Four Games Which Cost Arsenal the 2023/24 Premier League Title

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On May 14th, the 2023/24 Premier League title race effectively came to an end when Manchester City defeated Tottenham Hotspur on enemy territory by two Erling Haaland goals to nil. Much had been made of the contest because Spurs are considered Arsenal's - the team that the Blues overthrew at the division's summit - biggest rivals. Did they want to beat Pep Guardiola's side and potentially help their nemesis win the title for the first time in two decades? Or would they roll over and fold?

Well, in the end, they gave it everything they had and were arguably the better team. But eventually, City's big-game experience and the sheer firepower of the Norwegian hitman were too much to handle. Some Spurs fans celebrated the defeat, something that manager Ange Postocoglu heavily criticized in his post-match interview, claiming that there were "fragile foundations" both "in and out" of the north London club.

The title race isn't yet over. At one point, sports odds offering Canada betting sites had pushed City out from -400 to -200 in their aim of winning the crown for a fourth straight campaign. Now, with just one game remaining, they are as short as -1100, while The Gunners are +00. But it wasn't in this crunch clash where the title was lost.

Throughout the course of the season, Arsenal has performed well against the big clubs, beating Manchester United home and away, beating Manchester City at home, and thumping Chelsea 5-0 at the Emirates. However, against the so-called lesser teams, they have slipped up. Here are the four fixtures which cost Mikel Arteta's side the Premier League title.

Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa

April 14th will go down as the day in which the title race firmly swung in Manchester City's favour. Heading into the weekend, The Blues were in third place and even if they won their two games in hand, they still would have needed both the Gunners and Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool to slip up in order to claim the title. In the end, exactly that happened, on the same day. The Reds were stunned at home to Crystal Palace, with Eberechi Eze netting the game's only goal. Then, all eyes were on the Emirates.

On a day when the North London side's destiny was firmly in their own hands, they faltered against an Aston Villa side who were aiming to secure Champions League qualification for the first time in their history. The Gunners dominated possession but found themselves undone by Villa's disciplined defensive structure and deadly counter-attacks. With the hosts looking for the winner deep into the second half, Leon Bailey netted for the visitors in the 83rd minute, before England striker Ollie Watkins sealed the victory three minutes later.

The result meant that Arsenal needed City to slip up in one of their remaining games for them to win the title. With just one game remaining, that hasn't happened just yet.

Fulham 2-1 Arsenal

The Gunners headed into the festive period as the runaway Premier League leaders. But after they fell apart throughout the latter stages of last season, many didn't believe that they would be able to keep up their winning ways. If they had done, the current title race would have surely had a different outcome.

The New Year's Eve clash at Craven Cottage was supposed to be a routine win against a Fulham side languishing in the lower half of the table. However, football is seldom predictable. The visitors took the lead through Bukayo Saka but failed to build on their advantage, allowing the Cottagers to net an equalizer on the half-hour mark through Mexican striker Raul Jimenez. A second-half winner from Bobby De Cordova-Reid, courtesy of a mistake from Aaron Ramsdale, completed the turnaround, sealing Arsenal's second shock defeat in three days.

Arsenal 0-2 West Ham

Just days before the calamitous defeat at Fulham, Arsenal hosted London rivals West Ham United in a match filled with controversy. David Moyes' Hammers executed a masterclass in defensive solidity and efficient counter-attacking football, similar to the one we would witness again at Craven Cottage days later. But it was set pieces that took their toll on a somewhat naive Gunners side.

Czech midfield dynamo Tomas Soucek opened the scoring in the first half, before former Arsenal academy product Konstantinos Mavropanos added a second early in the second half. Arsenal huffed and puffed for the three-quarters-of-an-hour that remained, but they were unable to find their way past a staunch Irons defence, allowing their neighbours to head back across London with all three points.

Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal

If there's one team that Arsenal can blame for their title aspirations going up in flames, it's Aston Villa. The Villans, managed by former Arsenal boss Unai Emery, have taken six points off Mikel Arteta's side this season, the first of which came back in December. A tightly contested match was decided by John McGinn's early goal, handing the West Midlands club their second 1-0 victory over a title contender in just a matter of days, after they knocked off Manchester City shortly prior.