Everything is coming up roses for the Gunners at the moment; five wins and one draw in the Premier League since their 1-0 loss to Liverpool leaves them clear at the top of the table, while Arne Slot’s side and Manchester City look a shadow of their former selves.
At this point, there is no real debate about the best team in the Premier League, as Arsenal have the most complete squad, have the most goals from set-pieces (11, two more than any other side) and are leading virtually every defensive metric.
The Premier League has descended into chaos as AFC Bournemouth and Sunderland sit in the top four, while there’s also been a wave of manager sackings, Liverpool’s slump and Manchester United’s resurgence.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are alone as the sole predictable constant in a sea of bedlam as they threaten to make the title race a non-event.
Still, there is hope for Bournemouth, Sunderland and co. that the Gunners winning the Premier League may not be a formality, with these eight reasons hinting at a potential cock-up that will definitely happen. Do we believe it? Do we balls.
Leeds United, Brentford have created more Big Chances
Arsenal cannot be touched when it comes to their defensive and goalkeeping metrics, but they do have issues further forward.
Firstly, Mikel Arteta‘s side are only seventh for Opta-defined Big Chances created in the Premier League this season, with their tally of 15 currently 10 fewer than first-placed Man City and nine fewer than second-placed Liverpool. They are also behind relegation candidates Leeds United and Brentford…
This is a long-term issue for the Gunners and it was hoped that the summer arrival of Eberechi Eze would ease this problem, but he has only created four chances in his first eight Premier League appearances. Martin Odegaard only has three as he’s struggled with injuries, while Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, unsurprisingly, are still far ahead as Arsenal’s biggest engineers of opportunities.
READ: Arsenal are ‘boring’ and massive hypocrites – but here’s why that is a good thing for Mikel Arteta
Viktor Gyokeres
As injuries and the poor form of their attackers restrained Arsenal last season, they were made to rue their failure to sign a new striker as the absence of Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus left Arteta without a recognised forward during the run-in.
Mikel Merino did a bloody good job as a stand-in, but Arsenal’s summer transfer priority was always going to be signing a new striker and they eventually settled on Gyokeres over Benjamin Sesko.
Arsenal’s ‘flat-track bully’ scored at an obscene level in his two years at Sporting Lisbon, but high-level performers in Portugal rarely reach those heights in the Premier League and Gyokeres has followed that path.
The Swedish international has scored ugly goals against lowly opposition in the Premier League and these will come in handy, but he’s been ineffective against Big Six opponents.
The goal-shy forward has hardly been the clinical finisher craved by Arsenal for years as Arteta’s leading Premier League scorer only has three goals from nine games, which is a far cry from the standards set by Erling Haaland.
Relegation battle for open play goals
Arsenal have mastered what they are good at, but their hyperfocus on certain departments has left them lacking in others.
This is the case with open play goals, with the Gunners currently 14th in these standings, having only netted two more than bottom-placed Nottingham Forest and one more than second-bottom Wolves…
*Only* fifth in another Premier League table
Arsenal’s difficulties in front of goal are also evidenced by their xG, with four other teams – Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool – having a higher rating than the north London side.
At the moment, Arsenal’s supreme defensive stats paper over the cracks in this department, but this does suggest that wins could become draws more regularly if they are not quite as clinical with their opportunities in upcoming matches.
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‘Handling’ the pressure
“The test for them, as I’m sure many people will say, is now that they’re top of the table, how are they going to handle that?”
That’s ex-Liverpool and Man City goalkeeper David James desperately clutching at straws to explain why Arsenal won’t “win the Premier League title” this season (sounds familiar), but there is some substance to this particular point.
Arsenal have come up short in major competitions under Arteta for several reasons, including injuries, a lack of killer instinct and simply not being good enough to dethrone Man City.
But it is also the case that they have lacked the necessary bottle to hold their nerve in a title race, as they have thrown away points at vital moments.
There will be a question mark until they win the Premier League or Champions League, though there will likely be a greater margin for error this season with Liverpool and Man City lagging behind.
Mikel Arteta
Similarly, there are doubts over Arteta’s ability to get Arsenal over the line as his defence-first approach has hindered his side in big games throughout his tenure.
This was the case as Arsenal only picked up one point from early-season clashes against Liverpool and Man City, though Arteta did later silence his critics by throwing the kitchen sink at Newcastle United en route to a much-needed 2-1 victory.
The manner of Arsenal’s performance against their bogey team, Newcastle, stands out as a potential turning point for Arteta and his side, with his past refusal to adapt seemingly preventing his squad from reaching their full potential. Though the pitchforks will be back out if this proves to be a one-off.
READ: Where will Liverpool 2025/26 end up in the top 10 worst Premier League title defences?
Over-reliance on set-pieces
As mentioned, Arsenal are brilliant in both boxes and have made a concerted effort to master these aspects of their game, but their apparent disregard for other elements could lead to issues down the line.
At the moment, Arteta’s decision to go all-in on set pieces and defensive solidarity has been fully justified as opponents have had no answer for Arsenal’s tried and tested winning formula, which looks set to carry them to the title.
Still, it would do them no harm to have more variety to their game to cover their backs when facing a particularly strong defence and if injuries take over again…
Over-reliance on key players
Arsenal’s summer business certainly looks better than Liverpool’s as they spent around £250m less and still have a stronger squad with quality options in every position.
Unlike previous seasons, Arsenal have a lot of talent on the bench to change games, though they are still overly reliant on a few players.
Gabriel is vital in both boxes, while Rice and Saka’s chance creation is not close to being matched by other players. So injuries to these players would instantly make Arsenal less effective, which is especially troubling given how focused they are on set plays.
