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Arsenal are flying right now.

Five reasons to believe that Arsenal lift the Premier League trophy come May

It’s been twenty years since Arsenal were last crowned Premier League champions. They were still playing at Highbury when Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles finished top in 2003-04.

But that long wait for glory might soon be coming to an end. Mikel Arteta has built an exceptional side, and after coming so close last season, they might just go one better this year.

The Gunners are fighting tooth and nail in a fascinating title race with Liverpool and Manchester City. They’re currently third in the table, but they boast the best goal difference and look more than capable of overhauling the two sides above them.

We’ve identified five key reasons for Arsenal to believe that 2024 is their year.

Form

To say that Arsenal are in decent form right now would be massively underselling it. Arsenal are currently enjoying one of the best runs of the club’s storied history.

Seven straight league wins. Thirty-one goals scored. Just three conceded. They’re the first side in Premier League history to win three successive away games by five or more goals and the only one of the 92 clubs in England’s top four tiers to boast a 100% winning record in 2024.

Man City and Liverpool have both been in excellent form, each winning seven of eight league outings so far this calendar year. But they’re having to work hard for their three points, often winning by a single-goal margin or with late match-winners. Whereas Arsenal are cruising to victories and able to conserve their energy.

QUIZ: Can you name every player to get 20+ Premier League assists for Arsenal?

Defence

Arsenal rank top in the Premier League for pretty much every defensive metric going – goals conceded, open play goals conceded, clean sheets, xG against, shots on target faced and opposition touches in their penalty area.

In fact, they’ve conceded just 61 shots on target against them this season. That’s less than half as many as Manchester United, 17 fewer than City and 33 fewer than Liverpool. And that bodes very well for their title prospects – in each of the last seven seasons, the side that has conceded the fewest shots on target has ended up winning the league.

“Yes, they have started scoring goals now, but another solution is to be better defensively,” Jamie Carragher said in his analysis of Arsenal’s defence on Monday Night Football.

“When I watch Arsenal, I think they are not just the best team defensively in the league, but in Europe too.

“Manchester City have been the best team defensively and won the league. Arsenal are that team now and they have got a great chance of winning the title.”

Big Game Record

Arsenal still have a number of big hurdles to cross in the run-in – most notably Manchester City away at the end of March, but also trips to Tottenham and Manchester United in April and May.

But given how they’ve performed on the big occasion so far in 2023-24, those tests are something to be relished rather than feared. A big opportunity to stake their claim as the best side in the country.

Arteta’s men have the best record in ‘big six’ outings so far this season, still unbeaten and averaging two points per game. Keep that up in their remaining three games and they’ll take some beating when it comes to the title race.

They’ve already beaten title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool and also took three points from Erik ten Hag’s struggling Red Devils.

Premier League Big Six Head-to-Head table 2023-24 Arsenal Man City Man Utd Liverpool

READ: The Premier League ‘Big Six’ head-to-head table of 2023-24: Arsenal flying…

Experience

After falling short last season, Mikel Arteta tweaked Arsenal’s approach last summer.

It’s strange to think now that some criticised Arsenal for being too conservative, boring and sterile as they struggled for goals in the first half of the 2023-24 campaign, but that shift is reaping rewards now. The attack has started to click, but that hasn’t come at the expense of looking solid at the back.

This time last year, Arsenal actually had more points than they do now. But their performances weren’t quite as complete as convincing. The Gunners were euphoric in their celebrations after beating Bournemouth 4-3 a year ago, but the nature of that game hinted at a volatility that ultimately cost them in dropped points against West Ham, Southampton and Manchester City.

Lessons have been learned from the manner in which they fell away in the run-in last season, and Arteta appears to have fixed them.

Players available

One of the key reasons that City were able to pip Arsenal to the title, and go on to complete a historic treble, was the availability of all their key players. Pep Guardiola had been blessed with deeper squads in the past, but he was lucky to have pretty much all of his most prized assets fit and firing during the run-in last term.

Arsenal might struggle if the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard or William Saliba suffer serious injuries, but for now everything is looking in a healthy state. Thomas Partey returned from a long lay-off in the win at Sheffield United, while Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and even Jurrien Timber – out since August – are expected back soon.

There is a question mark over Gabriel Martinelli, who limped off at Bramall Lane, but otherwise there can be few complaints. That’s some contrast to Liverpool.


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