The season’s halfway point is here and Arsenal are, once again, on the coat tails of a rival vying for the Premier League title.
Liverpool lead the table by six points, with a game in hand. At this stage last season, the Gunners were two points behind the Reds, with Manchester City not far away before they roared back to take a fourth consecutive title.
So the margins are wider and the challenge is greater but, nevertheless, Arsenal are still more than in this title race.
For 2024, across the Premier League, Mikel Arteta’s men conjured up the most points (85) wins (26), most clean-sheets (18) and fewest goals conceded (25). No team in England’s top four divisions could match their 2.36 points per game, having come out of the blocks – and a mid-season trip to Dubai – on fire at the start of the year and only an autumn wobble slowing their progress.
They do enter 2025 bruised from coming up just short in back-to-back seasons, but with the belief that only they can stand in the way of Arne Slot capturing the title in his first season as Liverpool boss.
Here, Mail Sport runs through the key obstacles Arsenal must overcome to overhaul Liverpool and end 21 years without a league title.
Arsenal are, once again, on the coat tails of a rival vying for the Premier League title
For 2024, across the Premier League, Mikel Arteta’s men conjured up the most points (85) wins (26), most clean-sheets (18) and fewest goals conceded (25)
Liverpool, under new boss Arne Slot, lead the table by six points, with a game in hand
Navigating January
The first month may be the toughest. Including the New Year’s Day win at Brentford, Arsenal have nine matches in January – the most they have scheduled for any month in 2025.
Last January, with a winter break and without a Carabao Cup semi-final or two extra Champions League group games to navigate, Arteta’s men played just three times.
In the most simplistic terms, the Gunners’ hardest tests appear to be further down the line when they travel to third-placed Nottingham Forest next month and then Anfield on the penultimate weekend of the season, in a potential title decider.
But if they can’t get through January unscathed and within touching distance of Liverpool by then, those games won’t mean anything anyway.
What would help is a carbon copy of the unbeaten run Arteta was able to muster at this stage last season.
Arsenal had dropped 11 points in December before regrouping in Dubai and going on an 11-match unbeaten run, which began with eight straight wins by a combined score of 33-4.
Even that, in the end, was not enough to take down City as Aston Villa struck the decisive blow with a heart-breaking 2-0 win at the Emirates in April, but it took the title race to the very final day.
Including the New Year’s Day win at Brentford, Arsenal have nine matches in January
Last season Aston Villa struck the decisive blow with a heart-breaking 2-0 win at the Emirates
So, at the least, a similar effort will again be required this time around. That might sound a big ask given the Gunners took 49 points from the final 54 available including a trip to City, but consider that the last eight Premier League champions have gone on winning runs of, respectively: nine, 12, 12, 15, 18, 14, 18 and 13.
That is the level required, especially in the Guardiola era, but Arsenal have topped out at eight under Arteta and have not hit 10 in a row for 22 years.
Guard their special weapon
As Mike Tyson had it: ‘Everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the face.’ Every team Arsenal have faced will have likely prepared extensively for the incoming set-piece plans orchestrated by mastermind Nicolas Jover.
Yet, new plans, new blocking moves and new faces have kept the streak going. Arsenal have 11 set-piece goals this season, once again the most in the Premier League.
Mikel Merino was the latest beneficiary at Brentford, lashing in from close range as Arsenal crashed the box with multiple runners and kept the ball pinned in the Bees’ penalty box as they scrambled to try to clear.
And the Gunners have tinkered with their routine of late in matches to try not become predictable. Consider Gabriel going from a lone wanderer in the box to part of the pack, or a coordinated near-post rush that led to the two goals that beat Manchester United in December.
Jover will have to keep innovating to keep Arsenal ahead of the pack and supplement an attack that has lost its talisman, Bukayo Saka, for at least two months.
Arsenal have 11 set-piece goals this season, the most in the Premier League
Every team Arsenal have faced will have likely prepared extensively for the incoming set-piece plans orchestrated by mastermind Nicolas Jover
Stay disciplined
Indiscipline was the big gut punch early on in this campaign for Arsenal, as they squandered multiple matches after going a player down.
Declan Rice received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away against Brighton and a 1-0 lead became a 1-1 draw.
A couple of weeks later, Leandro Trossard also kicked a ball away at Man City which resulted in a second yellow and one of the more intensive rearguards, which almost held out before John Stones’ last-gasp equaliser for the champions.
These petulant actions, in effect, cost their side four points. In October, William Saliba was sent-off against Bournemouth for tangling with Evanilson who was going in on goal after a Trossard error.
This was not in the same category as the other two incidents, but nevertheless the Gunners sit joint-top with Southampton for the most league red cards (three), and who knows where they might be without them. If they could turn all three of those slip-ups into wins, and Arsenal would be a point clear at the top.
