Halfway through the season has arrived and Arsenal are once again in the saddle of a rival fighting for the Premier League title.
Liverpool lead the table by six points with a game in hand. Last season the Gunners were two points behind the Reds at this stage, with Manchester City not far away before roaring back to take a fourth successive title.
So the margins are bigger and the challenge bigger, but Arsenal are still further ahead in this title race.
Before 2024, Mikel Arteta's men recorded the most points (85), wins (26), most clean sheets (18) and fewest goals conceded (25) in the Premier League. No team in England's top four divisions could match their 2.36 points per game after an early start to the year – and a trip to Dubai mid-season – with only an autumn swing slowing their progress.
They enter 2025 feeling bruised having fallen just short in successive seasons, but with the belief that only they can stand in the way of Arne Slot lifting the title in his first season as Liverpool boss.
Here, Mail Sport runs through the key obstacles Arsenal must overcome to transform Liverpool and end 21 years without a league title.
Navigate in January
The first month can be the toughest. Including the New Year's Day win over Brentford, Arsenal have nine games in January, the most they have scheduled in any month in 2025.
Last January, with a winter break and without a Carabao Cup semi-final or two additional Champions League group games, Arteta's men played just three times.
In the most simplistic terms, the Gunners' toughest tests appear to lie further down the road when they travel to third-placed Nottingham Forest next month and then to Anfield on the penultimate weekend of the season in a potential title decider.
But if they don't get through January unscathed and within striking distance of Liverpool, those games will mean nothing anyway.
What would help is a copy of the unbeaten run that Arteta managed at this stage last season.
Arsenal had dropped eleven points in December before regrouping in Dubai and embarking on an eleven-match unbeaten run, which began with eight consecutive wins by a combined score of 33–4.
Even that was ultimately not enough to beat City when Aston Villa delivered the decisive blow with a heartbreaking 2-0 win at the Emirates in April, but the title race lasted until the very last day.
So at least a similar effort will be needed this time. That may sound like a big ask considering the Gunners took 49 points from the last 54 available, including a trip to City, but consider that the last eight Premier League champions have won runs of nine, 12, 12, 15, respectively. 18, 14, 18 and 13.
That's the level required, especially in the Guardiola era, but Arsenal have finished in eighth place under Arteta and haven't scored 10 in a row for 22 years.
Guard their special weapon
As Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Every team Arsenal have faced will likely have prepared extensively for the coming set-piece schemes orchestrated by mastermind Nicolas Jover.
Still, new plans, new blocking moves and new faces have kept the series going. Arsenal have scored eleven goals this season, again the most in the Premier League.
Mikel Merino was the final beneficiary at Brentford, raking in from close range as Arsenal crashed into the penalty area with multiple runners and held the ball in the Bees' penalty area as they rushed to try to clear.
And the Gunners have tinkered with their routine in games of late to try not to become predictable. Think of Gabriel going from a lone wanderer in the penalty area to part of the pack, or a coordinated post-post rush that led to the two goals that defeated Manchester United in December.
Jover will have to continue to innovate to keep Arsenal ahead and replenish an attack that has lost its talisman, Bukayo Saka, for at least two months.
Stay disciplined
Indiscipline was the big blow for Arsenal at the start of this season as they lost several games after having a player off.
Declan Rice received a second yellow card against Brighton for kicking the ball and a 1-0 lead became a 1-1 draw.
A few weeks later, Leandro Trossard also kicked a ball away at Man City, resulting in a second yellow and one of the more intense back lines almost holding out before John Stones' final equalizer for the champions.
These petulant actions actually cost their team four points. In October, William Saliba was sent off against Bournemouth for tangling with Evanilson, who went through on goal after a Trossard error.
This wasn't in the same category as the other two incidents, but nevertheless the Gunners are tied with Southampton at the top for most red cards in the competition (three), and who knows where they would be without them. If they could turn all three of these mistakes into wins, Arsenal would be a point clear at the top.
