The Premier League title race might just be about alive. It also might not. On one hand, the gap is still large and Liverpool have been comfortably the best team in the division; but on another, they are hardly in amazing form.
Arsenal know they have to use this to try and exploit any vague remaining weaknesses before the end of the season. Mikel Arteta's side will play before Liverpool throughout May and have the chance to consistently eat away at the chasm in front of them with just eight games left.
Looking beyond that, and even past Real Madrid next week, there is a bigger picture. Arsenal have left themselves too much to do, surely, to win the league this season. They have always been playing catch up and never quite hit the same form that underpinned more serious challenges over the past two seasons.
In 2022/23 it was the blistering start which set them up to surprisingly go toe-to-toe with Manchester City. Last year was a more well-rounded and balanced attempt. Outside of the winter blip there was very little to pick apart from Arsenal's season.
Both campaigns showed a new side to Arteta and his squad. First it was the free-flowing football and introduction of William Saliba which caught most off-guard.
Arsenal went from fifth to first almost overnight and only relinquished their position late on after an injury to Saliba exposed holes at the back. That was addressed and then they went again with a stronger team and a sturdy spine.
Declan Rice added steel to the midfield and Kai Havertz would prove to be an effective enforcer up front. Had Jurrien Timber not sustained a serious injury early on then he would have been the cover needed at the back.
This was exactly what was required after Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko had provided a quality increase the year before, elevating the standard of the squad with depth and know-how at the top level. Between Edu Gaspar and Arteta - as well as the wider recruitment team including Jason Ayto - Arsenal ensured they kicked on for three years in a row.
That arguably halted in 2024 when the failure to buy a new winger or striker has left Arteta short. His playing group has reduced in size since arriving, and injuries have been brutal.
Now, with Arsenal's rivals going through a period of great uncertainty, the opportunity is once again theirs to try and take advantage. It will be the job of Andrea Berta, in conjunction with Arteta, to once more identify areas for improvement in the squad.
They appear to be the midfield as well as once more on the wing and at centre forward. Act on this and Arsenal will be in good shape. So much so that it is no exaggeration to say they are three transfers away from being the favourites next season.
This might sound like a big stretch but given the problems ahead for Liverpool and City entering their rebuild, it could well be true. Trent Alexander-Arnold is on his way out of Anfield, leaving a giant gap for Arne Slot, whilst Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah could follow him.
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah. (Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
They would all be leaving for free and therefore don't even give funds towards finding a replacement. Even if Van Dijk and Salah stay, Liverpool are likely to be in the market for a new striker and potentially another wide forward as well.
This is a lot of work for Slot to do and already his second season looks to be much harder than his first. Since taking on the project that Jurgen Klopp left, Slot has been able to adapt rather than revolutionise, working on the foundations that were already there.
Come August and a large portion of the Liverpool team might have changed or still be in flux. Arsenal themselves are relatively stable in most areas.
Then there is City. The last time they failed to win the league under Pep Guardiola, he responded by going on this current streak of four in a row. The reaction after 2019/20 and being blown away by Liverpool's rapid start was to re-energise. City had the league in the bag before long and didn't let it go until this season.
Guardiola's team needs much more serious attention now, though. That much was clear from the January action to try and get things moving.
City are looking to build a new midfield entirely and have no real alternative to Erling Haaland. They lost Kyle Walker over the winter and will need to look towards the next great XI rather than simply tweaking this one.
Maybe the modern-day example of this for Arsenal is Liverpool's 2018 transfer window when they added Alisson and Fabinho to a team which had just fallen narrowly short in the Premier League and were Champions League finalists. These were the final pieces to go with Salah and Van Dijk in the 12 months prior.
Arsenal might already have their own players in this story but now need to take the last step. It is Jose Mourinho signing Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa in 2014 at Chelsea.
It's more than possible for Arsenal to go from second place to favourites in one summer. They might not get a better chance to do so either. Take a wrong turn here and Liverpool might be back. City cannot be afforded the time to rebuild and reform.
There is certainly an argument that Arsenal are the most stable of the three. Even with a change in sporting director and world-class transfers being needed, the plan is a simple one for Arsenal and if they can't win the title this year then they can be in a very good position to attack 2025/26.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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