The Arsenal Premier League title win was finally confirmed after Manchester City drew with AFC Bournemouth 1-1 on Tuesday, May 20. The Arsenal Premier League title win was ensured after their lead over the Cityzens remained at four points with one match to spare.
Viktor Gyokeres has crossed the mark of 20 goals this season, and the likes of Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze have done their bit. However, the Arsenal Premier League title win was mainly brought about by their strong defence.
Arsenal Premier League Title Win Mainly Owing to Solid Defence
Arsenal and Manchester City have a goal difference of 43 each after 37 matches. However, what is important in this regard is that Arsenal have conceded seven fewer goals than the Cityzens. They have let in only 26 goals in 37 matches so far.
Gabriel and William Saliba, Arsenal’s first-choice centre-backs, have been consistently good for at least a couple of seasons now. They have emerged as the topmost centre-back pairing during the same period, which has also coincided with the decline of Virgil van Dijk.
Ruben Dias, the Manchester City stalwart, has played in only 32 matches this season, and his frequent absence owing to injuries has contributed towards the relative vulnerability of Manchester City’s defence.
Gabriel and Saliba, in comparison, have been relatively injury-free and have played in 49 matches each this season so far. Their staying injury-free has helped the Gunners tremendously.
Both are very good in the air and do not try to play a high line most of the time. They stay deep and stay strong most of the time, thus giving the opposition attackers very little scope to penetrate.
Moreover, Jurrien Timber, who has missed most of the action during the last two months because of an injury, also provided solid support to the above two as the right-back.
Arsenal’s left-backs kept changing, with Roberto Calafiori and Piero Hincapie alternately playing there. Timber often played as a de facto third centre-back to help Gabriel and Saliba deal with the opposition attackers.
In addition to that, David Raya, who won his third consecutive Golden Gloves award recently, has been a great performer for the club under the bar. Even considering Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, Raya has been the Premier League’s best goalkeeper.
The decision to replace Aaron Ramsdale with Raya by Mikel Arteta has proved to be a very judicious one. Raya has repaid his manager fully so far with a string of positive performances.
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Arsenal’s Current Squad Has Defensive Similarities With the Invincibles
The last Arsenal Premier League title win came in 2004 without losing a single match. Incidentally, they conceded 26 goals that season, the same as this season.
It is an uncanny resemblance that might prompt many to compare Arsenal’s current defensive line with Lauren, Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure and Ashley Cole, the quartet of 2004.
The Arsenal Premier League title win once again gives credence to the old adage that a good defence wins a team titles. However, Arteta and his support staff should also get a lot of credit for the same.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / NurPhoto
Recording Date: 02.05.2026
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