The 2025/26 Premier League season will be remembered for three things: the tightest title race since 2012, the spectacular implosion of a club whose ambitions dramatically outpaced their organisational capacity, and the emergence of a 20-year-old midfielder who has given the league one of its most compelling individual storylines in a generation. This is the season as it actually was — not as the opening-day predictions suggested it would be.
The Title Race: How Arsenal Did It
Arsenal's title was built in December and January, when every other contender stumbled and Mikel Arteta's squad produced the most consistent run of form the club had delivered since the Invincibles era. Twelve wins and two draws in fourteen matches during the winter period gave the Gunners a seven-point cushion that proved ultimately decisive. What made the run remarkable was not the results but the manner of the victories: Arsenal were winning games without playing at their best, which is the mark of a genuine title-winning mentality.
The Player of the Season
Martin Ødegaard's return from injury in October transformed the title race. The Norwegian captain missed the first eight games of the season and Arsenal won four, drew three, and lost one in his absence — functional but not fluent. When he returned, the team's passing fluency, press triggers, and chance creation improved measurably in every game. His season statistics — 18 goals, 14 assists in 30 league appearances — are the most complete individual numbers in the Premier League since Kevin De Bruyne's 2019-20 season.
The Relegation Battle: Drama at Both Ends
The bottom of the table provided the season's most sustained drama. Three clubs were still in danger of relegation going into the final weekend, with a single point separating 17th and 19th place. The survival story of the season came from a club who had been seven points adrift of safety in February, won eight of their final fourteen matches, and escaped on goal difference on the last day.
Five Defining Moments
- ·Matchday 7: Arsenal 4-0 Manchester City — the moment the title race had a clear leader.
- ·Matchday 19: The Boxing Day shock that ended a top-four side's season as a genuine top-four contender.
- ·Matchday 25: The 90th-minute equaliser at Anfield that kept the title race open for another month.
- ·Matchday 33: A red card in the 11th minute that handed Arsenal their most improbable away win of the season.
- ·Matchday 38: Three simultaneous 3pm kick-offs that ended the relegation battle in the most theatrical possible fashion.
The Statistical Verdict
Arsenal: 84 points, 89 goals scored, 31 conceded. The best defensive record in Premier League history for a title-winning season.
Full season statistics, player ratings, and next-season previews are all available in the Football section.
About this article
Written by the ACES Arena Sport editorial team. Our journalists cover Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, and international tournaments with first-hand knowledge of the game. Content is fact-checked against primary sources including Premier League, BBC Sport, and UEFA.
