The last 9 major setbacks Arsenal suffered under Mikel Arteta – & how they responded
Arsenal’s stuttering start to the 2024-25 campaign has hit another snag with a 1-0 defeat away to Newcastle United.
It was a frustrating afternoon up in Tyneside for Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, who once again lacked creativity in the absence of their captain Martin Odegaard.
Could this be a run that proves terminal for their title chances or can they bounce back? It’s still very early days and would be daft to write them off just yet, but they could be out of the running if they don’t get back to regular winning ways soon.
We’ve taken a look at how Arsenal have responded to their last major Premier League setbacks under Arteta.
Fulham 2-1 Arsenal (December 2023)
Arteta’s men last period of poor form was in the last calendar year, having capped off a desperately disappointing end to 2023 with a 2-1 loss at Fulham on New Year’s Eve.
That was their third defeat in five, with those nine dropped points against Aston Villa, West Ham and Fulham ultimately proving decisive in ending up runners-up once more.
But just as they’d threatened to fall out of the race completely, and following a third-round FA Cup exit at home to Liverpool, they thrashed Crystal Palace 5-0 – and set the tone for an excellent 2024.
They went on to win 16 of their last 18 games of the campaign and were only pipped to the title by a City side that were just that bit more relentless.
READ: Comparing Arsenal’s 2023-24 Premier League record to the 2003-04 Invincibles: Points, Goals…
Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal (November 2023)
It’s almost exactly 12 months to the day since Arsenal’s last frustrating, narrow defeat at St. James’ Park, albeit last time with considerably more controversy over Newcastle’s winner.
That was Arsenal’s first defeat of the season following a series of score draws in London derbies against Fulham, Tottenham and Chelsea.
At that point they bounced back with four successive victories, leading them into the packed Christmas schedule well in the title race with Liverpool and Man City.
Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal (April 2023)
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where you’d class the setback for Arsenal in the closing weeks of the 2022-23 title race. But letting a two-goal lead slip at Anfield was the start of a slump that proved terminal in the end.
William Saliba’s injury proved particularly pivotal as the Gunners went on to win just three of their last nine outings, a run of form that included costly score draws against West Ham and Southampton and a particularly brutal 4-1 defeat to the eventual champions Manchester City.
A 3-0 defeat to Brighton was the final nail in the coffin, but Arsenal licked their wounds and came back stronger the following year.
READ NEXT: The 10 highest spending managers across world football since 2022-23
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player Mikel Arteta has signed for Arsenal?
Everton 1-0 Arsenal (February 2023)
Arteta’s men left Goodison Park frustrated after Sean Dyche picked up three points in his first match in charge of relegation-battling Everton. The Toffees produced the kind of solidly defensive display that Dyche has made his name on, with James Tarkowski heading in a set-piece (of course) proving the difference.
Arsenal had travelled up to Merseyside flying, unbeaten in 13 and taking 22 points from the last 26 available. But the defeat – only their second of the season – precipitated their worst run of the 2022-23 campaign, albeit a short one.
Following the result at Goodison, the Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Brentford and then allowed City to gain ground by losing 3-1 at home.
The wheels really seemed to be coming off the wagon when they went to Villa Park and were still drawing 2-2 deep into added time, but two late goals sparked a sensational seven-match winning run.
Man Utd 3-1 Arsenal (September 2022)
Arsenal produced a performance symptomatic of their largely superb 2022-23 form when they visited Old Trafford in the early weeks of the campaign.
They put Erik ten Hag’s newly-rejuvenated side (at the time) under a lot of pressure and created a number of big chances, but ultimately left Manchester empty-handed after getting sucker-punched and conceding a killer third on the counter as they went in search of an equaliser.
It was Arsenal’s first Premier League defeat of 2022-23 and would prove their only defeat of the first half of the season. Arteta’s men ended up winning 3-0 at Brentford in the following fixture and took 26 of 30 points available in their following 10. An emphatic response.
Tottenham 3-0 Arsenal (May 2022)
Arsenal went into the late-season north London derby with all the impetus in the race for Champions League qualification. They knew that a draw away at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would all but seal a top-four slot ahead of Spurs, while they’d still be masters of their own fate even with a defeat.
A 3-0 shellacking against Antonio Conte’s side proved a major blow to confidence though, and a few days later they were similarly flat in a poor 2-0 loss at Eddie Howe’s newly-minted Newcastle.
Those back-to-back defeats were the killer blow for Arsenal’s top-four hopes. A stylish 5-1 win on the final day against Everton proved meaningless.
Arsenal went away in the summer to lick their wounds and returned to pre-season as a hungry beast, setting the tone for the major steps forward they’d take the following season.
Crystal Palace 3-0 Arsenal (March 2022)
The Gunners were in an excellent run when they came up against old friend Patrick Vieira and Crystal Palace in the spring of the 2022-23 campaign. They’d won five on the bounce before the visit to Selhurst Park but were well-beaten on the day by Palace.
“We were poor, especially in the first half. I apologise to our supporters. We didn’t have the presence today or the composure to dominate the situation so that is what I’m most annoyed with,” responded Arteta.
“Some days you are not there and you are late all the time. They got on top of it and had a good atmosphere and we could not get out.”
To make matters worse, it was discovered that Kieran Tierney would be out for an extended period due to a knee injury. Thomas Partey was also sidelined by an injury sustained in the defeat, and that seemed to have a derailing effect.
Arsenal lost their subsequent outings to Brighton and Southampton. They recovered to win their next four in a row, but those nine dropped points proved fatal.
Arsenal 1-2 Man City (January 2022)
This New Year’s Day defeat to the eventual Premier League champions was a sickener. This was arguably the best performance we’d seen to date from Arsenal under Arteta as they largely outplayed Pep Guardiola’s juggernaut.
A great performance counted for no points, though, as Rodri broke hearts at the Emirates with an injury-time winner.
With domestic action getting in the way – Arsenal lost to Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup and lost on aggregate to Liverpool in the League Cup semis – it was three weeks before Arsenal’s next league fixture: a 0-0 draw at home to Sean Dyche’s Burnley.
After that, Arsenal did go on their best winning run of the season, winning five in a row to get their objective of the top four back on track.
READ: Analysing Richard Keys’ vendetta against Arsenal and Mikel Arteta
Brentford 2-0 Arsenal (August 2021)
The 2021-22 was Arsenal’s first without European football in over two decades after Arteta led the Gunners to eighth place the season before.
The “trust the process” mantra was severely tested as the Gunners struggled in the early weeks of the season. They were well-beaten by newly-promoted Brentford in their bouncing new stadium and followed that up by failing to score in defeats to Chelsea (0-2) and Man City (5-0) – their worst start in 67 years.
To rub salt into their wounds, while they sat rock bottom Nuno Espirito Santo’s Tottenham were top of the league after winning their first three.
But the Arsenal board held their nerve and gave Arteta time to turn the ship around, which he duly did. Arsenal won their next three matches, including a 3-1 home win in the north London derby, which resulted in them overtaking Spurs in less than a month. Things can change quickly in football.