Mikel Arteta says Arsenal will need to be almost perfect if they are to win the Premier League title this season.
The Gunners extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to eight points with a 2-0 win at Sp*rs and, in the process, continued the club’s best-ever start to a league campaign.
Having amassed 47 points after 18 matches, Arteta’s side on current form would hit 99 points for the season. Given the Gunners haven’t surpassed the 80-point mark since 2007/08, it’s a pretty remarkable state of affairs.
Whether we achieve that or not remains to be seen but Arteta says any side winning the title this year will have to secure 90 points at least.
“One hundred per cent yes, I do,” agreed Arteta when asked if the eventual winners will surpass that amount.
“I don’t want to do too many calculations. It’s how we are going to prepare for the game against Man United now, to get another three points and play well and deserve to win.
“You ask me about points but it’s happened in the last four or five seasons so it will demand almost perfection.”
In fact, in five of the last six seasons, the eventual winners (Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City) have amassed at least 93 points on their way to glory.
In the immediate aftermath of this evening’s win, Arteta was keen for his players to live in the moment. After all, away wins in the north London derby don’t come around too often; the last was 2014.
“This is a great position to be in and let’s enjoy every single moment and let’s keep focusing,” he said.
“It’s great, I’m going in the dressing room and just feeling the joy and the togetherness around the team and how much it meant for them.
“It’s special and we know that here because of the way we play, the way we behave, the way we are and the way we live together and the unity that we have. So we must not forget that, because tomorrow we must try to do exactly the same to carry on the form that we have at the moment.”
He added: “We have a job where we are really privileged that we can make a lot of people happy and when you have this opportunity, you have to try to do it.
“So the enjoyment of sharing the victory with the fans was a great feeling and then everything that we do, all the suffering, the hours of work, it makes a lot of sense when you have moments like this.”
Arsenal now have a week to prepare for the visit of Manchester United who squeeze in a fixture at Crystal Palace between now and then.
A tall order but then again, why not? COYG
So let’s say 90 points is the minimum to win it. Arsenal need 43 out of a possible 60. That’s something like at minimum: 14W, 1D, 5L; 13W, 4D, 3L; or 12W, 7D, 1L. And right now we’re at 15W, 2D, 1L (fucking phenomenal record!) I hope that puts into perspective to some how real this title shot actually is. 43 points from the next 20 is quite attainable. Even adding 2-3 point is not out of the question. City on the other hand need 51 points from 20 games: 17W, 0D, 3L 16W, 3D, 1L There is very little… Read more »
Brilliant!!
Though I must say, I get some real Scott Steiner vibes from your comment!
This comment has officially made me start getting ahead of myself
Thank you for your great post and the perspective it gives!
Blimey. That was absolutely brilliant. Both from a practical and an emotional point of view. Good work.
Too early to speculate . Verdict after 38 games . Do not forget 18 years without winning it so let’s remain humble as gooners
Yeah, humility is very important. One game at a time and we shall surely, as day and night, get there( win the title).
We ain’t losing another game
Anfield, St James, Etihad, and a visit to a relegation fodder towards the 30+ game mark may likely be the source or our losses/draws.
Let’s beat Utd next week. They are only one behind City now and seem to be in better form. Indeed if they win during the week they could well be in 2nd place by next weekend (I’d not mind the pain of NLD defeat translating into a Spuds performance against City in the week).
Anyway, if we beat Utd I think we look really good, then one win in either of the City games would be massive. If they beat us twice the situation would change very very fast.
Good point. I’d take two draws in the two Man City games.
I agree with Arteta (and Odegaard) – better to focus on the games than the table. This favourites business is a media game – it’s just too easy to imagine a narrative about a ‘resurgent’ City or United in two or three games, when the fact of the matter is that given the squad we have (and the moron that is Todd Boehly), our margins are always much much slimmer than theirs. That makes each win against a top six rival sweeter and worth celebrating in itself regardless of where it takes us in the table. If we win it… Read more »
Just about the best post I’ve read on here in years.
🍺 🍺 👍 😊 😊 🍺 🍺
Top work, Wednesday 15th February city at home. Could turn out to be our biggest game since the champions league final.
Daveo, Love the number crunching. Ultimately I think our title success will be dictated by our ability to do good business in the next 2 weeks or so. I think if we can get at least a CM and some kind of attacking player in, we can have a really good go at it. If we don’t do that, then I suspect we will fall short, because when the European competitions come back into full swing, we just wont be able to rely on the same 13/14 players to do midweek games to random gaffs in Europe and then play… Read more »
60 points to play for, and we need 46 to get to 93. Means we can drop 14 points, equivalent to 4 losses and a draw. Anfield away, Newcastle away, City away may well likely use up that quota. United this coming weekend will be the first test, then City at the Emirates next. Once we’ve played those fixtures then we can really start doing the math, and dream!!!
