Can Arsenal defy the odds and win the Premier League without a consistent top goalscorer? It's a bold question, but one that's worth exploring.
No Premier League champion has ever gone without a player in the top 10 goal scorers, but Arsenal's current season is challenging that notion. With an impressive record of just two defeats across all competitions, a perfect Champions League run, and a comfortable six-point lead at the top of the Premier League, the Gunners are defying expectations.
But here's where it gets controversial: Arsenal's success is being achieved without a reliable, free-scoring forward. While Manchester City leads the league in goals, Arsenal's tally of 40 league goals this season has not come from a single dominant scorer.
Take Erling Haaland, for example, who has already netted 20 league goals this season. In contrast, Arsenal's top scorers in the division, Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyokeres, have managed just five goals each, placing them 21st in the goalscoring rankings.
Arsenal spent a significant £64m on Gyokeres in the summer, but the Swedish international has struggled to replicate his impressive form from Sporting in Portugal, where he scored an incredible 97 goals in 102 games. Recent performances have been disappointing, with Gyokeres appearing to lack confidence. In Arsenal's last league game against Liverpool, he managed only eight touches and failed to take a single shot, and has scored just once from open play in the last 15 games.
Despite not winning the league since 2004, Arsenal are many people's favorites to lift the title this season. If they do, it will be their first trophy since 2020 when they won the FA Cup in Arteta's first season in charge.
So, could things change by the end of the season? With the return of Kai Havertz, Arteta's options in attack have expanded. The German international, who has been out for almost a year due to hamstring and knee injuries, made his comeback in the FA Cup win over Portsmouth, playing the final 21 minutes. Arteta praised Havertz's awareness and movement, indicating that he could become Arsenal's starting striker once fully fit.
Gabriel Jesus, who returned from an ACL injury in December, has also shown glimpses of his quality, giving Arteta three strikers to choose from after previously relying solely on Gyokeres.
But is it an issue if Arsenal don't have a regular scorer? The lowest ever goal scorer from a Premier League-winning side is Frank Lampard with 13 goals in Chelsea's 2004-05 campaign, a statistic matched by Ilkay Gundogan in Manchester City's 2020-21 title-winning season. When asked about this, Arteta stated, "We want the goals to spread, and our strikers scoring over 20 goals, that's the idea."
And spread they have. Arsenal has had 13 different top-flight goal scorers this season, with only Brighton having more. When asked about Gyokeres' lack of open-play goals, Arteta made it clear that team success is the priority.
There are parallels to be drawn with Chelsea's title-winning side of 2005. Jose Mourinho's team had a formidable defense that season, conceding just 15 goals throughout the Premier League campaign. Similarly, Arsenal's defense has been impressive, conceding only 14 goals in 21 league games - the fewest of any side - despite injuries to key defenders Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, and Riccardo Calafiori.
Although Gyokeres' performances have been underwhelming, Arsenal have still lost only once when he has started. Manchester City's title-winning season of 2020-21 also saw their goals spread across the team, with Gundogan, Sterling, Foden, Gabriel Jesus, and Mahrez all contributing significantly.
With 17 league games remaining, Trossard and Gyokeres would need to score at a rate of approximately one goal every two games to reach 13 goals, which seems unlikely given their current form.
Arsenal has consistently been the best all-round team this season, with opposition managers unable to pinpoint a weakness. The Gunners are also the league's best side from set-pieces, having scored 17 goals from corners in all competitions this season - the most by any Premier League team. This added threat reduces the reliance on having a single top-level goal scorer.
After three successive second-placed finishes, and with a six-point gap at the top of the league, even without a consistent goalscorer, Arsenal is ready to take that final step and become champions once more.
What do you think? Can Arsenal win the Premier League without a regular goalscorer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
