After 22 long years, Arsenal can once again say they are the champions of England. They won their 14th top-flight title, and their fourth Premier League title after Man City failed to beat Bournemouth on the 19th of May. The Gunners now have an unassailable five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table with just one game to play.
Arsenal’s previous title came back in 2003/04, and that was their incredible “Invincibles” campaign. Back then, nobody would have imagined that a team that had gone the whole season unbeaten would have to wait more than two decades to claim another title. Maybe that 13th success was unlucky!
Since then, the Gunners have finished second five times and third on four occasions. Of course, three of the times they ended up as runners-up occurred in the three campaigns prior to the current one. Arsenal wobbled at the end of this campaign, and many fans must have been scared that they were destined to finish second yet again.
No side in the history of the English top flight has ever finished second in four consecutive campaigns. Mikel Arteta’s men have now well and truly put that possibility to bed, and with the title in the bag, they can focus on winning the Champions League and trying to make this team serial champions of England.
Patience and Process Pay
Arsenal are undeniably worthy champions, and while their points tally is not even close to that achieved by some of Pep Guardiola’s great sides, or Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, it has been a dominant campaign in other ways.
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 37 | 25 | 7 | 5 | +43 | 82 |
| 2 | Man City | 37 | 23 | 9 | 5 | +43 | 78 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 37 | 19 | 11 | 7 | +16 | 68 |
They will have been top after all but five matches of the entire season. They began their quest for the title with two straight wins which moved them to the top of the pile. Over the four matches that followed, they dropped four points (at Anfield and at home to Man City), but a 2-0 win at the Emirates against West Ham returned them to the summit of the Premier League on the 4th of October. And there they have stayed, ever since.
There have been some blips along the way, most notably during a poor run at the start of 2026. Arteta’s men began the new year with a 3-2 win at Bournemouth, but after that, they dropped points in six out of eight league games. They only lost one of those – at home to Man United – and such was the advantage they had established in the Premier League, they stayed top despite their wavering form.
Strong Finish Sees Them Home
The Gunners snapped out of that poor run, after draws against Brentford and woeful Wolves, with a big 4-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They then backed that up with a trio of fine results. They beat Chelsea at home, went to a good Brighton and won 1-0 and then dispatched Everton, who were on a fine run away from home, 2-0 at the Emirates.
Just to keep Premier League neutrals interested, the Gunners then suffered consecutive defeats at home to Bournemouth and away at City. That really opened up the title race. Indeed, it seemed to be advantage City, as they knew that winning their remaining six PL matches would probably be enough to see them deny the Gunners on goal difference, even if Arsenal also claimed maximum points from their remaining games.
Arsenal, however, had the easier fixtures, and they kept on winning to keep the pressure on Pep’s men. The Gunners won four consecutive games against Newcastle, Fulham, West Ham and Burnley, all without conceding a goal. In doing so, they were getting back to their form of earlier in the campaign, when getting a shot on target against them, let alone scoring, was a tough task.
They will hope to end with a fifth straight win away at Palace to end the campaign. That would move them to 85 points, a solid but unspectacular total. They got 84 in 2022/23 and 89 a year later. But, of course, it is winning the title, not points totals, that truly matters.
The final clash of the league season against Palace is tough to call, with both sides having nothing to play for in the league and both with European finals up ahead. Given that, it would be no surprise to see both managers field highly rotated starting XIs. No matter what the outcome of that clash, though, Arsenal have, at last, done it!
City Blinked First… Then Blinked Again
Man City have been inconsistent for much of the season, especially on the road, where they have won just nine of their 19 fixtures. However, ahead of their must-win clash with Bournemouth on Tuesday night, they had lost just one of their last 24 Premier League contests.
That, and their huge-at-the-time 2-1 win over the Gunners in April, had seen them regain control of the title race. Six straight wins would almost certainly have given them the title, but having beaten Burnley, they faced a tough trip to Everton.
They drew 3-3 and were fortunate to get a point, having trailed 3-1 late on. Arsenal then had their destiny in their own hands. City recorded consecutive 3-0 wins but could only manage a draw at a Bournemouth side still in the hunt for a Champions League place. That meant the title was heading to north London, and there would be no last-day drama or nerves.