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“For 22 years, the old Arsenal artillery had lain silent and dormant, gathering dust and gathering doubts. But this season lit the fuse. ”
“After 22 years of gloom, it’s about to go BOOM! The Arsenal cannon fires again. Arsenal roar like it’s 2004!”
Those were the words of commentator Conor McNamara on the final day of the 2025/26 season, Sunday, May 24, 2026, as Arsenal lifted the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years.
It was a moment Arsenal supporters will continue to savour for years to come. A moment that brought an end to the ridicule, the taunts and the accusations of being perennial bottlers that had followed the club for so long.
The season could have ended on an even higher note. Arsenal’s parade on May 31 could have seen them celebrate both the Premier League title and the UEFA Champions League trophy, the one honour that still eludes them. But that dream was denied after their defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest on the night of May 30.
Even so, the disappointment of that loss did little to take away from the joy that filled the streets the following day. As Arsenal paraded the Premier League trophy, the scenes were magnificent, a beautiful and memorable occasion for supporters who had waited more than two decades to witness their club back on top of English football.
The start of the 2026/27 Premier League season is upon us, and the traditional curtain raiser to the campaign, the Community Shield, took place on Sunday as Premier League champions Arsenal faced FA Cup winners Manchester City at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
Arsenal ran out 3-0 winners courtesy of goals from Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard.
It was hardly the start Enzo Maresca would have envisioned to his reign as Manchester City manager. If concerns had already begun to creep into the minds of City supporters after the club announced that Pep Guardiola would be leaving at the end of last season, Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal would have only amplified those fears about what the new era may hold.
Now that the season’s curtain raiser has come and gone, Arsenal are the obvious favourites to win the Premier League. The supercomputers say so, the bookmakers say so, and even the average football fan can see it.
The big question now is whether there is any team capable of stopping them from winning the Premier League.
Is there really any? Let’s Dissect it.
Well, it is not possible to give an outright answer on whether anyone can stop Arsenal or not. But it is not difficult to predict that there will be challengers in the mix. Whether any of them can sustain that challenge until the very end is a different conversation entirely.
Realistically, on paper, no team looks capable of stopping Arsenal from winning the Premier League title this season. Football, however, has a habit of producing anomalies and surprises.
The best example is Arne Slot’s Liverpool winning the Premier League in the 2024/25 season. It was not something many anticipated. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City had won four consecutive league titles and Arsenal had established themselves as consistent challengers. If City were not going to win it, many expected Arsenal to be next in line. Instead, Liverpool emerged from the pack and claimed the title. More importantly, they did not do it by chance. They did it convincingly.
That alone serves as a reminder that surprises can happen.
There have also been several managerial changes among the teams expected to compete near the top of the table. Liverpool now have Andoni Iraola, Chelsea have appointed Xabi Alonso, Tottenham Hotspur have Roberto De Zerbi, while Manchester City have handed the reins to Enzo Maresca. Manchester United are the only traditional top-six side to have retained their manager, while Aston Villa, who have earned their place in these conversations through their performances in recent seasons, still have Unai Emery.
All of those managers possess the tactical quality and managerial pedigree to compete. But winning a Premier League title requires far more than that.
One of the biggest reasons Arsenal are so difficult to dislodge is that this team has been built to compete over several years. They pushed Guardiola’s Manchester City all the way on multiple occasions and fell short by the finest of margins.
Eventually, they got over the line and won the title, doing so in a season where Guardiola’s City still pushed them relentlessly. If it was that difficult for a serial-winning Manchester City side to stop Arsenal, then it becomes even harder to imagine another team arriving immediately and taking the title away from them.
In reality, the first step for Arsenal’s rivals is not necessarily winning the league. It is proving they can genuinely compete with Arsenal over the course of a season. If a team can consistently push them, make life uncomfortable and remain in the race until the closing weeks, then perhaps the foundations for a title-winning campaign can be laid in the seasons that follow.
Right now, though, Arsenal remain the benchmark.
Another factor working in Arsenal’s favour is continuity. They have retained the vast majority of the squad that won the Premier League last season.
Of the players who departed, Arsenal only lost Leandro Trossard and Christian Nørgaard. Nørgaard was not a key part of the title-winning side, meaning the core of Arsenal’s championship-winning squad remains largely intact.In their place, Arsenal have added Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge and Bruno Guimarães.
Even before those additions, Arsenal already possessed one of the deepest squads in the league. Across almost every position, there was a capable replacement ready to step in and perform when called upon.
To retain the core of a title-winning squad while strengthening it with high-quality additions only reinforces the feeling that Arsenal will be extremely difficult to stop this season.
Of course, football is not played on paper. Arsenal will still have to earn every point, overcome injuries, navigate difficult moments and maintain the consistency that carried them to the title last season.
But as things stand, they are in pole position and the odds are firmly in their favour.
Whether they ultimately retain the title will be decided across 38 matchdays. By May 2027, the answer will reveal itself.
For now, Arsenal remain the team everyone else has to catch.