It seems they have learned their lesson in recent months, with only Brentford having received fewer than Arsenal's 38 yellow cards so far.
But throwing away a title due to their own lack of discipline would be perhaps the most painful way of all, and Arteta must ensure that this title does not resurface in the second half of the season. This could be catastrophic.
Sign or loan a player in this month
Compare Arsenal's current front three to Liverpool's and there is a clear difference in firepower. Mo Salah, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo vs. Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard.
None of the Arsenal trio have reached last season's highest level and their combined goals in the league this season (15) are fewer than Salah's 17. Diaz has achieved eight and Gakpo another five.
It calls for the signature, or loan move, of an attacker in this window, and as my colleague Sami Mokbel reported this week, they are making a strong case to acquire one.
Arsenal have been linked with a number of them, such as Alexander Isak, Matheus Cunha and Nico Williams, all of whom would be extremely difficult to get in January.
But a name like Randal Kolo Muani, who has already been offered to the Gunners by Paris Saint-Germain – likely on loan – could be viable. It would certainly strengthen a front line currently outmatched by their main rival.
Get Bukayo Saka back as soon as possible
Losing Saka would be a blow to any team in the world, such is his impact. Over the past three seasons, Saka has missed just 10 of Arsenal's 172 games in all competitions. He is so important.
Arteta has had a headache trying to balance his front three, which has forced him to choose several options so far, such as moving Gabriel Martinelli to the right and bringing in talented teenager Nwaneri, who has added some nice touches there at Brentford showed and helped set up two of Arsenal's goals.
They're decent solutions, but none that come close to filling the hole left by Saka. The only cure is to get Saka back – and quickly.
With rehabilitation, rest and a good physiological strategy, Arsenal hope to have the winger back in early March when they travel to Manchester United and host Chelsea.
If they can stay in the race until then, Saka's return could be the boost the Gunners need to usurp Liverpool.
Utilize their academy talent
In the past, Arteta has been accused of not giving young talent a chance to play. Such an argument could not be made this season.
Myles Lewis-Skelly, 18, started three consecutive league matches (against Everton, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town) in December, and Nwaneri, 17, made his first career league start against Brentford earlier this week.
Both teenagers are great talents and have obviously been helped into the team through injuries; Lewis-Skelly because of the left-back crisis and Nwaneri because of the gap left by Saka's injury.
Going forward, it would be wise for Arteta to be cautious. They are still developing, so it would be counterproductive to overload them. But using it when necessary would overall benefit the team and the two themselves, especially as Arsenal's attack needs a jolt of energy.
It is also about taking into account the current academy crop. Despite Saka's absence, winger Ismael Kabia, who is yet to feature in the league, came on the bench against Brentford.
And let's not forget that Arteta has used goalkeepers aged 16 and 19 this season in the run-up to the League Cup semi-finals.
It shows a joint approach to attracting young people to first-team football – and may it continue to do so for a long time to come.
Win the Carabao Cup
Winning means winning, and as Arteta reminded his team last month, getting past Newcastle in the last four of the League Cup and lifting the trophy could be the catalyst for bigger trophies.
“It brings belief, confidence and positive energy,” said Arteta, who won two FA Cups here as a player and then presided over a dynasty of silverware as Guardiola's assistant at City, including beating Arsenal 3-0 in the League Cup 2018 final.
'Beating someone in the semi-finals and finals generates that energy and creates the right path to do something else.
“If you win, you get going and you go to the next competition. It helps to create something different around these types of games, which is very important. The team is always busy every three days.'
It's the only thing you can have against Arteta in a five-year tenure that has overhauled the club from top to bottom – that the only trophy he has secured was the 2020 FA Cup, eight months into his reign, when there was still no fans were in the club. the stands and the team were a completely different animal.
After the title battles of the last two campaigns, a trophy of any kind would be very welcome by most Gooners.
It would also be a reminder to Newcastle's Isak, who admires Arsenal and welcomes them to the Emirates for the first leg on Tuesday, of the caliber of squad he could join in the future.
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