier League season with a shot conversion rate of 11% - second-best in the division and lagging only City on 12%. Similarly, they also only trailed City in terms of xG, logging 72.35, which is largely in line with the 71 goals they netted. These figures do not point to the lack of finishing power that supposedly hinders them.

Given the Spaniard was furnished with the best part of €200m to sign Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke last summer – none of whom were deemed good enough to start the Champions League final – where do Arsenal turn now?

Julian Alvarez: The answer to Arsenal's issues?

Arteta’s favoured tactics demands a Luis Suarez-type menace to lead the line, but aside from Julian Alvarez, who many such dogsbody forwards are out there who also have the attacking gifts and defensive discipline to elevate this team?

Is it a case that Arteta's current approach can only take the team so far?

With a prolonged lack of success against elite teams for the last 18 months, it's the elephant in the room that's getting increasingly hard to ignore after the Gunners’ defeat in the Champions League final. In order to make that next step and start matching the best blow-for-blow, Arteta needs to get back to the drawing board – and that means a fundamental change in his blueprint for success.