How many points does Arsenal need to win the league?

 

 

• Has Man City concluded a secret deal with the Premier League
• How Arsenal has creagted entertainment leaving the journalists far behind.

By Tony Attwood

One of the techniques you would need to learn if you wanted to be a journalist, is to find something that is factually true and then state it as a revelation.  The Guardian does it today when writing, as they so often do, of the supposed glory days of Liverpool and Manchester City, with the statement, tinged as it is with regret, that “The seasons when both clubs would soar past 90 points are past.”

And we can say that is quite true.    Arsenal could reach 95 if they win every match this season.   The others can’t make the 90s.  

But there are two issues here.   One is that to win the league, Arsenal simply have to get more points than the others, not reach an all-time high.   And the other is that ManC and Liverpool will drop a few more points en route., and the small matter of the fact that one (or if it is a draw both of them) will drop points today, since they are playing each other.

So yes, as the Guardian does say “The seasons when both clubs would soar past 90 points are past.”   But it doesn’t matter.  

Below is the top of the table before today’s games, but before we get to that, I would also like to emphasise just what games Arsenal have coming up in the near future….

The next league match is Brentford away on Thursday, followed by Wigan at home on Sunday in the FA Cup.  Then it is Wolverhampton away in the League on Wednesday 18th, before Tottenham away on Sunday 22nd.  And after that, quite amazingly, we have a week without an Arsenal game – a rarity indeed.   The only issue is that it is followed by Chelsea at home on March 1.

And my point is that these are not the most difficult of fixtures, and with a spot of good luck and the wind blowing in the right direction, things could continue to go very well.  Here’s this morning’s chart…

 

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	25	17	5	3	49	17	32	56
2	Manchester City	24	14	5	5	49	23	26	47
3	Aston Villa	25	14	5	6	36	27	9	47
4	Manchester United	25	12	8	5	46	36	10	44
5	Chelsea	25	12	7	6	45	28	17	43
6	Liverpool	24	11	6	7	39	33	6	39

 

And as a bit of interest this morning I also took a closer look on how London clubs are doing, since although obviously I support Arsenal, I do have a feeling for London, my home city, and would sooner see London clubs near the top than the foot of the table.

In fact the London club table reads

 

	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	25	17	5	3	49	17	32	56
5	Chelsea	25	12	7	6	45	28	17	43
7	Brentford	25	12	3	10	39	34	5	39
10	Fulham	25	10	4	11	35	37	-2	34
14	Tottenham Hotspur	25	7	8	10	35	35	0	29
15	Crystal Palace	24	7	8	9	25	29	-4	29
18	West Ham United	25	6	5	14	31	48	-17	23

 

and it reminds me that 35% of the Premier League is in London.   

The Championship has three London teams and one of them, Millwall, could make it up next season, but I suspect that won’t happen.  Although we must remember that one upon a time London did have eight teams in the top league.  That was in 1989/90 and those teams were Arsenal, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur, and Wimbledon.

Anyway, moving on, it must surely be time to recognise that finally, finally, finally the media is coming to understand that, as the Observer says today, “Gyökeres’ gifts of bundling and poaching suggest Arsenal have found the real thing.”   

I would of course add, as I have been trying to do for a while, that his ability to draw defenders away from other goal scorers has been a major factor in Arsenal now being equal top scorers in the league (at least until this afternoon).   Here’s the table for now, and if you are peering at this, it is also worth noting just how good our defence is compared to others.

 

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	25	17	5	3	49	17	32	56
2	Manchester City	24	14	5	5	49	23	26	47
4	Manchester United	25	12	8	5	46	36	10	44
5	Chelsea	25	12	7	6	45	28	17	43
11	AFC Bournemouth	25	8	10	7	41	44	-3	34

 

The next league match is Brentford away on Thursday, followed by Wigan at home on Sunday in the FA Cup.  Then it is Wolverhampton away in the League on Wednesday 18th, before Tottenham away on Sunday 22nd.  And after that, quite amazingly, we have a week without an Arsenal game!   The only issue is that it is followed the by Chelsea at home on March 1.

However, these are not the most difficult of fixtures, and with a spot of good luck and the wind blowing in the right direction, things could continue to go very well.

As you will know we have 56 points from 25 games.  Last year we had 53 points from 25 games.  In 2024 it was 55 points from 25 games.   Back in 2023 it was 60 points from 25 games. and in 2022 it was 48 points from 25 games.

What this shows very obviously is that most of the time winning the league is not just about how well Arsenal do, but how well one or two other top clubs are doing.   We might one day become the absolute supreme club that will win the league no matter what anyone else comes up with, but not yet.

But I do think we are getting there.

 

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