Arsenal’s title path is more viable than Liverpool’s as they continue to offer an open game

They can’t get away from it. Although they really can be. Nor should arms particularly care about widespread backlash if they do.

The suspicion was always that Liverpool were up Premier League Table The well was built on unstable and completely insecure foundations. Late goals from a sub-par performance of salvation papered over some obvious cracks and the thin sheen of invincibility was soon forced away.

weapon They have benefited from the slips in a way that they never did before as chasers rather than pace setters under Mikel Arteta. And while that will infuriate rivals and upset neutrals, it’s about as solid a platform as a potential champion could hope to build.

1-0 to Arsenal. Set the piece again, Ollie, Ollie. It’s neither the most exciting nor the most stirring thing to watch, but Arsenal seem to have developed a more consistent and reliable blueprint for victory than anyone else.

If the defense wins your title, then the weapons can also be crowned. They have conceded three goals in 11 games in all competitions this season, with every other side conceding at least seven. Their only points dropped have been to the two sides who have won the last eight titles between them. And they are correcting some costly mistakes made in the last couple of campaigns.

In their opening eight games, Arsenal have already won three of the fixtures they missed in 2023/24 or 2024/25. Newcastle were finally victorious at St James’s Park and had a strange trip to West Ham before the international break, while an inspired Fulham were hung, drawn and rolled at Craven Cottage.

Marco Silva’s side have impressed so far but haven’t had a single try in equal measure. The closest he came was a mishit Josh King cross that David Raya had to point to, with Harry Wilson hailing a shot-shy opponent but ambitious in his efforts on goal.

Arsenal restricted them to a single (blocked) shot after 40 minutes or so when Leandro Trossard turned in Gabriel’s header from a Bocko Saka corner. The hosts had their moments until the visitors decided it was close enough and put them away.

It’s impressive how Arsenal have almost embraced the whole concept of open-play football. It’s all a means to an end, a necessary and inevitable evil in their quest to reduce the game to a point where they can assemble their multiple giants in any penalty area and please the almighty Nicolas Jour.

They have scored fewer open play Premier League goals than Burnley and Brentford. And fair play to them for that as they have pushed the margin to the maximum degree.

And they still play real football all the time. A smart Saka pass was met by a clever move from Victor Guevara but the striker’s finish was left wanting, while the pair almost combined again to score in the second half but Timotheus Castagan was on hand to clear on the line.

A truly ludicrous move saw Arsenal break the spell of passing the ball around their defense for almost two minutes when Jurin Timber launched a wonderful long ball for Trussard, whose first-time pass to Ricardo Calafouri in the middle was quickly deflected into the top corner by a really quite draft footballer.

The supposed left-back unfortunately strayed offside in his excitement but it was a breath-taking display of ability and technique from a group of players who are often reduced to their physical attributes.

It’s something we’re all guilty of, and the source of much of the criticism leveled at Arteta. These amazingly gifted athletes and vicariously deserve greatness rather than consistent match-winning automatism.

But football is not as simple as Michael Owen makes a strangely fascinating point about defending being easier than attacking. Weapons have mastered quite a bit of the former’s reckoning. It is effective and it is definitely durable.

Read next: Merson explains why ‘incredible’ Arsenal ‘will go for the league title’ if they beat Fulham