Arsenal go into the November international break nine points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, which begs the question as to if they are out of the title race or not already even at this early stage.
The Gunners picked up a point in their 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening, taking them to 19 in total and nine behind Liverpool on 28 points from their opening 11 games. No team has ever recovered from that big of a gap at this stage of a Premier League season and gone on to win the title, so is the dream already over for Mikel Arteta’s men, or can they indeed rewrite history?
Arsenal and Liverpool in contrasting form
It is safe to say that Arsenal have stuttered in the Premier League of late, as they are winless in four games and have picked up just two points. Meanwhile, Liverpool have picked up 10 points in the same stretch of matches, including a commendable 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium.
Overall, that is only one of two fixtures that the Reds have dropped points in after losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest at Anfield, while Arsenal have also lost points against Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion. Nonetheless, the Gunners are currently not showing the form of title winners.
Arsenal’s tough fixtures
To be fair to Arsenal, their opening set of fixtures have not been kind on paper. They have already played Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Chelsea away from home, as well as Liverpool at the Emirates. These are all teams currently in the top half of the table, with ambitions of finishing in the European places again.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have only five teams in the top half so far, and crucially four of them have been at home. Therefore, it is perhaps not a surprise to see them accumulate more points than Arsenal at this stage, but nine is still a significant gap.
Mitigating circumstances for Arsenal?
Arsenal have also had to deal with more injuries and suspensions to key players in this time. Captain Martin Odegaard has only just returned from a significant spell out through injury and reminded everyone of his importance to the side immediately with an assist for Gabriel Martinelli against Chelsea.
New signings Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino have also missed a significant number of games through injury among others, while Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard and William Saliba have all faced suspensions. Of course, every club has to deal with these, but the Gunners can still feel a little hard done by.
Conclusion
Arsenal have a lot of work to do to make up the ground on Liverpool, without forgetting that they are also four points behind Manchester City too, who have beaten them to the title in the last two seasons. However, anything can happen with 27 games to go, and Liverpool are still a relatively unknown under new manager Arne Slot.
The Gunners showed in the second half of the previous campaign that they are capable of putting a string of wins together, and with an almost fully-fit squad now at his disposal and a kinder run of fixtures on paper coming up, Arteta will be itching to get his team back on track. Liverpool and of course City under Pep Guardiola should not be underestimated, but Arsenal will still be hungry to win their first Premier League title since the famous 2003/04 Invincibles season.