No team has ever won the Premier League without a player finishing in the top 10 goal scorers, but Arsenal may be about to rewrite history.
The Gunners have been in superb form this season, suffering just two defeats in all competitions and sitting six points clear at the top of the Premier League table. They also boast a 100% record in the Champions League group stage and have reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup as well as the FA Cup fourth round.
But their title challenge is unusual in one key way: they lack a prolific striker.
Only Manchester City have scored more league goals than Arsenal’s 40 this season, yet none of Mikel Arteta’s players are among the top 20 goalscorers in the division. Leandro Trossard and summer signing Viktor Gyökeres are joint-top scorers for Arsenal in the league with five goals each, placing them 21st in the charts.
Gyökeres, signed for £64m from Sporting Lisbon, arrived with a reputation for scoring, netting 97 times in 102 games for the Portuguese side. However, he has struggled to replicate that form in north London.
The 27-year-old Swede has managed just one goal from open play in his last 15 games and looked short of confidence in the recent draw against Liverpool, where he had only eight touches and failed to register a single shot.
Despite this, Arsenal have found goals from across the pitch, with several midfielders and defenders contributing. Their fluid, high-pressing system has made them one of the most difficult teams to break down, and break through.
Arsenal last won the Premier League in 2004 under Arsène Wenger and have not lifted a major trophy since the FA Cup in 2020, Arteta’s debut season in charge. Now, they are favourites for the title once again.
Should they succeed, it would not only end a two-decade wait but also prove that team cohesion and tactical brilliance can outweigh the need for an individual goalscoring star.
