The five reasons why Arsenal CAN still win the Premier League

As Declan Rice promised his Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard at full-time on Sunday: ‘It’s not done.’

It’s been a brutal month for the Gunners’ Premier League title hopes, with their 2-1 loss at Manchester City the biggest blow of all. But, as Rice suggested, this title race is far from over yet.

Mikel Arteta agreed, insisting post-match at the Etihad that his players are now ‘even more convinced’ of winning the league.

That might be a bit much, but the point stands. No matter how painful and psychologically scarring this loss was, at the hands of a team Arsenal just can’t shake off, there is still much cause for optimism.

The club have come too far in these last eight months to roll over without a fight. They might have had one hand on the Premier League trophy had they won nine days ago against Bournemouth but, alas, all is still to play for. 

Here Daily Mail Sport‘s Arsenal expert ISAAN KHAN explains five reasons why the Gunners can still win a first league title for 22 years…

1. An easier run-in

If you were to handpick your ideal five final league fixtures, it probably wouldn’t be far off Arsenal’s actual run-in.

Newcastle, whom they face next at home, have lost their last three matches and are in disarray, amid doubt over Eddie Howe’s future.

Fulham are safe from relegation – but they do have an outside chance of securing European football.

Then Burnley, at home, will almost certainly be condemned to relegation by the time they face Arsenal – the Clarets are 12 points from safety with five games to go.

And Crystal Palace, their opponents on the final day, have only beaten Arsenal once in their last 15 encounters across all competitions.

A potential banana skin is West Ham away. The Hammers are fighting for their Premier League lives, granted, but Arteta’s side are far superior on paper. They also won 5-2 on their last visit to the London Stadium, in November 2024.

City, on the other hand, have a number of tricky matches to navigate. Winning all of their next six will take some doing, for a team which has only clicked into gear in the past month.

Everton away will be tough, the Toffees chasing a place in Europe.

Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium is another difficult match-up; just ask Arsenal, who were outplayed by the Cherries at the Emirates nine days ago. Andoni Iraola will also be keen to finish off strongly in his last season at the club. Bournemouth, lest we forget, are unbeaten in their last 13 Premier League games. 

And then Aston Villa at home on the final day will be far from easy.

More twists and turns are to come in this race. That is certain.

2. From hunted to hunters

Arteta’s side have never looked comfortable being hunted down by City, especially at this late stage of the season.

Their 248 days top of the table in 2022-23 is a prime example of Arsenal’s struggle with the psychological burden of leading the way before approaching the finishing line.

This season, they have been top for 198 days. But that run is likely to end on Wednesday, when City play Burnley.

Even if Guardiola’s side win by just one goal and go level with the Gunners on goal difference, they will go top on goals scored.

This is where the picture changes. The expectations of winning the title and optics of being top will shift to City. It’ll be Guardiola’s side who will have to shoulder the burden, Guardiola’s side who will be in fear of slipping up.

They have been here before, yes, but this is not the same serial-winning City side of yesteryear.

This run-in will test them physically and mentally – as well as their bottle.

3. Havertz the answer up top

Kai Havertz must start as Arsenal’s No 9 for the rest of the season. It’s that simple.

The German’s injury woes this season have been well-documented. As Daily Mail Sport previously reported, the 26-year-old has been carefully managed because of a persistent knee issue, which he first sustained against Manchester United on the opening day of the season in August.

As a result, he has often been deployed deeper to reduce his physical load, while still allowing him to contribute creatively. In fact, Sunday was just his fifth league start of the campaign – and only his second as centre forward.

The difference he made in comparison to Viktor Gyokeres was marked, and went some way to nearly taking down City.

What he offers Arteta’s team as a striker is multi-faceted. He brings team-mates into play with effective hold-up play and crisp, short passes in the pockets around him.

His aerial presence pins defences back, and he has a knack for controlling the tempo of a match.

Gyokeres is a workhorse in his own right, but lacks the positional IQ or technical deftness to do such things.

The blueprint is clear: keep the Swede as an impact player off the bench, and let Havertz unleash havoc from the start.

4. The Eze and Odegaard show

Arsenal having their two most creative players in the same line-up has been a rare luxury this season. 

Sunday’s match was just the fourth time Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze have started together this campaign.

Odegaard provides the control from midfield, which has been lacking since his multiple absences through injuries – but Eze has the magic in his boots to turn games on their head.

He nearly did so again at the Etihad, his left-footed strike rattling the post and leaving Arteta bemoaning how ‘incredible’ it was that it didn’t lead to a goal.

Together, the pairing can drive Arsenal further up the pitch and help unpick the low-block set-ups they are likely to face.

For Eze, that left-wing spot is for the taking. He last played there in December’s 2-1 loss to Aston Villa, where he failed to track back in the lead-up to Matty Cash’s goal and was hooked off soon after.

Against City, he wasn’t particularly lively in the first half, but he showed that ability to spring up with moments of brilliance.

He has proved it with his five goals in two matches against Tottenham, and a stunning half-volley from range in the Champions League last-16 second leg tie against Bayer Leverkusen last month.

With Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard unable to make the position their own, it’s Eze’s, for sure.

He now needs to make it count.

5. Channel the fighting spirit

Arsenal’s ‘bottle’ can be questioned, but not their fight.

There were enough moments against City to see just why the Gunners will be battling to the very end.

They never gave up, despite City taking the lead and dominating periods of the game.

Many teams would have wilted in that scenario. In fact, after Kepa Arrizabalaga’s error in the Carabao Cup final with City, Arsenal did surrender. It got to them mentally, and the team never recovered.

This time, Arsenal fought back with a resolve which has been missing of late, in a performance that was arguably their best for some time.

Piero Hincapie put in a number of crunching tackles and snarled in City players’ faces when under the cosh.

Even Havertz’s header over the bar in stoppage time reflected how the team just would not lie down.

Gabriel took the meaning of ‘fight’ a bit too literally when he decided to headbutt Erling Haaland, but did show how much this all means to Arsenal. 

That edge, if controlled much better, could prove crucial in the battles still to come.