For the first time since 2004, Arsenal enter a Premier League season as the reigning champions. After three consecutive runner-up finishes that had pundits labeling the Gunners as nearly-men, Mikel Arteta’s side finally got over the line in 2025-26, ending a 22-year wait for the title and setting up a very different kind of season ahead. The question now is not whether Arsenal can compete at the top, but whether they can do what so many recent champions have struggled to do: defend it.
Winning a first title in 22 years also changes how sportsbooks price a team from day one of a new season, rather than treating them as just another contender. Arsenal opened as one of the market favourites for the 2026-27 title well before a ball was kicked, a notable shift from previous years when Manchester City or Liverpool typically carried that tag by default.
American audiences have been paying closer attention to those numbers too. Texas is a good example of just how far Arsenal’s reach now extends, with several official supporters clubs in cities like Houston, Dallas, and Austin, and match-day watch parties there have grown noticeably busier since the title arrived. Sportsbooks in the state have adjusted accordingly, with texas sports betting sites now carrying Premier League title and top-four futures markets that would have drawn a fraction of the interest from an American audience just a few seasons ago.
That shift matters for how the season gets framed from the outset. A reigning champion carrying short title odds faces a different kind of scrutiny than a challenger sneaking up the table, and every slip in form or big result this season will be measured against the expectation that Arsenal are now the team to beat, not just another name in the mix.
The Turning Point Nobody Expected
Arteta himself has pointed to an unlikely moment as the one that convinced him this season would be different: a defeat to Manchester City. Rather than derailing Arsenal’s campaign the way it might have in years past, that loss became a turning point. Arteta later explained that seeing his players’ reaction in the dressing room afterward, hurt but defiant, told him the squad finally believed they could go all the way. Manchester City’s own slip-up against Bournemouth in May confirmed it, handing Arsenal the title with games still to spare.
Set Pieces Became a Genuine Weapon
Behind the emotional turning points, the numbers tell a clear tactical story. Arsenal scored 19 goals from corners last season, the most of any team in Premier League history, with set pieces accounting for 35 percent of their total goals, the highest share for any title winner since the competition began in 1992. No side scored more headed goals than Arsenal either, with 16 across the campaign, while their own defensive record against dead-ball situations was among the best in the division. It was not the most eye-catching way to win a title, but it was remarkably effective.
Smart Recruitment Did the Rest
The other half of the story is recruitment. Signings like Declan Rice, Viktor Gyokeres, and Eberechi Eze gave Arteta the balance he had been searching for across three near-miss seasons, pairing defensive solidity with the kind of attacking creativity that had occasionally been missing in years prior. According to Arsenal’s own analysis of the title-winning campaign, the pairing of Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield dovetailed particularly well late in the season, while Eze’s arrival gave the side a more natural attacking outlet from the number ten position.
Now Comes the Hard Part
Winning a first title in over two decades is one challenge. Defending it is another entirely, and Arteta knows it. Arsenal open their season by facing Manchester City again in the Community Shield on August 16, a fitting rematch against the rivals they finally overtook, before the real defence of their title begins against Manchester City’s fellow contenders across a Premier League season that Arteta himself has repeatedly described as one of the most competitive in years.
For a title defence to succeed, the same ingredients that got Arsenal here, mental resilience, tactical discipline, and smart recruitment, will need to show up again, this time with every rival gunning specifically for the champions. For continued coverage of Arsenal’s title defence as the new season kicks off, check out our full Arsenal news section here on Daily Cannon.