How Arsenal Finally Won the Premier League Title: Top 10 Key Numbers Behind Their Win

Arsenal have done it. After 22 years, they are champions of England once again.

Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday night means Arsenal now hold an unassailable lead at the top of the Premier League with one game remaining. It is their 14th top-flight crown overall, their fourth Premier League title, and their first since the famous Invincibles season of 2003-04.

Back then, the defining number was zero — zero defeats across an entire league campaign. This Arsenal side has its own defining numbers, and they tell the story of a title built on defensive excellence, relentless consistency against weaker opposition, and margins so fine they required every last contribution from every member of the squad.

Here are the ten numbers that best capture what Mikel Arteta’s side achieved in 2025-26.

18 – Goals from Corners

Set-pieces have always been a priority under Arteta. In 2025-26, they became a weapon unlike anything seen in Premier League history.

Arsenal have scored 18 goals from corner situations this season — a new Premier League seasonal record. They have scored 28 of their 68 league goals from dead-ball situations in total, three more than any other side in the division.

The previous record of 16 corner goals in a single season was jointly held by Oldham Athletic (1992-93) and, more recently, Arsenal themselves. The record has been broken twice this season: first by Arsenal, who now hold the outright record, and then by Tottenham, who have scored 17 corner goals — the second-highest total in the competition’s history.

Critics have used Arsenal’s set-piece effectiveness as a stick to beat them — arguing their reliance on dead balls makes them predictable or overly functional. But elite teams have always understood the value of marginal gains. Arsenal simply became better than anyone else at exploiting them.

19 – David Raya’s Clean Sheets

David Raya has been outstanding all season. His clean sheet against Burnley moved him onto 19 shutouts for the campaign — level with the most ever recorded by an Arsenal goalkeeper in a Premier League season, matching David Seaman’s totals from 1993-94 and 1998-99.

If Raya keeps a clean sheet on the final day against Crystal Palace, he will set the outright record for the club.

He has already claimed the Premier League Golden Glove for a third consecutive season — only the fourth goalkeeper to win it in three successive campaigns, after Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Joe Hart (Manchester City), and Ederson (Manchester City). One more Golden Glove would equal the all-time record of four, jointly held by Petr Cech and Hart.

0.74 – Expected Goals Against Per Game

There is no doubt that Arsenal’s title has been built on defensive strength. But the quality of that defence becomes even clearer when measured against the best in Premier League history.

Arsenal have allowed chances worth just 0.74 expected goals per game this season. As far back as Opta’s advanced xG data goes (2012-13), that is the fourth-best figure ever recorded in a Premier League campaign.

They have conceded just 26 league goals this season — at least six fewer than any other side — and have allowed just 8.2 shots per game and 2.4 shots on target per game, both the best figures across Europe’s top five leagues this season.

The defensive resilience has been most prominent in the run-in. Since their 2-1 defeat at Manchester City on Matchday 33, Arsenal have responded with four consecutive victories, keeping four clean sheets.

17 – Wins with Gabriel and Saliba Starting Together

The engine of Arsenal’s defensive excellence has been the centre-back partnership of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães.

The pair have started together in 26 Premier League games this season, with Arsenal winning 17 of them. That is the joint-highest win total of any centre-back partnership in the division — level with Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk, despite the latter pairing starting together significantly more frequently (35 matches).

Arsenal have kept 15 clean sheets across their 26 league starts together — one every 1.7 games, comfortably the best clean sheet rate of any centre-back pairing to start together more than five times this season.

53 – Points Against Bottom-Half Teams

For much of Arteta’s tenure, Arsenal had no particular problem competing with the best teams in the division. Since the start of 2022-23, they have taken more points against fellow ‘big six’ sides (76) than any other club, losing just six of 40 such matches.

The problem was always the teams they were expected to beat.

In 2023-24, back-to-back defeats against West Ham and Fulham over Christmas derailed their title challenge. The season before, a defeat at Everton in February was compounded by back-to-back draws against West Ham (2-2) and Southampton (3-3) in April.

In 2025-26, they eliminated that weakness entirely.

Arsenal have won 17 of 19 matches against teams currently in the bottom half of the table, taking 53 points and conceding just six goals in those games. Their average of 2.8 points per game against bottom-half sides is by far the best of any Premier League team — comfortably ahead of Manchester City’s 2.3.

It was entirely fitting that a tense but resolute 1-0 win over relegated Burnley ultimately sealed the title.

238 – Days Spent Top of the Table

Arsenal have spent more time at the summit of the Premier League than any other club over the past four seasons. The problem, until now, was converting that time at the top into an actual title.

By the end of the season, they will have led the Premier League for 238 days in 2025-26 — 204 more than Liverpool and 229 more than City.

The contrast with 2022-23 is the most striking. That season, Arsenal spent 232 days top of the league — 206 more than eventual champions Manchester City — but could not hold on. That remains the record for the most days spent top by a side that failed to win the title.

Since the start of 2022-23, Arsenal will have spent 562 days at the summit of the Premier League by the end of this campaign — 207 more than any other club. Until Tuesday night, they had very little to show for it.

14 – Viktor Gyökeres’ League Goals

The title has been built on defensive foundations rather than attacking abundance — and that context makes Viktor Gyökeres’ contribution even more significant.

The summer signing scored 21 goals in all competitions in his debut season — the first player to reach 20-plus goals in all competitions in their first Arsenal season since Alexis Sánchez (25 in 2014-15). In the Premier League era, only Thierry Henry had previously managed it (26 in 1999-2000).

Yet 14 league goals is an unusually modest tally for the top scorer of a title-winning side.

Gyökeres enters the final day level with Eric Cantona, who scored 14 in Manchester United’s 1995-96 title-winning campaign.

8 – 1-0 Wins in the Premier League

It felt entirely fitting that Arsenal’s final match before the title was confirmed ended in a 1-0 victory.

They have won by that scoreline eight times in the Premier League this season — their highest total since 1998-99, when they recorded nine such wins. Three of their four victories since the loss to Manchester City have come by exactly that margin, with no goals conceded.

The tight, disciplined, results-first football that defined Arsenal’s run-in has been both the source of criticism and, ultimately, the source of the title.

2 – Games in Which Arsenal Were Outrun

Physicality and athleticism have been central to Arteta’s recruitment philosophy since his first days in charge. In 2025-26, that has shown up clearly in the running data.

Arsenal have covered more distance than their opponents in 35 of their 37 league games — more than any other side in the division. Only in two matches have they been outrun.

Remarkably, this work rate has been maintained despite Arsenal averaging 56.1% possession — the fourth-highest figure in the Premier League. This is not a team running hard because they lack the ball. They are running hard in possession and out of it, with players like Declan Rice embodying the relentless physical standard Arteta demands.

44 Years, 54 Days – Mikel Arteta’s Age

Finally, the man who made all of it possible.

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

With Pep Guardiola set to leave Manchester City at the end of the season, Arteta will become the longest-serving manager currently in the Premier League. Having already spent more than six years at Arsenal, it is easy to forget quite how young he still is.

The rebuild he has overseen — from the side he inherited to the team that beat Burnley to confirm the title — has been total, demanding, and ultimately historic.

His rivals may find that thought rather unsettling.

Read More: Pep Guardiola Didn’t Just Dominate the Premier League – He Redefined It

FAQs