Any attempt to diagnose Arsenal’s psychological issues has to first ask whether they exist at all. The stock line of pub chat has somehow become that if Manchester City win their next 11 games, they will win the Premier League, as true as it is irrelevant. It strips Arsenal’s agency, a framing which doubles as a concession. Nothing indicates City are capable of conjuring such dominance – in their first eight league matches of 2026, both Arsenal and City won three, drew four and lost one. Arsenal’s supposed great choke, their world-melting psychological collapse, has entailed matching City to the point, with a better goal difference. They were two points clear in late December and their position has barely changed.