Some weeks, Arsenal look unstoppable. Some of them, they look vulnerable. But after another unconvincing display at Brentford, there has been a common theme about Arsenal recentlySince the turn of the year, Arsenal have struggled to respond to a Manchester City result in the title race. This was the fourth time that Mikel Arteta’s side have played after City in the gameweek and dropped points.
This week, Man City swept aside Fulham but Arsenal stumbled against their own west London opponents the following day. They lost to Manchester United the day after Man City beat Wolves.
Earlier in the calendar year, they failed to really extend their lead over Pep Guardiola’s side at Nottingham Forest a few hours after the Manchester derby City lost – and against Liverpool, after City dropped points at Brighton.At the same time, when Arsenal have gone first, they have looked like a different team. Last weekend, there were no nerves against Sunderland, which preceded City’s dramatic game at Liverpool.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the Premier League match between Brentford and Arsenal
They went to Elland Road – another difficult venue and lost their star forward Bukayo Saka during the warm-up – and it was easy street ahead of City’s game at Spurs.
Arsenal found a way at Bournemouth on the Saturday before City hosted Chelsea on Super Sunday. And even when they played Aston Villa at home, they picked up the statement result they lacked at Brentford. Once again, that came a day before City were in action.
Arteta refutes the claim that ‘going second’ has an impact on his team. “I don’t think so, I think we played as well after them a few times this season, and we have won the games,” he said.He has a point. Arsenal’s slender December wins over Brighton and Everton came hours after City picked up victories.But they were in 2025, this is 2026. The finish line is that little bit closer, the other cup competitions are starting to ramp up in intensity. More difficult questions will be asked and the anxiety of getting over the line will rise.Arteta instead said Arsenal’s latest dropped points were linked to the lack of…
2026-02-12 23:50:00
