What Has Gone Wrong for Arsenal in Title Race?

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Manchester City know if they can beat Chelsea at home in the Premier League on the 21st of May, the title will be heading to the Etihad Stadium.

However, for much of the season. Arsenal have been leading the way at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners have been in first place for 30 rounds of the season yet have fallen into second place at the crucial time. With Manchester City now the heavy favourites to win the title, what has gone wrong for Arsenal in the title race?

It is worth noting that with only two fixtures left to play for Arsenal in the Premier League, they have lost 5 times. That might not seem like many defeats but if we look back on previous seasons, during which Manchester City and Liverpool have been competing for the title, 5 defeats are too many.

Last season, Manchester City won the league with 3 defeats and Liverpool were second with only 2 defeats. In 2019/20, Liverpool won the league with 3 defeats and in 2018/19, Manchester City won the league with 4 defeats and Liverpool were second with just 1 defeat to their name.

In the 2017/18 season, Manchester City won the Premier League with only 2 defeats. So, 5 defeats with two games still to play is more than any other title winner in four of the last five seasons.

Arsenal have dropped 9 points in four games across 17 days in April and coupled with the superb from of Manchester City, that has seen Arsenal drop from first place to second place in the table.

The run of dropped points started with a 2-2 draw at Liverpool, a game Arsenal were winning 2-0. The following week saw more dropped points courtesy of a 2-2 draw at West Ham United, with Arsenal again losing a 2 goal lead.

Arsenal came back from a 3-1 deficit to draw 3-3 at home against Southampton but with the Saints now relegated, that was another 2 points dropped. Then came the heavy 4-1 loss at Manchester City, which showed Arsenal as being distinctly second best to the defending champions.

Despite the fact their front three have looked weary in recent weeks, especially in the 3-0 home defeat against Brighton, it is defensively where Arsenal have had problems. The absence of William Saliba in central defence has been huge and the Frenchman has been sorely missed as Arsenal started conceding goals.

In April, Arsenal conceded 12 goals in five league fixtures whereas in March they conceded only 3 goals in four matches. The lack of depth in attack has also cost Arsenal as the quality of the squad did not allow Mikel Arteta to rotate his front three as often as he would have liked to keep them fresh.

Many will say Arsenal have bottle the title race but in truth, an injury to a key player in defence, a tiring attack, and a brilliant Manchester City team have cost them the title.