World class moments, discipline, near-perfect - What Arsenal need to do to keep title race alive

The return of club football means the return of Arsenal's task of becoming Premier League champions. Despite taking Manchester City close in the past two years, the Gunners already face an uphill battle to be crowned champions of England.

Mikel Arteta's men are fourth in the league table, level on points with Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Brighton, after 11 games. No Premier League win in their last four has left them nine points off league leaders Liverpool.

Many have already ruled out title success in north London due to Arne Slot's incredible start to life in England and the expected turnaround at Manchester City.

However, the festive period presents the Gunners with the chance to make ground on their title rivals and make up for lost time. Between now and the end of the year, Arteta's men are in action 10 times across three different competitions.

It's not just concerns in the league, Arsenal's current position in the Champions League league phase means they would have to play a play-off to qualify for the knockout stages in the new year.

So, with that in mind, what do the north Londoners need to do to ensure they get back on track in the upcoming run of fixtures. football.london writers have their say on what Arteta and his players must do....

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Isaac Johnson

I’m going to get the obvious out of the way - they need to win. Any more slip-ups will likely rule them out of the title race before 2025 is here.

Leaders Liverpool - already nine points ahead - are going at a canter and have conceded just six goals in 11 Premier League matches. Furthermore, Manchester City tend to peak from February onwards.

The margin for error is slim. Meanwhile, Arsenal need to hire a new sporting director - if this can be done before January, then great.

I think it is really pressing that Arsenal try to sign a striker in the winter market. They recorded a net spend of just £4million this summer so have scope to work with.

Acquiring a top sporting chief with good contacts will help with that no end. It will also mean forward planning can begin for the summer.

The final point is to keep players on the pitch. The Gunners have already endured a number of significant injury setbacks this term and cannot afford to lose any more key players for a prolonged period.

Rotation will be key for that, while reigning in yellow and red card discipline is just as important given the three dismissals already tallied this season.

James Quinlan

Not only do Arsenal need to worry about falling further behind Liverpool but they need to worry about Manchester City creeping further away from them.

In some regards, it would be even more dangerous if Pep Guardiola's side amassed a greater total than four points between now and New Years' Day given their ability to find that ruthless streak at the flick of a switch. That is by no means writing the current leaders off, they just haven't proven they can do the same as recently or under their new coach.

So, in the Premier League at a bare minimum they are going to need to match Man City's results to stay in the title race. Then it just depends how far Liverpool would get ahead, as realistically anything further than 12 points with half the season remaining and the task becomes all-but impossible.

Alongside this the Gunners should have the strength to go all the way in the Carabao Cup - a stuttering quarter-final defeat isn't on. All of the best teams cope on multiple fronts.

And that brings us to the Champions League. They have some ground to make up there with matches against Sporting CP and AS Monaco coming up.

Both are doing well in the competition but Arsenal simply have to beat both. They are going to be thankful later on in the season if that means the difference between automatic knock-out qualification or having to play two extra games via the play-offs.

Josh Holland

The big thing for Arsenal over the next couple of weeks is to ensure they are still in the conversation at the start of 2025. This weekend's game with Nottingham Forest is no easy task and fixtures against the likes of Manchester United, Fulham, Brighton, Tottenham and Aston Villa all have the potential to be slip-ups.

A near-perfect run is probably their best bet but it's the Premier League and it's almost impossible. The international break came at the perfect time for Arteta, giving him, his players and his staff some much-needed rest. But the time is now.

Liverpool are on fire and Manchester City will, like they seem to do every year, turn their fortunes around. The Gunners haven't been in a position like this for some time. After two tough Champions League games, there is a run of six league games that starts quite easily against Crystal Palace, Ipswich and Brentford before the New Year starts at Brighton then the second north London derby of the season.

If they go into that game close to the top, Arteta would have successfully navigated the situation well. However, all it takes is one more bad result and the season could be in tatters. If some players want to be world-class players, they have to come up with world-class moments now.

Jack Flintham

Arsenal are not blessed with the deepest squad so when unavoidable injuries come into play then results are going to be affected. However, discipline can easily be controlled and the Gunners have been let down by some petulant decisions from key players that have resulted in dropped points.

If they are going to get back into this title race, they need to have a near-perfect record and as such their discipline needs to be perfect too. Arteta has been criticised for being too cautious when in front and Arsenal are at their best when they take the game to the opposition.

City and Liverpool were understandable but against teams in mid-table, the north London club need to be going in for the kill more. That is the controllables out of the way, now for the matters they cannot control.

Make no mistake, they need a bit of luck to get back into title contention. They need Liverpool to show some signs of weakness and drop some unexpected points while also hoping City don't take advantage themselves.

It really is a tall order to be nine points off the leaders at this stage and win the Premier League but all they can do is try and accumulate as many points as possible and see where it takes them.