Arsenal will not get a better opportunity to win the Premier League

Arsenal supporters are starting to believe, and understandably so. Optimism has been rife since pre-season, but a Premier League title? That was beyond the wildest of projections.

Nobody expected Mikel Arteta’s side to compete for the crown in 2022/23, but a major opportunity has presented itself. A rare win away at Spurs in the North London Derby will see them move eight points clear at the top just before the halfway mark in an unprecedented campaign.

The angst and anxiety that surrounds derby day have only heightened after Manchester City’s defeat at Old Trafford. This is a hugely significant trip to our fiercest rivals, just as it was at the backend of last season.

Arsenal will not get a better opportunity to win the Premier League

Arteta’s side have barely put a foot wrong since that fateful trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April. After they were beaten by a resurgent Newcastle the following week, Arsenal have won 15 of their last 18 Premier League encounters and are threatening to pull away from the champions should they mitigate a tough conclusion to January.

Many expected City to come on strong after the World Cup, but Pep Guardiola’s side aren’t playing like champions. The Spaniard is struggling to find the optimal formula with goals proving to be hard to come by despite the presence of a phenomenon. They’re dropping too many points as a result, and on their current trajectory, they almost certainly won’t be retaining their crown.

There’s no doubt that Arsenal are in pole position, and they must take advantage of what’s a transitory year for many of the Premier League’s best. Liverpool are on the decline, City’s malaise is a concern, Tottenham have been indifferent, while Chelsea, well, who knows what’s going on there? They’ve got a lot of money, we all know that, but injuries and misfortune have crippled their campaign.

Thus, Arsenal’s primary challenger for the title right now appears to be Manchester United. The Red Devils are a point off City in second, but they’re in the midst of their longest unbeaten run in all competitions since 2016/17 after securing a mammoth victory in the Manchester Derby.

Newcastle’s excellence can’t be understated either. The Magpies are well ahead of schedule in their Saudi-backed project but are unlikely to challenge for the title this term.

It’s a season that’s comparable to 2015/16 when the miraculous Leicester took advantage of transitioning giants. However, the strength of the division as a whole is far superior in 2022/23 and Arsenal, or whoever wins the title, will soar beyond the Foxes’ 81-point haul. The Gunners will win the league with 98 points at their current rate, but it’s hard to envisage Arteta’s side coming close to matching that trajectory.

There will be setbacks for the Gunners during the second half of the season, but this is an opportunity that they can ill-afford to pass up. Their competitors will come roaring back in 2023/24, and while Arsenal will only improve under Arteta, too, the competition for the title will only get fiercer in the coming years with Manchester United and Newcastle both on the rise.

City’s recent woes has supporters believing that a title triumph is genuinely possible, and such optimism will increase exponentially should the Gunners claim their first-ever victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon. A draw is fine, too, but defeat – which is never nice on derby day – will undoubtedly trigger doubt and exacerbate the recent transfer blow regarding the club’s priority January target, Mykhaylo Mudryk.

The goalposts have shifted in terms of Arsenal’s expectations for 2022/23. Many will still fancy City to come back and rattle off a lengthy winning streak as they have in the past, but the Gunners have a comfortable buffer and they could be in an imperious position on Monday morning.