Mikel Arteta has challenged his Arsenal team to break their New Year’s Day hoodoo and win a first Premier League title in 22 years.
The Gunners have failed to win the title in the previous five times they have finished a calendar year top of the table.
That includes in 2003, 2008, 2014, 2016 and 2023. They did win the premiership in 2004, though their 2022-23 campaign saw the north London club leading the way for 248 days before Manchester City overtook them with six games to go.
Yet, entering 2026, Arsenal are now four points clear after Man City drew with Sunderland on Thursday.
When asked about the statistic, Arteta said: ‘Let’s break it.
‘That’s what they transmit every single day when they’re with us, training in every match.
Mikel Arteta challenged Arsenal to end a run of failing to win the title in the previous five times they were top on New Year’s Day
Arteta remained coy over whether Declan Rice will be fit enough to play against Bournemouth
‘You can see their desire. You can see the energy that they put in, how much they want it. And that’s what we need. That’s still five months to go and take it day by day.
‘Enjoy that process of being where we are and go for it.’
Meanwhile, Arsenal are sweating over the knee injury to Declan Rice ahead of their league match against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Rice suffered the issue during Saturday’s 2-1 win over Brighton and although he was with the squad for the 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa in midweek, he did not feature on the bench.
Arteta said: ‘Well, not yet (swelling has not gone down), and we have another session today. Let’s see how he goes today and how that’s feeling, but it was too early that game for him.’
On whether Rice should’ve been substituted off against Brighton when he felt the injury, he added: ‘No, no, no. He managed to do it (carry on). That’s normal sometimes.
‘You get a hit and throughout the game you are able, with adrenaline and because you are warm, to sustain that. And then the body reacts, and it reacted probably more than we expected, unfortunately. That’s where we are.’
