Arsenal are in the mix for the Premier League title, and their recent form has fans dreaming of glory for the first time since 2004.
Mikel Arteta’s side have been sensational in 2024, winning all seven of their Premier League games, and setting a new record by scoring 31 times in the process.
They have demolished teams with ease, with Monday’s 6-0 victory at Sheffield United coming after 6-0 and 5-0 away wins at West Ham and Burnley.
Arsene Wenger’s first Premier League title came in the 1997-98 season, when Arsenal secured an impressive domestic double with the FA Cup, but whilst Arteta’s side are not in the cup competition anymore, they are similar to the 1998 side in one way.
Comparisons drawn between Arsene Wenger’s 1998 side and Arsenal now
Arsenal journalist Amy Lawrence has now highlighted that in the final 10 games of the 1998 season, Wenger’s side won every single match when they needed to, and tended to score first to take the initiative, much like Arteta’s side have done in recent weeks.
“What was interesting about that team (1998) is when they hit that sweet spot and they clicked, in the run-in essentially, they won every game, and they never looked in much danger in any of those games,” she told the Handbrake Off Podcast.
“One of the hallmarks of those games as well, was scoring early, and when they came to play Blackburn away, which was considered to be a difficult game in April in the snow, Arsenal went 3-0 up in about 15 minutes in that match.
“It had this sense that the team were looking at each other going ‘we know what’s happening here’ and it bred a kind of a very single-minded, but enjoyable determination and belief.
“It felt like no matter what ten tonnes of rocks got thrown at them, they would bounce off somehow, because they had this collective strength and understanding that it was business time and they could do the business every single game.
“There was something about the way they felt about each other and what they were doing, that there is that feeling now. If you want to see if your team’s made of the right stuff to give it a go, I think that’s where you’re going to feel good about this Arsenal team.”
Arsenal scoring early is helping them dominate games
Arsenal have solved a problem they faced earlier in the season, when they failed to score in the first opening 20 minutes of any league game until November.
In the last few games, they have taken an early lead, and their dominance in possession, as well as their high line, has meant that once they go ahead, they are unlikely to surrender their lead.
This has led to huge scorelines as teams are then forced to attack more, and leave more space in behind to be punished.
It also means that the likes of Bukayo Saka can be substituted early to maintain fitness ahead of the run-in, and whilst there is a long way to go, if Arteta’s side can secure results with the same determination as Wenger’s did 26 years ago, they can go on to win the league.
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