No team in Premier League history has lifted the title without a player finishing inside the division’s top 10 goalscorers. Arsenal’s current campaign, however, is challenging that long-standing convention.
Mikel Arteta’s side are enjoying an outstanding season. They have suffered just two defeats in all competitions, boast a perfect record in the Champions League and hold a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League table. Arsenal have also reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals and advanced to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
What makes those achievements particularly striking is the absence of a reliable, high-volume scorer. While only Manchester City have found the net more often than Arsenal’s 40 league goals, the Gunners do not possess a forward they can consistently depend upon.
Erling Haaland has already scored 20 Premier League goals this season, yet Arsenal’s joint top scorers in the competition — Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyökeres — have just five each, placing them 21st in the scoring standings.
Gyökeres, signed for £64 million in the summer, has struggled to reproduce the form that made him so prolific at Sporting, where he scored 97 goals in 102 appearances. The 27-year-old’s confidence appears low, with recent performances underlining his difficulties. Against Liverpool in Arsenal’s most recent league outing, he registered only eight touches and failed to attempt a shot, and he has scored just once from open play in his last 15 matches.
Arsenal have not won the Premier League since 2004, yet they are widely viewed as favourites this season. Should they succeed, it would mark their first major trophy since lifting the FA Cup in Arteta’s debut campaign in 2020.
Arteta’s attacking options are beginning to evolve with the return of Kai Havertz. The German international has missed nearly a year of action due to hamstring and knee injuries but made his first appearance since the opening day of the season during Sunday’s 4–1 FA Cup victory over Portsmouth, playing the final 21 minutes.
Arteta was visibly encouraged by Havertz’s return, telling TNT Sports: “Just watching his movement and awareness — when to move and where to move — it’s a joy. We’ve missed him a lot. He’s a very important player for us, and now we need to keep him fit.”
Havertz’s reintegration suggests he could quickly emerge as Arteta’s preferred central striker once fully fit. Gabriel Jesus, who returned from an anterior cruciate ligament injury in December, has also shown flashes of his quality, giving Arsenal three senior striking options after long spells of relying almost exclusively on Gyökeres.
Historically, Premier League champions have rarely lacked an elite goalscorer. The lowest tally from a title-winning side remains Frank Lampard’s 13 goals for Chelsea in 2004–05, a figure matched by Ilkay Gündogan during Manchester City’s 2020–21 triumph.
Arteta has acknowledged that benchmark but remains committed to a collective approach. “We want the goals to be spread and our strikers scoring over 20 goals — that’s the idea,” he said before Arsenal’s recent league match against Liverpool.
So far, Arsenal’s goals have been widely shared. Thirteen different players have scored for them in the Premier League this season, with only Brighton having more contributors.
Pressed on Gyökeres’ lack of goals from open play, Arteta stressed that results take precedence. “The important thing is that the team is performing and winning matches,” he said. “With the quality around him, those players can suddenly score in 10 games in a row.”
There are clear historical parallels. Chelsea’s 2004–05 title success under José Mourinho was built on an exceptional defence that conceded just 15 goals all season. Arsenal’s current defensive record is comparable: they have conceded only 14 goals in 21 league matches — fewer than any other side — despite injuries to key defenders Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba and Riccardo Calafiori.
Even with Gyökeres struggling individually, Arsenal have lost only once in matches he has started, underlining the team’s overall resilience.
Manchester City’s 2020–21 title-winning side also spread the goals, with Gündogan leading on 13, followed by Raheem Sterling with 10, and Phil Foden, Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez all scoring nine.
With 17 league games remaining, Trossard and Gyökeres would need to score at roughly one goal every two matches to reach 13 — a target that appears ambitious based on current form. Yet Arsenal continue to look the most complete team in the league, regularly praised by opposition managers for their lack of obvious weaknesses.
Set-pieces have provided another decisive edge. Arsenal are the Premier League’s most dangerous side from corners, scoring 17 goals from set-plays in all competitions — a significant weapon that reduces reliance on a single elite finisher.
After three consecutive second-place finishes and with a commanding six-point lead at the summit, Arsenal’s consistency, defensive solidity and collective attacking output suggest that even without a prolific goalscorer, they are well positioned to take the final step and become champions.
