When Arsenal fans woke up on Monday morning, it was hard not to feel more than a flicker of belief.
Liverpool beaten again. Manchester City slipping up at Villa Park. Chelsea nowhere to be seen. And the Gunners? Ruthless, reliable, and sitting four points clear at the top.
Mikel Arteta’s side ground out a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday to round off a perfect week, Eberechi Eze’s strike against his former club securing Arsenal’s seventh straight win in all competitions. It wasn’t flashy – it didn’t need to be. Arsenal have mastered the art of control.
Liverpool ?
— Bet9ja: The home of #betBOOM! ? (@Bet9jaOfficial) October 27, 2025
Man City ?
Chelsea ?
Arsenal ?
Bad weekend for bald managers ????
Great weekend for the Gunners ? pic.twitter.com/jP620c1UUl
Defence Wins Titles
No side in Europe’s top leagues can boast a stronger defensive record right now. The Gunners have conceded just three goals in nine Premier League matches, keeping six clean sheets along the way. This is a team that knows how to win – and, more importantly, how not to lose.
While Arsenal handled their business with quiet efficiency, chaos reigned elsewhere. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City suffered their third defeat of the campaign, a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa, leaving them six points adrift of the summit.
Liverpool’s collapse is even starker – four league defeats in a row, five in their last six in all competitions, and a slide that’s beginning to look terminal for a title defence.
This Time Feels Different
For years, Arsenal have been the nearly men. They were top for 248 days in the 2022/23 season before collapsing late. They pushed City close again in 2023/24, and finished just behind Liverpool last year. But this time, something feels different.
Former Man Utd defender and eight-time Premier League champion Gary Neville summed it up best:
“This has got to be them, hasn’t it? This has got to be their year,” he said on the Gary Neville Podcast.
“This is the fourth season on the bounce that I’ve had them to win the league, but they’re not necessarily miles better, they’re repeating their levels of consistency, and that’s all they’re going to have to do this year to win the league.
“They’re not going to have to go and get 100 points, they’re not going to have to get even 90 or 95 points to win the league, mid-80s, high 80s will win them this title, and they can do that.”
Reliable and Ruthless
Reliability is Arsenal’s biggest weapon. They’ve built from the back, added set-piece precision, and quietly turned Declan Rice and Martín Zubimendi into the most balanced midfield in the league. Gabriel and William Saliba are immovable at the heart of defence. David Raya barely has a save to make.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher went as far as to call Gabriel “the most influential player in the Premier League right now,” and it’s hard to argue. The Brazilian’s dominance at both ends – defending and attacking set pieces – has made Arsenal a nightmare to play against.
The numbers tell their own story: Arsenal have gone 385 minutes without conceding a Premier League goal. There’s a ruthlessness to this Arsenal that’s new. They’ve stopped trying to outplay everyone and started outlasting them.
Mentality Shift
What separates this Arsenal side from those that came close in recent years is their mindset. The scars of the 2022/23 collapse appear to have hardened them, not haunted them.
Every narrow win, every defensive block, every scrappy three points feels deliberate – the hallmark of a team that finally understands what it takes to go the distance.
Mikel Arteta has made mentality a non-negotiable. Players talk about his relentless focus on detail: in meetings, in recovery, in how they react to setbacks. There’s no panic when chances are missed, no chaos when a game tightens. Arsenal now play like champions-in-waiting.
Gabriel’s roar after a late block against Palace said everything – this isn’t the fragile Arsenal of old. It’s a side that fights for inches and celebrates clean sheets as much as goals.
Set-piece dominance
Arsenal’s dominance from set-pieces has become one of the defining features of their title charge – and perhaps the clearest reflection of Mikel Arteta’s attention to detail.
No team in the Premier League has scored more goals from dead-ball situations this season. The Gunners have already found the net 11 times from corners and free-kicks – accounting for nearly 70% of their overall tally – a staggering figure that highlights both precision and planning.
Wow ?
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) October 26, 2025
At the time of writing, Arsenal have not only scored at least two more set piece goals in the Premier League than anyone else this season – they've scored more than the total goals tally of eight teams. pic.twitter.com/aWkhGu7Mqv
With Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice delivering pinpoint service, and aerial threats like Gabriel and William Saliba attacking every ball, Arsenal are simply bullying teams in both boxes. Opposition sides know what’s coming, but few have managed to stop it.
Arteta has turned what used to be a weakness into a weapon. Arsenal no longer need to dominate from open play to win games – they can grind opponents down, earn corners, and make them pay. In a title race that may be decided by fine margins, that ruthless efficiency could prove decisive.
This time, it’s not about promise or potential. It’s about proof. And unless something dramatic changes, it’s Arsenal’s title to lose. Back them to lift the EPL title here!
