MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Arsenal is back in familiar territory. top of the premier league. But can Mikel Arteta finally get the job done?
After just eight games, no one at the Emirates is celebrating yet, but this season looks like Arsenal’s best chance of winning the title for the first time since 2004.
With a three-point lead over second-placed Manchester City and a four-point lead over defending champions Liverpool, Arsenal’s qualifications for the title quickly became clear.
And the Londoners are still going strong after a difficult start to the season with games against Manchester United, Liverpool, City and Newcastle.
But we’ve been here before. Three consecutive seasons of runners-up finishes have raised questions about Arsenal’s ability to get over the line. In particular, during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, they led the standings for most of the period, only to be taken ahead by City in the final stages.
Perhaps the most disappointing moment was last season, when Arteta failed to capitalize on a City team that was in freefall and instead watched Arne Slott lift the title in his first season at Liverpool.
Since then, more money has been spent on signing quality players such as Victor Gokeres, Ebelesi Eze and Martin Zvimendi, giving Arsenal perhaps the most balanced team in the top flight.
Nine clean sheets, including four in a row, in 12 games across all competitions is evidence of Arsenal’s formidable defense. Their attacking prowess was on display in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, making it their sixth consecutive win.
Sunday will see a test for Crystal Palace, last season’s FA Cup winners, who have already beaten Liverpool and drawn with Chelsea this season. This is a potential obstacle, and if it can be overcome it will only strengthen the belief that Arsenal’s time has come.
major matches
rear Consecutive wins in the league In his first year as Manchester United manager, Ruben Amorim will be aiming for a third successive win against Brighton at Old Trafford on Saturday.
It’s one thing to play against big rivals like Liverpool, it’s another to produce consistent performances week in and week out, and that was a problem for United even before Amorim arrived last year. Brighton, for example, have won at Old Trafford three years in a row, so the danger is clear.
Liverpool travel to Brentford on Saturday after getting back to winning ways with a 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League. City belong to a resurgent Aston Villa after losing at Villa Park for the past two seasons.
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Danny Welbeck is still in great form at the age of 34, scoring four goals in his last three games. He will be hoping to continue his run against United, the club where he started his career.
Goals have also been coming from Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon and Nick Woltemade duo, who have helped fill the void left by Alexander Isak’s move to Liverpool.
Gordon has scored four goals in his last seven games for Newcastle, while summer signing Woltemade has scored five goals in nine games since joining from Stuttgart.
Newcastle host Fulham on Sunday.
Activity suspended
Liverpool have a growing number of injuries. Isaac and Jeremy Frimpong were absent. Ryan Grafenbirch was injured in last week’s game against United and was left out of the squad.
city’s Nico Gonzalez staggered away. After Rodri was sidelined with a hamstring problem, he appeared to injure his right knee against Villarreal in midweek, causing further concern for manager Josep Guardiola.
off the field
More chaos erupts in Nottingham Forest. Sean Dyche appointed as club’s third manager We’re only a few weeks into the season.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis left fans with little doubt as to his state of mind when he walked out of Forest’s 3-0 defeat to Chelsea last week, and Ange Postecoglou was summarily sacked.
Dyche is now in the hot seat and will find out just how tough his new boss is. A trip to third-placed Bournemouth will be a tough place for him to be in charge of his first league game since taking over.
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James Robson is https://x.com/James Saran Robson
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