It wasn’t so long ago that Arsenal were putting some pressure on Liverpool in the race for this year’s Premier League title. But a poor second half of the campaign saw them fall out of contention. Despite this significant drop-off, which has been in part due to Arsenal prioritising the Champions League (despite no glory there either!), the Gunners are set to be one of the title favourites once again for the 2025/26 campaign. But, what do they need to do to stop being title challengers and start being title winners?
Maintain Excellent Big Game Record
This team came of age this season.
There’s so much more to come from them ❤️ pic.twitter.com/jjfbFisJoY
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 8, 2025
One significant improvement Arsenal have enjoyed under Mikel Arteta recently is that they are far stronger in the big games now. Since the start of the 2022/23 season, Arteta has collected 60 points against the traditional ‘big six’ clubs, a hugely impressive rate of 2.07 points per game, which is miles ahead of any other of the six.
It is particularly important to take points off big clubs as they are the ones also likely to be mounting a title challenge. Manchester City may well be among the main contenders next year and they used to consider Arsenal an easy three points, but not any more. After enjoying a run of 12 successive league victories against the Gunners, Pep Guardiola’s side are now winless in their last four attempts.
As Arsenal have tended to drop more points in games where they perhaps shouldn’t, maintaining this excellent big club record will be crucial for a title push in 2025/26.
Improve Open Play Threat
A lot has been said about Arsenal’s defensive capabilities and their threat from set pieces but to be a more complete side, they need to improve their threat from open play. Currently in the Premier League, after 34 games played, they have 47 goals from open play and an xG of 47.51. Liverpool (64), Man City (58), Newcastle (50), Brentford (50) all have a greater totals from open play while even struggling north London rivals Tottenham have a superior open play xG (50).
Yes, Arsenal are extremely good from set plays and this will likely be the case next season too, but there is too much of a reliance on this for being a source of goals in matches. The difference between turning some of this season’s draws into wins has been just a bit more creativity and quality in the final third. Admittedly, injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus have made attacking more difficult but it’s also partly down to the way Arteta sets his team up. Even last year, which was far less blighted by injuries, Arsenal only managed the same number of open play goals as fifth-place Tottenham (62).
Arteta may not need to make major tactical changes in the pursuit of more attacking power; however, if the club is willing to invest in the transfer market over the summer, a new striker and a new winger could make a world of difference to the Gunners.
The Need to Sign a Striker
Arsenal fans have been crying out for a proper number nine for a long time but the team still remain light in this area. Havertz, while not a natural striker, has proven competent at leading the line, although his finishing ability falls short of that of an elite striker. Then you have Gabriel Jesus, a more natural centre forward but one with an increasingly poor injury record and an even worse finishing record (26-goal xG underperformance in the league over the past eight seasons).
It seems widely accepted that Arsenal would benefit from a proper, clinical striker and one who can stay healthy for most of a season. Someone like Viktor Gyokeres would seemingly be a great pick although there will no doubt be much competition for his signature this summer. Other options are available but none are likely to come cheap so Arsenal will need to be willing to invest some decent money to improve their title chances.
How About Signing a Winger?
Although the impressive rise of the young Ethan Nwaneri has made the wide forward position less of an issue, Arsenal could still do with strengthening this area. Including the 18-year-old, Arsenal only have four wingers in total – Saka, Martinelli and Trossard being the other three. Saka and Nwaneri make for a strong right side but Martinelli and Trossard on the left is a weaker combination as neither are good enough to be starting regularly for a team with title aspirations.
The Arsenal attack would look a lot more threatening with a left winger who can beat his man and deliver quality balls into the box. Saka does this brilliantly from the right but Arsenal are too reliant on him as a creative outlet. If they could instead offer a real threat down both flanks, rather than just one, teams would find the Gunners far more difficult to defend against.
A Little Bit of Luck
So far in this article, we have focused on what the Gunners can do themselves to improve their title chances in 2025/26. Even if they make improvements though, their fate may well boil down to how well their rivals fare. Liverpool collected 97 points in 2018/19, more than enough to win the title most years, but they ended up finishing runners-up to Man City.
Now you could say, if a team wins every game then it doesn’t matter what their title rivals do but this is simply not a realistic goal. The Premier League is so competitive that even the best teams will drop points on multiple occasions. Man City hold the record for most points collected in one season (100 in 2017/18), but even then they failed to win six of their 38 matches.
So, even if Arsenal make great strides forward next season and end up with 92 points, for example, which would be their biggest-ever tally, this might not be enough to clinch the title if luck is against them. Similarly, a particularly weak season for the top clubs could see the Gunners end their league title drought without being particularly impressive. In the 2015/16 season, Leicester won the title with just 81 points and even 72 would have been enough to finish in second position, such was the gap between the Foxes and second place.
Obviously, the better Arsenal do, the better their chances of winning the title, but sometimes another team is just so formidable, they become very difficult to beat.