It seems they have learned their lesson in recent months, and only Brentford have picked up fewer than Arsenal’s 38 yellow cards so far.
But throwing a title away due to their own indiscipline would perhaps be the most painful way of all, and Arteta must ensure it does not rear its in the second half of the campaign. Doing so could be catastrophic.
Declan Rice received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away against Brighton
Leandro Trossard also kicked a ball away at Man City which resulted in a second yellow
Signing or loaning a player in this month
Compare the current Arsenal front three to that of Liverpool’s and there’s a clear difference in firepower. Mo Salah, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo vs Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard.
None of the Arsenal trio have quite hit their highs from last season and their combined goals tally in the league this campaign (15) is less than Salah’s 17. Diaz has chipped in with eight and Gakpo a further five.
It calls for the signature, or loan move, of a forward player in this window, and as my colleague Sami Mokbel reported this week, they are making a strong push for one.
Arsenal have been linked to a number of them such as Alexander Isak, Matheus Cunha and Nico Williams – each of whom would be extremely hard to get in January.
But a name such as Randal Kolo Muani, who has already been offered to the Gunners by Paris Saint-Germain – likely on loan – could be feasible. It would certainly bolster a frontline which is, at the moment, out-gunned by their main rival.
Getting Bukayo Saka back ASAP
The loss of Saka would be a hammer blow to any team in the world, such is his impact. Over the past three seasons, Saka has missed just 10 out of Arsenal’s 172 matches in all competitions. He’s that important.
It’s left Arteta with a headache trying to balance his front three which has seen him to turn to various options so far, such as shifting Gabriel Martinelli to the right and bringing in talented teenager Nwaneri, who showed some nice touches there at Brentford and helped to set up two of Arsenal’s goals.
Arsenal’s front three’s combined goals tally in the league this campaign (15) is less than Mohamed Salah’s 17
Arsenal have been linked to a number of forwards such as Newcastle’s Alexander Isak
They are decent solutions, but none that come close to filling the gap left by Saka. The one remedy is getting Saka back — and fast.
With rehab, rest and good physiological strategy, Arsenal are hoping to have the winger back by early March, when they travel to Manchester United and host Chelsea.
If they can stay in the race until then, the return of Saka could well be the boost the Gunners need to usurp Liverpool.
Utilise their academy talent
In the past, Arteta has been accused of not giving young talent a chance to play. Such an argument could not be made this season.
Myles Lewis-Skelly, 18, started three consecutive league matches (against Everton, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town) in December, and Nwaneri, 17, made his first career league start earlier this week against Brentford.
Both teenagers are great talents, and of course have been helped into the team by injuries; Lewis-Skelly because of the left back crisis and Nwaneri for the gap created by Saka’s injury.
Going forward, it would be wise for Arteta to maintain a level of caution. They are still developing, so over-burdening them would be counter-productive. But using them when required would overall benefit the team and the pair themselves, especially with Arsenal’s attack needing a jolt of energy.
If they can stay in the race until then, the return of Bukayo Saka could well be the boost the Gunners need to usurp Liverpool
Arteta is giving young talent a chance. Myles Lewis-Skelly, 18, started three consecutive league matches
It’s also about being mindful of the current academy crop. In the face of Saka’s absence, winger Ismael Kabia, who is yet to feature in the league, made the bench against Brentford.
And let’s not forget that this season Arteta has started goalkeepers aged 16 and 19 in the run to the League Cup semi-finals.
It shows a concerted approach of blooding youngsters for first-team football – and long may it continue.
Win the Carabao Cup
Winning breeds winning, and as Arteta reminded his team last month, getting past Newcastle in the League Cup last four and lifting the trophy could be the catalyst to bigger prizes.
‘It brings belief, trust and positive energy,’ said Arteta, who won two FA Cups as a player here and then oversaw a dynasty of silverware as Guardiola’s assistant at City, including beating Arsenal 3-0 in the 2018 League Cup final.
‘Beating someone in the semi-final and final generates that energy and creates the right path to go and do something else.
In the face of Saka’s absence, winger Ismael Kabia, who is yet to feature in the league, made the bench against Brentford
After the title agony of the last two campaigns, a trophy of any kind would be dearly welcomed by most Gooners
‘When you are winning you get on a run and go into the next competition, it helps create something different around these types of games, which is really important. The team is always engaged every three days.’
It is the only thing you can hold against Arteta in a five-year tenure that has overhauled the club from top to bottom – that the only trophy he has secured was the 2020 FA Cup eight months into his reign, when there were no fans in the stands and the squad was a completely different animal.
After the title agony of the last two campaigns, a trophy of any kind would be dearly welcomed by most Gooners.
It would also serve a reminder to Newcastle’s Isak, who Arsenal admire and welcome to the Emirates for the first leg on Tuesday, of the calibre of team he could well join in the future.
