The 10 Numbers That Defined Arsenal's Title Win

After years of near misses, Arsenal have finally crossed the finish line to clinch the Premier League title in the 2025-26 season. Manchester City's 1-1 draw away to Bournemouth on Tuesday night means the London club now holds an unassailable lead at the top, with one game remaining. This marks their 14th top-flight title, their fourth in the Premier League era, and their first since the iconic "Invincibles" campaign of 2003-04. Opta delves into the key statistics behind a season built on defensive excellence, relentless consistency, and meticulous attention to detail.

A defining characteristic of Mikel Arteta's Arsenal has been their dominance from set-pieces. This has always been a focal point of their play, but it has been particularly pronounced this season. They have scored 28 of their 68 league goals from set-piece situations, three more than any other team.

However, it's from corners where they've been most lethal, netting 18 goals in 2025-26, setting a new Premier League seasonal record.

With his clean sheet against Burnley on Monday night, David Raya reached 19 shutouts for the season. This achievement equals the record for the most clean sheets by an Arsenal goalkeeper in a single Premier League campaign, matching David Seaman's feats from 1993-94 and 1998-99. Should he keep a clean sheet on the final day against Crystal Palace, Raya will set a new club record.

The Spaniard secured the league's Golden Glove award for the third consecutive season after his 18th clean sheet against West Ham. He is now only the fourth goalkeeper to win the award in three successive seasons, joining Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Joe Hart (Manchester City), and Ederson (Manchester City). Raya is now just one Golden Glove away from equalling the all-time record of four, jointly held by Petr Cech and Joe Hart.

There's no doubt that Arsenal's championship triumph is built upon their defensive strength. They have conceded just 26 league goals this season, at least six fewer than any other team, and their second-lowest tally in their Premier League history after the 1998-99 season (17). This ironclad defence came to the fore in the final stretch of the season. Following a 2-1 away loss to Manchester City, they responded with four consecutive clean sheet victories.

The statistical metrics are equally impressive. Arsenal have allowed chances worth just 0.74 expected goals (xG) per game this season. Since Opta began collecting advanced expected goals data (2012-13), this is the fourth-best figure ever recorded in a Premier League campaign.

Arsenal have conceded only 8.2 shots per game and 2.4 shots on target per game – both figures are the best across Europe's top five leagues this season.

At the heart of Arsenal's defensive excellence is the central defensive pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães. The duo have started together in 26 Premier League matches this season, with Arsenal winning 17 of them. This tally is the highest in the division, alongside Liverpool's pairing of Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk, although the latter have started together far more frequently (35 matches).

Among central defensive pairings who have started together more than five times this season, Saliba and Gabriel boast by far the best clean sheet ratio. The Gunners have kept a clean sheet in 15 of their 26 starts together, averaging one every 1.7 games.

For much of Arteta's tenure, Arsenal actually had no problem competing with the teams at the top of the table. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, the first of three consecutive seasons finishing second, Arsenal have earned more points (76) against their so-called "big six" rivals than any other team. In those 40 matches, the Gunners have suffered just six defeats.

The real issue, however, was against teams they were expected to beat. In the 2023-24 season, when they last battled Manchester City for the title, two consecutive losses around Christmas against West Ham and Fulham derailed their chances. A season earlier, a sluggish defeat away to Everton in February was followed by two crazy draws in successive matches against West Ham (2-2) and Southampton (3-3) in April.

This season, however, Arsenal have been ruthless against weaker opposition (at least on paper, judging by the standings). The Londoners won 17 of their 19 matches against teams in the bottom half of the table, collecting 53 points and conceding only six goals in those encounters. They averaged 2.8 points per game against these teams, the best record in the league and significantly surpassing second-placed Manchester City, who averaged 2.3 points. Symbolically, the title was sealed with a tense but decisive 1-0 victory over already relegated Burnley.

Over the past four seasons, Arsenal have frequently found themselves at the top of the league table. The challenge has been staying there when the season concludes. By the end of the campaign on Sunday, the Gunners will have spent 238 days at the summit – 204 more than Liverpool and a staggering 229 more than City. Unlike previous seasons, this time they managed to convert their advantage.

This hasn't always been the case. In 2022-23, Arsenal spent 232 days at the top, 206 more than eventual winners Manchester City (42), but failed to go all the way. This still stands as a record for the most days spent at the top by a team that didn't win the title.

In fact, from the start of the 2022-23 season to the end of the current campaign, Arsenal will have spent a total of 562 days at the top of the Premier League, 207 more than any other club. Until now, however, this had brought them no reward.

As the numbers show, Arsenal's title is built more on defensive dominance than spectacular, high-scoring attacking football. Nevertheless, summer signing Viktor Gyökeres has enjoyed a productive debut season, scoring 21 goals in all competitions and 14 in the Premier League.

He is the first player to score 20 or more goals in all competitions in his first season for Arsenal since Alexis Sánchez (25 in 2014-15). Before that, in the Premier League era, only Thierry Henry had achieved this (26 in 1999-00).

Yet, 14 league goals is an unusually modest tally for a champion team's top scorer. Only two Premier League champions have had a top scorer with fewer goals: Frank Lampard scored 13 for Chelsea in 2004-05, and Ilkay Gündoğan netted 13 for Manchester City in 2020-21.

With one game remaining, Gyökeres is level with Eric Cantona, who scored 14 goals in Manchester United's triumph in the 1995-96 season.

It seemed entirely fitting that Arsenal's final match before mathematically securing the title ended in a 1-0 victory. This season, they have won by that scoreline eight times in the league – their highest tally since the 1998-99 season, when they recorded nine such wins.

Following their loss to Manchester City in Gameweek 33, Arsenal responded with four consecutive victories. Three of these came with a 1-0 scoreline, keeping a clean sheet. Their defensive resilience defined the season, but was particularly crucial in the final sprint.

Physical prowess has always been central to Arteta's vision for Arsenal. The club's recruitment under his leadership has consistently prioritised height, athleticism, and physicality, alongside technical qualities. This is reflected not only in Arsenal's dominance from set-pieces but also in their distance covered statistics.

Remarkably, Arsenal have covered more distance than their opponents in 35 of their 37 league matches this season – more than any other team in the division. Second place is Leeds United, who achieved this 32 times.

Typically, high distance covered figures are associated with teams that spend long periods without possession. However, this is not the case here, as Arsenal average 56.1% possession – the fourth-highest in the Premier League. When matches became tough, they relied on the athleticism and work rate of figures like Declan Rice to secure victory in contested encounters.

Finally, a few words about the man who made it all possible. Arsenal's transformation under Arteta has been gradual, demanding, and ultimately – incredibly impressive. The comparison between the team Mikel Arteta inherited and the squad that defeated Burnley clearly highlights the sheer scale of his reconstruction at the club.

At 44 years and 54 days old, Arteta becomes the second-youngest manager to win the Premier League. Only José Mourinho was younger when he led Chelsea to the title in 2004-05 (at 42 years and 94 days) and again in 2005-06 (at 43 years and 94 days).

With Pep Guardiola's impending departure from Manchester City at the end of the season, Arteta will become the longest-serving active manager in the Premier League. Although he has already spent over six years at Arsenal, it's easy to forget how young he still is. This fact could be concerning for rivals – how many more successful campaigns does the Spaniard have ahead of him?