Arsenal are firmly on course to win a first Premier League title since 2004 and according to Daniel Sturridge, they’ve solved their biggest problem already.
We all saw the Gunners romp to a win over Aston Villa to close out 2025 in fine style and now, the pressure is on to keep going into the new year and finally win that title.
Of course, recent seasons have seen Arsenal slip away when the going has got tough. Both Liverpool and Man City – twice – have pulled clear of the Gunners, sparking concerns that Mikel Arteta’s charges simply don’t have it in them to pull through.
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However, after another summer of big spending in key areas, Arsenal are now looking as good as ever.
And according to former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge, there’s been one key issue Arteta has solved that is helping the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta told he’s finally solved Arsenal’s biggest problem
Over the last few years, the big argument against Arsenal being title contenders has been their lack of a real quality number nine.
Mikel Arteta addressed that by signing Viktor Gyokeres in the summer and while he’s been underwhelming at times, he has improved the squad.
However, while Gyokeres’ signing has made a difference, Daniel Sturridge believes it is Arteta’s defensive additions that are proving the difference.
“They’ve got Gabriel Jesus coming back, who’s been brilliant for the club through the course of his career and Havertz. And then defensively, like Micah said, with Gabriel coming back, Hincapie has been brilliant, Mosquera has been brilliant. That was the question mark before,” Sturridge suggested on the Sky Sports Premier League podcast.
“Okay, the defenders, if they lose Saliba, they lose Gabriel, maybe they can’t compete. Maybe those injuries, they’ve signed two quality centre backs who help them.
“So all around the pitch now, there’s really no excuses for Arsenal outside of injury.”
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We all know how important scoring goals is in football. That is why the big bucks are spent on strikers and ultimately, why those with the best number nines are usually successful.
However, in more recent years, there has been a shift towards those with the strength and quality at the back coming out on top.
A few seasons back, we saw Pep Guardiola win out with a hugely successful back four, made up of defenders who had strength, power, quality on the ball and crucially, players in reserve who were just as comfortable stepping in.
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Arsenal now have that. Yes, the first-choice back four is brilliant but as Sturridge says, the likes of Hincapie, Mosquera, and Lewis-Skelly have all been magnificent at times.
Ultimately, this is what will get Arsenal over the line and if Saliba and Gabriel do stay fully fit, then it’s hard to see anyone stopping the Gunners.
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