Fueled by three straight runners-up finishes, Arsenal have roared out of the gates and made a blistering start to the 2025/26 Premier League season. A 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on matchday three left the Gunners trailing behind the reigning champions, but since that painful afternoon at Merseyside, Mikel Arteta’s men have been firing on all cylinders.
Since that day, Arsenal have been unbeaten in nine. They’ve beaten bogey teams such as West Ham and Fulham, while the stunning 2-1 comeback victory away at Newcastle was the performance of champions. But it was their recent heroics in the North London Derby that have separated them from the pack and seen them open up an already ominous-looking six-point lead at the summit.
North London Derby Glory
The pressure was certainly on Mikel Arteta’s side at the Emirates. All three of his recognized strikers, namely Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Jesus, and Kai Havertz, were injured, as was captain Martin Odegaard and key central defender Gabriel Magalhães. But even with their army depleted, the Gunners remained dominant. A stunning hat trick from Eberechi Eze, coupled with Leandro Trossard’s opener, secured a thumping 4-1 victory over their greatest rivals, their biggest against Spurs since back-to-back 5-2 drubbings back in 2012.
Following the win, online sports betting sites now make the Gunners overwhelming favorites to end their 22-year wait for a Premier League trophy. One can bet on sports at Bovada, and the popular American bookmaker currently lists Arsenal as the 2/5 favorites in the title race. With their already unassailable-looking lead, it seems like a foregone conclusion that Arteta’s men will be top of the table at Christmas. But what happened the last three times they found themselves in this position? Let’s take a look.
Poor New Year Run Costs Arsenal Dearly
Two seasons ago, Arsenal found themselves in this exact position. After an impressive start to the 2023/24 season, the Gunners were firing on all cylinders, and a 2-0 victory against Brighton on December 23rd secured them the Christmas Day top spot, one point clear of Liverpool with Manchester City further back. But an immediate downturn in form would cost Arteta’s side dearly.
After that victory against the Seagulls, Arsenal would go three games without a win, ending the year with back-to-back defeats against West Ham and Fulham. That saw their lead in the title race evaporate, and the Emirates faithful knew that their side needed to be nigh-on perfect throughout the second half of the campaign in order to outlast Pep Guardiola’s rampant Blues.
Ultimately, they came very close. Arsenal won all but two of their games from New Year’s Day 2024 until the end of the season, but a home defeat to Aston Villa opened the door for City. They duly bulldozed through, winning the title by two points on the final day of this season to claim their fourth straight crown, leaving the Gunners rueing their missed opportunities once more.
Late Season Collapse
The season prior, Arsenal were once again in top spot at Christmas after a scarcely believable start to the season. They won all but two games in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup-inspired midseason break, ensuring that they were top of the table at Christmas. And it looked like a lead that they wouldn’t just maintain but also add to.
Arsenal won four of their next five games, and even a small hiccup of three without a win couldn’t deter them. A 4-1 victory against Leeds on April 1st, their seventh on the bounce, saw the Gunners amass a mighty nine-point lead with just nine games remaining, essentially putting one hand on the title. Then, disaster struck.
Arteta’s men would throw away two-goal leads against both West Ham and Liverpool, before a 3-3 draw against rock bottom Southampton slashed their title race lead. To compound the misery, Arsenal suffered a 4-1 drubbing in their trip to face Manchester City in what was essentially a title decider. The Blues duly claimed the title, while pundits debated whether the Gunners had “bottled it,” or whether they were overperforming all along.
Eduardo’s Horror Injury Sends Gunners Into a Tailspin
You have to go all the way back to Christmas 2007 for the third most recent time the Gunners topped the table on the big day. That year, Arsene Wenger’s young squad, led by the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Theo Walcott, made a stunning start to the 2007/08 season, losing just once, as well as racking up wins against rivals Spurs and Chelsea.
The Gunners would remain on top until deep into February, until one day at St. Andrews changed everything. A crunching two-footed lunge from Birmingham City defender Martin Taylor resulted in a horrifying double leg break for Croatian striker Eduardo, leaving Arsenal’s players visibly distressed from what they had just witnessed. They still managed to rally, overturning James McFadden’s first-half opener, with a brace from Walcott giving Arsenal a 2-1 lead.
But with emotions running high in the Gunners camp, the Blues smelled blood and duly pounced, bagging a last-gasp equalizer from the penalty spot, despite playing with ten men for 87 minutes. Arsenal would win just one of their next seven games, leaving them dead and buried in the title race.