Michael Owen’s Arsenal title claim makes absolutely no sense

Add as preferred source on Google

Michael Owen has made a claim about Arsenal in the Premier League title race that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

The Gunners sit four points clear at the summit of the English top flight after eleven matches, having conceded just five goals in the process.

Mikel Arteta’s team did slump to a disappointing draw against Sunderland on Saturday evening, while Manchester City strolled to victory over Liverpool at the Etihad.

Nevertheless, Arsenal remain favourites to win the Premier League title, and for very good reason.

• READ MORE: Confirmed Arsenal summer 2025 transfer ins and outs, signings and done deals

Michael Owen makes surprise Arsenal title claim

Arsenal suffered a minor blip against Sunderland at the weekend, a result which appears to have sparked some revisionism around their title credentials.

The Gunners had won ten consecutive games prior to this slip-up, keeping nine clean sheets in this time.

Arteta’s side had become overwhelming favourites in many people’s eyes, yet now many are starting to question this, based on a game that the North Londoners deserved to win.

Michael Owen was among those who chimed in on the title race discourse, claiming on Premier League Productions (via Stan Sports) that Arsenal are the third best team in the division when every side is at their best.

“If Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool all play at their very, very best, I think Arsenal are still probably the third-best team,” he said.

“When everyone is at their absolute best, Liverpool can blow anyone off the pitch and so can Man City. With Arsenal it’s about not making many mistakes, I can see them grinding away, maybe having a few draws.

“Their style of play might just make them plug on all the way and make them hard to beat. When Liverpool or Man City win, they play really well and can win by four of five goals.

“But if Liverpool play poorly they get beat. With Arsenal you get the sense they can still play badly and grind out a win or a draw. That might just play in their favour this season but there’s a long, long way to go.”

Why Michael Owen’s claim about Arsenal makes no sense

Ultimately, Arsenal are the best team in the league on the underlying metrics and it’s not even close.

Even despite their result on Wearside, the Gunners boast the best xG difference in the Premier League, while their numbers compared to City are still night and day.

Owen suggests that if Liverpool and City play well they’re capable of blowing teams away, yet the Merseysiders are yet to win a league game by more than two clear goals this term.

There is no evidence that this current iteration of Arne Slot’s team is capable of dismantling Premier League opposition, and when they do go for the jugular, they leave themselves exposed at the back. Last season’s Liverpool may have been able to blow teams away, but this side haven’t shown that they can, so Owen’s point in this regard is moot.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have beaten Leeds 5-0 this season, while they’ve battered a number of other teams in games where the scoreline hasn’t quite reflected their level of dominance.

The Gunners have established comfortable leads on multiple occasions this season, and then leant on their imperious defence to see games out, while conserving energy in attack in the midst of a gruelling fixture schedule.

When Arteta has all his best offensive players back, the North Londoners are more likely to steamroll teams.

Owen has conflated Liverpool having some of the top-end attacking talent with the idea that this talent can actually cohesively come together to batter teams, which they haven’t shown they can do, while Arsenal have a few times already.