“It’s not about the hope of winning the title,” Mikel Arteta fretted after watching his side’s lofty aspirations take an almighty dent at St James’ Park on Saturday lunchtime, “it’s about being our best selves every single week.”
Arsenal were emphatically not their best selves in a damaging 1-0 reverse away to Newcastle United to start the tenth weekend of the Premier League season. Defending champions Manchester City slipped up at the opposite end of the country a few hours later, but Liverpool came from behind to defeat Brighton, opening up a cushion at the Premier League summit.
A yawning seven points separate Arsenal and Arne Slot’s pace setters. Ten games into the campaign – more than a quarter of the season gone – this has proven to be an almighty gap to close.
In the three decades of Premier League football, only one side has ever trailed the league leaders by more than seven points after ten games and gone on to lift the title. Blackburn Rovers overhauled an eight-point chasm to Newcastle United 30 years ago during the 1994/95 campaign.
|
Season |
Team |
Points behind leader |
|---|---|---|
|
1994/95 |
Blackburn Rovers |
8 |
|
2002/03 |
Man Utd |
6 |
|
2013/14 |
Man City |
6 |
|
1992/93 |
Man Utd |
5 |
|
1996/97 |
Man Utd |
5 |
|
2008/09 |
Man Utd |
5 |
|
2010/11 |
Man Utd |
5 |
That iconic iteration of Rovers had only been promoted to England’s top flight two years prior, propelled to the newfangled Premiership (as it was then known) by Kenny Dalglish’s guile, Alan Shearer’s goals and the gold-lined backing of owner Jack Walker.
Newcastle, who had been promoted one year after Blackburn, soon fell away as Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United emerged as their main title challengers. Had United been able to defeat West Ham on the final day of the campaign, Blackburn’s turnaround would have been in vain as the nervy newbies lost away to Liverpool on the same dramatic afternoon.
Blackburn, however, had 32 matches to overturn their eight-point deficit. Arsenal only have 28 top-flight fixtures to claw back seven points.
Since the division was reduced to 20 teams in 1995, no champion has ever fallen this far behind after ten games. Both Manchester United (2002/03) and Manchester City (2013/14) roared back from six-point gaps, but the Gunners are entering unchartered territory.
The unprecedented demands of Premier League champions makes Arsenal’s title charge even more unlikely. Seven of the last eight clubs to finish at the summit of England’s top flight have accrued at least 89 points, thereby dropping 25 points or fewer.
The capital club have already lost nine points in ten games and so can only afford to drop 16 over their remaining 28 matches.
When faced with these damaging statistics, Arteta flatly rebuffed any title discussions. “I understand that,” the Arsenal boss huffed, “but after eight, nine, ten games last year we didn’t [discuss the title] and we are not going to be talking about it now.”
That may be for the best, given the worrying figures that are churned up by Arsenal’s slow start.
