In recent seasons, in top European leagues, when a team wins the championship after many years of waiting, they all create a big gap compared to the rest.
Liverpool ended nearly 30 years of suffering in the 2019-2020 season. They won 26 of the first 27 matches to win the Premier League title 7 rounds early. In the 2022-2023 season, after 33 years of waiting, Napoli won the Serie A title 5 rounds early.
Arsenal is aiming for their first Premier League title in 22 years. They have had many opportunities this season to break away completely in the race. But every time there is such an opportunity, they miss it, showing signs of hesitation whenever the title is close.
On November 30, 2025, Arsenal traveled to Stamford Bridge after Manchester City lost 5 points to Tottenham and Brighton. They had the opportunity to widen the gap to 7 points after 13 rounds. When Moises Caicedo on Chelsea's side was sent off quite early, The Gunners had about 60 minutes of playing with more men. But in that match, luck for the "Gunners" when they finished with a score of 1-1 because Chelsea was the better team.
On January 8, Arsenal welcomed Liverpool in a chaotic situation. A day earlier, Man City was held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton at home. Arne Slot's team was missing Hugo Ekitike, Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak. Arsenal had a chance to widen the gap to 8 points but could only draw 0-0.
A week later, Arsenal again had the opportunity to create a 9-point gap with Man City, who just lost the Manchester Derby. Arsenal were guests at Nottingham Forest's stadium and again had a goalless draw, even they did not have any shots on target throughout the first half.
On February 18, Arsenal welcomed Wolves at home with the opportunity to create a 7-point gap with Man City. Wolves had lost 19/26 previous matches, but after Arsenal took a 5-minute lead, they could not accelerate. The Gunners were equalized, then took the lead again, then lost control in the final minutes and drew 2-2 overall.
On April 11, when Man City played later, Arsenal had a chance to create a 12-point gap. At that time, The Gunners were playing 2 more matches, but if they won, they would put significant pressure on the opponent because Man City had to play away at Chelsea's stadium. Instead, they played sluggishly and lacked inspiration, losing to Bournemouth 1-2. Meanwhile, Man City won resoundingly 3-0.
After many months of Arsenal missing breakthrough opportunities, now the big advantage is in Manchester City's hands again. The match at the Etihad last weekend was like an iceberg that the ship captained by Mikel Arteta should have avoided a long time ago.
In all the missed opportunities, the match against Wolves was unacceptable because the opponent was the bottom team and Arsenal was leading at that time. That draw was a symbol of The Gunners' powerlessness to finish the match.
The loss of momentum is very clear. Arsenal has only won 6/13 recent matches in the Premier League. After showing unbeatable form for most of the season, being praised as a candidate for the quadruple, they are now at risk of going all empty.
This is a situation that has been repeated throughout the past seasons. In the 2022-2023 campaign, after losing to Sporting in the Europa League quarter-finals on penalties, Arsenal only won 12/27 maximum points in the final matches, losing the 5-point lead. They also lost William Saliba due to injury and lack of squad depth to compensate for the absence of the French center-back in the final stage.
The following season, the defeat to West Ham in the FA Cup in November 2023 took place before the 0-1 defeat to Newcastle. In December 2023, the 0-1 defeat to Aston Villa led to a 6-match winning streak (the last win was the defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup). Arsenal were almost perfect in the second half of the season but that period caused them to lose the championship.
In the 2024-2025 season, they had 3 periods without winning 3 consecutive matches or more in the Premier League. Once again, the 1-1 draw away from Brighton ruined everything. A few days later, they lost the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals to Newcastle and a few days later, they lost again on penalties at home to Ruben Amorim's Man United in the FA Cup.
In the Premier League this season, Arsenal has done better in avoiding consecutive winless streaks, with only 3 winless streaks in 2 consecutive matches since the beginning of the season. However, the defeat in the League Cup final led to a shock when they lost to Southampton in the FA Cup. Then there were 2 Premier League defeats against Bournemouth and Man City.
