Six key reasons to believe Arsenal can win a historic quadruple this season | OneFootball

We’re now at the end of January and there’s still a feasible chance that Arsenal could end the 2025-26 campaign by winning a historic quadruple.

The Gunners currently top the Premier League, boast a flawless record in Europe, have one leg in the League Cup final and are still in the FA Cup.

Here are six key reasons to believe Arsenal can win the quadruple this season.

Kai Havertz returning

Despite how good Arsenal have been at times, there’s no denying that their front line has looked dysfunctional without Havertz.

On the whole, Viktor Gyokeres has struggled, but the recent return of Havertz will be a huge boost for Mikel Arteta’s side in the second half of the season.

“The team knows how important Kai is for us and how he can help the team to be much better and take the team to another level,” Arteta recently told reporters.

“Let’s bring him on board and make sure we use him in the right way because he is going to be really important for us in the second part of the season.”

Lack of world-class competition

Before a ball had been kicked, Liverpool and Manchester City were the two clubs expected to push Arsenal to the title. However, there can be no denying that both clubs have been off the pace this season.

As things stand, Liverpool are projected to end the season with 59 points (their lowest tally since 2010-11) and City are projected to end the season with 76 points, which won’t be enough to win the title.

In Europe, PSG don’t look like the same force that steamrolled the Champions League last time around and perennial champions Real Madrid have looked off the pace all year round.

Bayern Munich look like the biggest competition that Arsenal will have in Europe this season, although the Gunners have already beaten them back in November.

With several big-name clubs going through transitional phases at the same time, Arsenal are in pole position to take advantage, given how consistent they’ve been all season.

Favourable schedule

Going for a quadruple is absolutely gruelling, but the Gunners can take some confidence from their upcoming schedule.

In the FA Cup fourth round, they have a favourable tie against Wigan Athletic, who are currently battling relegation in League One.

Thanks to finishing top of the Champions League group phase, Arsenal are now gaurenteed to play the second leg of each knockout tie at home. A huge advantage, given Arsenal’s excellent record at home this season.

In the Premier League, Arsenal can also take some confidence from the fact that six of their last 10 matches are against sides who are currently in the bottom half of the table.

Squad depth

Towards the tail-end of the season, Arteta will have to lean on his squad and fortunately, it’s one of the deepest in Europe.

Arsenal fans barely had to sweat when Bukayo Saka limped off injured in the warm-up against Leeds United, as they had Noni Madueke waiting in reserve.

Similarly, the likes of Eberechi Eze, Ben White, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli amonst others, are all great options for Arteta who have struggled for regular starts this season.

Lack of dependence on one player

Unlike Erling Haaland for Manchester City or Bruno Fernandes for Manchester United, Arsenal’s strength comes from the squad as a whole, rather than one individual.

This is sometimes a critique of the Gunners, as many have suggested that they lack a superstar presence, especially at the front end of the pitch.

However, we think it could be one of their biggest strengths. While a key injury to Haaland would almost certainly rule Man City out of the title race, Arsenal are good enough to compensate for any absences they are forced to deal with.

In the Premier League alone, they’ve had 13 different goalscorers this season, with Gyokeres, Leandro Trossard, Saka, Declan Rice, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Magalhaes all being involved in a similar number of goals.

Defensive record

As the saying goes: ‘Attacks win you games, defence wins you titles.’

By some distance, the Gunners have boasted the best defensive record in both the Premier League and Champions League so far this season.

Amazingly, they’ve only conceded an xG of 19.2 in the Premier League this season, which is 8.4 less than Newcastle, who rank second in that particular statistic.