With every match that goes by, Arsenal are establishing themselves as serious contenders for the Premier League title.
While it’s true the Gunners were in a better position this time last season, leading the league over Manchester City before ultimately capitulating in the final stages, there’s a different feel about Mikel Arteta‘s side this campaign.
Arsenal’s mentality – or lack of it – was questioned again after their successive post-Christmas defeats by West Ham and Fulham at the end of 2024. It seemed as though the condemnatory narrative that plagued last season’s title push would come back to haunt the team once again, but they have been nothing short of sensation in the Premier League since the turn of the year.
With 30 goals scored in just seven matches, Arsenal became the first team to win three top flight away games by five or more goals following Monday night’s 6-0 decimation of Sheffield United. The superb win streak has included two 5-0 triumphs over Crystal Palace and Burnley, a 6-0 win at Burnley and a crucial 3-1 victory against fellow title challengers Liverpool.
Despite sitting two points behind the Reds and one adrift of second-place Manchester City, Arsenal are the in-form team in the Premier League and have significantly boosted their goal difference over the last two months – a factor that could prove crucial come the end of the season.
Arsenal dismantled Sheffield United with a 6-0 thrashing at Bramall Lane on Monday night
Kai Havertz bagged his third goal in as many games, continuing to prove his doubters wrong
Ahead of the January transfer window, the likes of Ian Wright, Jamie Carragher, Paul Merson were urging the Gunners to empty their pockets on a new striker, insisting the team would fall short of Premier League glory once again without a star No 9 to rely on.
Highly-rated forward targets Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen were all ignored in January as Arteta committed to the current Gunners squad, and it’s a decision that has paid dividends even with first-choice striker Gabriel Jesus out injured.
What fans and pundits failed to recognise – and what the manager perhaps put his faith in all along – was that Arsenal’s £65million summer signing Kai Havertz was set to undergo a superb purple patch of goal-scoring form, finally showing what he can do as a hybrid forward at the apex of Arsenal’s midfield.
Havertz was the target of significant criticism at…