10 points dropped and just six goals scored – Have Arsenal thrown away their title challenge?

Man City back on top 

If Arsenal had ever been a serious contender to win the Premier League this season, Mikel Arteta made a point of highlighting just how far off his team were from the standard required to achieve that goal, following Wednesday night’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City. Not only did the result allow Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions to reclaim top spot in the English top-flight, but it perhaps also showed Arsenal what was needed from them if they were to win their first league title in over 20 years. 

“Manchester City demand you to play at the best level,” said Arteta after the match. “We reached that level in a huge battle and had a feeling we were going to win but then we just gave three goals away and did not put our chances in. Bad mistakes are part of football and unfortunately we have done it against a team that punish you.” The question that remains is whether Arsenal have learned from their mistakes and are prepared to bounce back in the title race. 

How bad is Arsenal’s form right now? 

Although Wednesday’s defeat to Man City may end up being catalogued as the moment Arsenal lost their footing in the title race, Arteta’s side have been losing ground to Guardiola’s team for a number of weeks now. For example, since the turn of the year, Arsenal have only picked up eight points from their six matches, placing them tenth in the Transfermarkt Annual Table. And while Man City have played an extra game than their North London challengers, they’ve also amassed almost twice as many points since the start of 2023.

Even when we look at a more traditional form table, which shows the performances of each Premier League table in their last five league games, we can see just how far off the pace Arsenal really are at this moment in time. Just eight points from five games places them eighth among their domestic rivals with just two wins, two draws and one defeat. In other words, Arteta’s side were already in trouble long before Man City came to the Emirates Stadium. 

What’s gone wrong at Arsenal in 2023?

Perhaps the most notable thing about Arsenal’s recent form is the fact that while the club have only conceded four goals from five games in 2023, Arteta’s side have also only managed to score six of their own return. Which, rather worryingly, places them tenth in the league for goals scored since the turn of the year. 

Much of that will be down to the fact that since Gabriel Jesus picked up a serious knee injury at the World Cup, Arteta’s side have tried to accommodate for their talisman by sharing the burden of goalscoring throughout their team. Which is why Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard sit joint top of the club’s goalscoring charts with eight goals each, along with Gabriel Martinelli right behind them with seven goals. However, the problem with that method is that it relies on inconsistent goalscorers to be consistent sources of goals. And over the course of the past two months the aforementioned trio have struggled to live up the billing. For example, despite all three starting and playing plenty of football in 2023, the three Arsenal stars have just two goals between them from the last five games. And it has cost Arteta’s side 10 points in that period.  

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