Genuine question, but even if we sign players this window, will any of them start in the league or are we looking to just bolster the squad and bench in case of injuries? I only ask because Arteta seems pretty set on the team every gameQ
Injury may happen anytime and also you may need to change the formation depending on the team. WHen we played Newcastle, we could have used a different forward if we had one
We need to strengthen the squad. The starting line up has been flawless.
At this stage, I’d be playing this team every league game and rotating in the FA Cup and Europa (and easing Jesus back in when he’s fit). Really who cares about them two when this sort of opportunity to win the league exists!? We don’t have the depth to compete on too many fronts right now – that’s the thing for future seasons – the thing for this current season is getting all those eggs we have and moving them into the “win the fucking league” basket. We could really use a forward and probably a midfielder (and Arteta is… Read more »
…bolster the squad
That’s really the (potential) problem though. Arteta can’t shuffle his pack too much without risking an upset. It’s OK as long as fatigue/injuries/suspensions don’t kick in. But if they do, we’re on shakier ground I think. Because of that, I suspect we’re looking to buy players to play from the off, if required. Who we can get who is quality and VFM remains to be seen. Edu has a good record but time is limited after all the effort put into the Mudryk deal.
Arteta knows his players better than anyone but the lateness of his substitutions gives me anxiety.
Cmon man, dilly ding dilly dong!
I mean, we’re already more than halfway to 90 points and it’s not halfway through the season yet. So why not?
Also this is a young team so as long as we keep it together mentally, physically our top players should get less exhausted than those at other top clubs as the season goes on, and they might even get better as young players often do. Only thing we’re missing is a tiny bit of depth to cover them.
We are already title contender now. Absolutely. But, I think this is the way how he wants to take the pressure off from our players. Openly admitting we are in title race would surely put a lot of pressure
If we beat United we would have 50 points at the half way mark… That means even if we drop 7 points like we have in the first half of the season we could hit 100 points!
Wow, what a time to be a gunner. R.I.P my gunner brother Icha, since you passed we’ve been on top, this season is for you.
Rest in peace Icha, this one is for you✌️
RIP Icha
RIP Icha
We are the only team that can get over 100 points!
TBF, we have been
Hey folks,
My dad invented a time travelling machine just a few days ago. Though it’s not a finished one yet, I sneaked into it and travelled to London on May 29, 2023.
You know what? London was full of Red and White celebrating our EPL trophy. I cried a lot.
So, get youself readyyyyy for that day!!!
Dreams do come true.
Did Gary Neville top himself?
There is 114 Points for 38 games. Arsenal had 47 points out of 54.
According to Arteta, They need 43 out of 60 remaining, that means we are going to Win the title. As he set 90 points to grasp the title.
I Would however, anticipate that Arsenal need a record of 100 Points to ensure the title. Meaning to target 51 Points out of the 60 remaining. There are no other team that can reach 100 points this season other than Arsenal.
Perhaps the key word here is “Almost perfection”.
With our current lead we can stand to loose both games against City, as long as we win the rest of our games. No big deal right? 🙂
Another way to look at it would be that City needs to have a perfect season from now on. And i don’t think they will be able to do that.
This promises to an exciting rest of the season. COYG
Like you, I don’t think City will pick up all the remaining points. Equally though, I suspect we’ll drop some unexpectedly – like against Newcastle or Southampton (where we got a total of two instead of the expected six). Football has a knack of turning up surprises and the least obvious teams sometimes cause the most problems. I think we’re in a good place (the best compared to every other club, obviously) at present, but there’s a long way to go. A factor could also be Edu’s efforts to strengthen the squad after the Mudryk disappointment. We’re being linked with… Read more »
This is another way of making easy Target. The Challenge is that many teams can reach the 90 points target of Artrta. I suppose, he should be targeting high and about 100 points that will be imposible for other teams to reach. If Arsenal managed 47 points out of 54. They should be able to manage 53 out of 60 points remaining. This easy Target of 90 may be motivating other teams such as Man United, Spurs and Liverpool who are otherwise out of the competition for the title this season. The title this season. Should be exclusively for Arsenal,… Read more »
It is all going to come down to how injury free our key players can remain throughout the rest of the season. If we don’t bring in reinforcements in this window it will be a true shame as there will be few better chances to win the league than having an 8 point lead at the near midpoint of the season only one of our top 5 rivals (Man U) playing wtih any kind of momentum right now (and we could end that next Sunday). We have true depth in only a few positions and in key areas of the… Read more »
If City’s defence keep pratting about like they have against Brentford, Everton and Utd, then we might not have to be quite so perfect as Mikel is indicating.
I think Arteta knows this; those comments were for the press.
Still, let’s take it one game at a time, keep the standards high and enjoy it along the way.
COYG
And back him with a could reinforcements that can immediately contribute.