Arsenal's Title Ambitions Frozen by Familiar January Frost
While Declan Rice attempts to maintain composure amidst the chaos, a palpable sense of panic has once again gripped the streets of North London. Arsenal's recent stumble, crystallised by a dramatic 3-2 home defeat to Manchester United, has reignited deep-seated anxieties about the club's ability to sustain a Premier League title challenge through the winter months.
The Ghost of Januaries Past
A troubling pattern is emerging for Mikel Arteta's side, one that threatens to derail their championship aspirations for a fourth consecutive season. The historical data makes for sobering reading. In the 2021-22 campaign, Arsenal endured a five-game winless run in January. The following season, 2022-23, brought a four-game streak without victory spanning January and February. The 2023-24 term saw just one win in seven games across December and January. Last season, 2024-25, yielded only a single victory in five January fixtures. Now, in the current 2025-26 season, the Gunners have managed just one win in their first four games of the month, with a daunting visit from Leeds United looming next Saturday.
This recurring fragility stands in stark contrast to the serene title marches recently exhibited by Manchester City and Liverpool, which may have created a false impression of inevitability. As Pep Guardiola would doubtless affirm, championship victories are forged through navigating wobbles, difficulties, and critical forks in the road. The message to Arsenal, borrowing from the late Douglas Adams, might simply be: don't panic. Although, as Adams also wryly noted in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the end of the world can feel rather imminent.
Scrutinising the Symptoms of Struggle
The underlying statistics compound the concern. Arsenal's joint-top scorers, Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyökeres, have netted just five goals each—a historically low tally when projected over an entire season. Their goals in the United defeat were decidedly scruffy, while two of the visitors' strikes converted half-chances into spectacular finishes. In an era dominated by expected goals (xG) metrics and procedural analysis, Arsenal appear to have forgotten a fundamental truth: seizing moments and taking calculated risks wins football matches.
Arteta's Arsenal are a far cry from the cavalier attacking sides of Arsène Wenger's tenure. They perhaps bear closer resemblance to George Graham's famously pragmatic, if unfairly labelled, "boring, boring" 1-0 specialists—a team that could certainly play but was built on hard-nosed resilience. The great expense invested in assembling a squad of considerable talent was supposed to yield a fluid, dominant force. Instead, Arteta's battalion of highly-tuned athletes seem wracked with the same nerves that afflict the anxious supporters in the stands, who have witnessed this script before.
The Wider Title Race Landscape
Does this inevitably mean Arsenal are destined to "blow it" once more? A glance at their pursuers suggests the race remains open. Guardiola's visible frustration, even in a 2-0 victory over Wolves, betrays his own worries. Aston Villa's squad is being stretched perilously thin by injuries. The trials Arsenal are currently enduring are, in fact, the very crucible in which almost every champion team is tested.
Their lead at the summit remains a tangible four points, with fifteen games left to navigate. This is the moment to stare down the perceived apocalypse. The world is unlikely to end if the Gunners fall short, but for a fanbase yearning for a first title in over two decades, the psychological weight of these January stutters feels colossal. The coming weeks will reveal whether this squad has learned from history or is doomed to repeat it.
Football's Fickle Winds: A Day of Contrasts
Elsewhere, the fickle nature of football management was laid bare in a matter of hours at Leicester City. At 11:01 am on Sunday, chief executive Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha publicly backed manager Martí Cifuentes, stating he "needs time to do it." By 4:21 pm, Cifuentes was dismissed, with Srivaddhanaprabha citing the need "to improve performances and results" after apparently expecting more progress within a five-and-a-half-hour window.
In other news, a coroner in North Yorkshire found that heading a football "likely" contributed to the brain injury that was a factor in the death of former Scotland defender Gordon McQueen. The transfer market saw Flamengo submit a more substantial £35.8m bid for West Ham's Lucas Paquetá, while Liverpool withdrew from talks with Tottenham regarding Andy Robertson after witnessing Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez struggle. Meanwhile, in a surreal twist, former Chelsea striker Alexandre Pato is reported to be the public face of a potential takeover bid for League Two's Colchester United.
