Excuses have run out for Arsenal ahead of red-hot title showdown

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Evening Standard

·19 April 2026

Excuses have run out for Arsenal ahead of red-hot title showdown

League leaders face off against in-form City as Premier League title race goes down to wire

“Beating Arsenal once is so difficult,” Pep Guardiola said last weekend, after Manchester City’s win over Chelsea. “Imagine beating them twice in a few weeks.”

With the season threatening to slip from Arsenal’s grasp, that does not currently feel like a particularly taxing test of imagination.

Last month’s Carabao Cup final was billed as a defining moment in the season. One to establish Arsenal as a trophy-winning force and leave City counted out, or a chance for Guardiola’s side to land a counter-punch and have the Gunners swirling in self-doubt.

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The latter has materialised. After that final defeat, the best-case scenario for Arsenal was that it could be compartmentalised and left at Wembley. Instead it is a shadow they cannot shake.

Losing to City last month could be explained as a one-off bad day, even if it came on such a big occasion. Southampton knocking Arsenal out of the FA Cup came with the caveat of a rotated Gunners side.

Forgiving explanations have now run out. Bournemouth’s deserved win on Saturday was disastrous for Arsenal. Any fear factor has gone.

Arteta spoke on Friday of his frustration at injuries hitting hard again. He said: "I said it many times. That's the biggest lesson - April, have the whole squad available.

“Your best players on the pitch as much as possible. The probability to win it increases dramatically.”

Captain: Declan Rice

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That is not possible for Arsenal but that cannot be an excuse, as it has been at points in the past three years. Arsenal simply have to find a way over the final six matches, starting this afternoon, however ugly it is.

The past couple of months of the Premier League have felt like a warm-up of sorts, all about jostling for position before a showdown at the Etihad Stadium. The scrutiny is now red-hot.

The lead at the top of the table is down to six points and City have a game in hand at home to Crystal Palace. Beat Arsenal this afternoon and the goal-difference battle could tip in City’s favour too.

This fixture comes at a terrible time for Arsenal in terms of their form but so too with the calendar in mind. Positive results have been few and far between for Arsenal in April.

Guardiola has won around 80 per cent of league matches at City in April, his most successful month. The last 23 league games have brought 19 wins and four draws. Arteta is down at 42 per cent — by far his worst month.

Three successive defeats in April 2022. Three draws in a row — and a defeat to City — in 2023. Three draws in 2025. Here we are again with Arsenal short of confidence, energy and increasingly the psychological state to perform.

On the mentality issue, that goes for the players but also Arteta. Last week he told fans to “bring your lunch, bring your dinner”. On Tuesday, he proclaimed: “Fire. I’m on fire. That’s it. Nothing else.”

Arsenal do not need to be at a state of emotional breaking point. Actions on the pitch are needed, not hyperbole. Arteta wants more passion and more commitment, but his Arsenal side look spent.

The Spaniard was notably more low-key at his press conference on Friday. There were no big rallying cries or passionate speeches. Instead, a simple statement of intent.

"We want to win the game,” Arteta said.

“We are there to win the game. We haven't talked about that [a draw]. We need to win the game and we are preparing to win the game.”

How true that is will become clear at the Etihad. A draw would be a great result for Arsenal, particularly with Bukayo Saka among the confirmed absentees, and it is not hard to imagine Arteta settling for that point.

Even a draw would go someway to wrestling back the momentum that is currently with City. They are the side peaking, as is tradition at this time of year, and they evidently smell blood.

The Champions League defeat to Real Madrid has centred the focus on domestic matters and since that European exit, City have beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea by an aggregate score of 9-0.

For all the recent woes, it is still in Arsenal’s hands. A draw at the Etihad, even if City then win their game in hand, would give Arsenal a three-point cushion. That is a significant margin at this stage of the season.

Victory would be the kind of statement Arsenal have not made in a run-in for decades and leave Arteta’s side within touching distance of the prize they crave. Guardiola said the title race will be “over” if his side are beaten.

Arteta has put everything into winning the title this season. The football has often been turgid but that can be forgiven and forgotten if they get over the line. If not, what has it all been for?

City and Guardiola have proven their credentials over the years and again last month at Wembley. Arsenal’s latest chance to do so is here. This one must be taken.