Arsenal’s first Premier League title in 22 years has changed the question surrounding Mikel Arteta’s side.
After ending 2025/26 as champions, the challenge is no longer getting over the line but staying there. Arsenal’s title defence has started well, although Manchester City’s early pace leaves little room for complacency.
After seven league matches, Arsenal sit second on 18 points, three behind City. Their latest league outing brought a narrow 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest. Whether another championship follows will depend less on early predictions than on five factors involving fitness, goals, rivals, fixtures and squad management.
1. Can Arsenal keep their defence fit and reliable?
Arsenal’s title-winning foundations were built on organisation as much as individual talent. That remains important in a season when a single defensive lapse can turn an otherwise controlled away performance into dropped points.
The early numbers are promising: Arsenal have conceded five goals in seven league matches, including a clean sheet at Nottingham Forest. However, William Saliba has not featured this season because of a back injury, while Piero Hincapié has been recovering from an ankle problem. Arteta has therefore needed alternatives rather than the luxury of a settled first-choice back line.
Gabriel Magalhães provides continuity, but successful cover also depends on understanding between the centre-backs, full-backs and midfielders screening them. Those partnerships matter when opponents counterattack or target the space behind an advancing full-back.
Set pieces offer another revealing test. Arsenal must defend second balls and crowded penalty areas without gifting opportunities, particularly when protecting a one-goal advantage. The Forest result showed they can see out an awkward match. Repeating that resilience against stronger attacks, with personnel changing, will be a bigger measure of their title credentials.
2. Will Arsenal score consistently when matches get tight?
Winning the league again will require more than keeping goals out. Arsenal need to make possession count, particularly against opponents prepared to defend deep and surrender territory.
Their victory at Forest illustrated the issue. Arsenal struggled to create clear openings, and their only shot on target produced the winner when substitute Noni Madueke scored in the 80th minute. They have scored 11 goals in seven league matches, compared with Manchester City’s 19 and Brighton’s 23. Those totals do not establish attacking quality on their own, but they strengthen the case for watching whether Arsenal can create and finish chances more consistently.
Bukayo Saka remains central to Arsenal’s attacking threat because he can beat defenders, combine in narrow spaces and create chances without requiring an open game. His availability is now a concern after he went off early with a quadriceps problem during the 2-2 Champions League draw with Bayern Munich on 21 October. Reports on 22 October said he was undergoing assessment, with the length of any absence still unclear.
That increases the importance of contributions from Martin Ødegaard, Eberechi Eze, Madueke and the central forwards. Chance creation and finishing are separate questions: a side can reach promising positions without generating enough shots of genuine quality.
Arsenal will look more convincing when several players can turn sustained pressure into goals, rather than waiting for one moment of inspiration.
3. How much pressure will Manchester City and other challengers apply?
Manchester City have set the early standard in the 2026/27 Premier League title race, winning their opening seven league matches. Arsenal’s six victories from seven keep them close, but chasing a rival on a perfect run changes the atmosphere around every fixture.
Brighton are also part of the immediate conversation, sitting third with 16 points after seven matches. Chelsea and Liverpool remain relevant challengers, even though their starts have been less convincing. Seven games cannot settle who will sustain a challenge into spring.
League position and recent results show where Arsenal and their rivals stand, while chance creation, defensive performance and the strength of opposition help explain those results. Some supporters also compare football odds for upcoming Premier League fixtures to follow changing market expectations as injuries and opponents vary. Match prices concern individual fixtures, however, and should not be treated as direct predictions of the final league table.
Head-to-head contests could move the table quickly, but the less glamorous games matter just as much. City and Arsenal cannot assume three points against teams who defend patiently or exploit transitions.
For the defending champions, the challenge is to keep collecting wins without allowing the pressure of City’s start to dictate their decisions.
4. Can Arsenal navigate a demanding fixture schedule?
Arsenal’s upcoming fixtures offer a clear picture of the demands ahead. Everton visit the Emirates on 24 October, before Arsenal travel to Liverpool on 1 November. November also brings an away league trip to Newcastle United and a home meeting with Manchester City.
The difficulty is not simply the names on the fixture list. A cup trip to Fleetwood Town on 27 October falls between Everton and Liverpool, while Arsenal visit Slavia Praha on 4 November before hosting Hull City on 7 November. Travel, recovery time and tactical preparation add to the challenge of maintaining performance across those matches.
A sequence of challenging away matches can be particularly draining when key defenders or attackers are unavailable. Conversely, a seemingly manageable home fixture can become awkward after a demanding European night.
Arteta’s challenge is to identify where rotation protects performance and where continuity matters more. The points available against Everton or Hull count exactly as much as those against Liverpool or City, even if the scrutiny surrounding those matches is different.
5. Will squad depth and Arteta’s decisions make the difference?
Arsenal’s squad depth will be judged by what happens when the preferred starting eleven is unavailable, not by how many recognisable names appear on the bench. Early injury concerns have already made that distinction relevant.
Madueke’s match-winning introduction at Forest was a practical example of a substitute changing the outcome. It also showed the value of having a winger who can offer a different attacking route when the initial plan fails. If Saka misses time, Arteta must decide how to maintain width and one-against-one threat without overloading the same replacement.
Defensive rotation involves different trade-offs. Moving a full-back into central defence, or using a less familiar pairing, can preserve freshness but affect build-up patterns and communication. In midfield, the balance between ball retention, pressing and attacking support also changes depending on who starts.
Arteta will need to adapt his tactics while keeping the team’s core principles clear. Timely substitutions, managed workloads and clear roles for fringe players could preserve Arsenal’s standards across multiple competitions.
The test is whether rotation looks like a planned strength rather than an emergency response.
So, can Arsenal retain the title?
Arsenal have a credible path to another championship, but their early league position does not make a successful defence inevitable. They must preserve defensive reliability through injuries, turn sustained attacking pressure into more consistent goals and match Manchester City’s strong start without becoming distracted by it.
The approaching fixtures against Everton, Liverpool, Newcastle and City will reveal plenty. Watch how Arteta manages recovering players, whether substitutes keep making an impact and how Arsenal respond when matches do not follow their preferred pattern. Those answers will matter more than any October prediction.
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