Is that, then, it? On the first weekend of November, is Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge over for another season? Perhaps not quite, because Rodri’s absence and Arne Slot’s inexperience in the Premier League mean this could be an unusual campaign even before the possible consequences of the charges against Manchester City are taken into account. But if Arsenal are to win the league for the first time in 21 years, it is going to take a monumental improvement and, at the moment, they look a side who have lost their way and self-belief.
As a rule of thumb, in this era it takes a minimum of 90 points to win the Premier League. That means teams can only afford to drop 24; Arsenal have already dropped 12 – which is to say half what they can lose with a quarter of the season played. It’s true that the fixture list has not been kind, that they have already played their away games against Manchester City, Aston Villa, Tottenham and Newcastle, but still, their margin for error in the 28 games that remain is extremely limited.
