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Are Arsenal Already Out of the Premier League Title Race?

By on November 18, 2024

Mikel Arteta Arsenal

Mikel Arteta has been with Arsenal as the head coach since December 2019, and he’s won…an FA Cup and two FA Community Shields. Despite insisting the team has gotten better, they’ve won less in his five-year period than the club won in Arsene Wenger’s last half-decade. Now, after losing to Newcastle United and drawing to Chelsea, the North London Reds might not even challenge for the Premier League title.

Season Trajectory Already Below Title Contention; Can’t See Out Results

The Premier League is 11 games into the season. Arsenal has played 11, won five, drawn four, and lost two, amassing 19 points, which is 1.7 per game. While they aren’t losing many games, they aren’t winning enough. They’ve been unable to keep course with the league leaders, Liverpool, who are already at 28 points.

This problem stems from the team’s inability to see out games, having dropped points from winning positions. Arsenal led the fixture against Manchester City away from home with a 2-1 score going into stoppage time. Yet, two points were chucked away needlessly as the team seemed unable to cope with late pressure, leading to a John Stones toe-poked goal in the dying embers (90+8) of the match, which ended 2-2.

Later in the season, it was a similar story at the Emirates against Liverpool, with the defence going AWOL as the black away shirts weighted the ball into the Arsenal box as Alexander-Arnold found Darwin Nunez, who squared the ball past three Arsenal defenders for Mohamed Salah to score the equaliser, in a match that also ended 2-2. In another instance of dropping points, Arsenal took the lead against Chelsea only to squander it and then look unable to mount a challenge to regain it. Take these match results in isolation. If they hadn’t dropped these points, they’d be six better off and have a tally of 27. Liverpool would, of course, be on the exact tally, too. Clearly, their inability to see out results is holding them back from being a credible title contender. That’s not even mentioning the unexpected losses to AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United.

No Time to Waste for Arteta

Given the poor form, Mikel Arteta will welcome the international break to refresh his team. Well, there won’t be many of those who aren’t going on international duty. Irrespective, the time away from the Arsenal training ground will give the players time to reflect on what they need to do for their club.

The problem is that there’s no time to waste when the Premier League resumes. The fixtures don’t get any easier with the visit of high-flying Nottingham Forest, who are also on 19 points, a London derby with Fulham, who have shown the ability to win from losing positions – Arsenal’s weak point and then a classic fixture with Manchester United, who are enjoying a new manager bounce under Ruben Amorim. At the same time, as the pacesetters, Liverpool will be expected to pick up points in their upcoming fixtures against Southampton and the Merseyside Derby against Everton. They are subsequently leaving Arteta with no place to hide.

Target the Cups or Leave

As stated in the introduction, Mikel Arteta hasn’t won much—the FA Cup in his first season and the glorified friendlies after (Community Shields). None of them carry much prestige after five years. Arsenal sacked Unai Emery for underachieving, yet Arteta still finds himself an employee at the Emirates.

At this point, the Arsenal fans and owners deserve a trophy return for their substantial time and financial investment in Arteta’s vision. The UEFA Champions League may be an unrealistic goal, given that the team cannot compete in the domestic league competition. However, the team is already into the Quarter-Final phase of the EFL Cup, when they will play Crystal Palace at home, so if you are going to bet on Arsenal with offshore sportsbooks, then this is probably your best chance of winning something… a bit like the Gunners.

Ultimately, if Arteta could lift that trophy at Wembley and at least put in a spirited performance for the FA and close the cap to a respectable amount of Liverpool’s tally, then it could ease the offseason discussions. The Spanish manager has a contract until 2027, but the board won’t be afraid to pay him off if it becomes apparent that he can’t make Arsenal compete for trophies. If he cannot mount any challenge, then it becomes a difficult conversation for Arteta to justify his place without tangible success to point out continually.