Liverpool pressure, Chelsea importance, Odegaard truth - Arsenal title verdict delivered

Arsenal's 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United has put their title bid in serious jeopardy already.

was just their second defeat across all competitions so far in 2024/25. It's a record which wouldn't normally create too much panic.

But knows all too well how little margin for error there is in a title race involving Manchester City. finished second with 89 points last term, just two off City.

A similar scenario materialised in the previous campaign when they ended up five points off 's side. So where does Arsenal's defeat in the north east leave their title bid? Our writers have had their say below...

Isaac Seelochan

Arsenal are not out of it yet, but they are perilously close. It's not just the points gap but the teams above and around them.

City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Chelsea are just some of the teams having good seasons. All four look more confident and less fatigued than Arteta's side currently do.

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There may be a genuine concern that Arsenal will find themselves in a top four battle come Christmas. Fifth could be good enough for a Champions League place, but there will be serious questions asked of Arteta if they fall away and don't win silverware this season.

Isaac Johnson

I think it's too early to say Arsenal are past the point of no return just yet, but these kinds of slip-ups tend to be costly come May. You can't win the title before Christmas, but you can lose it.

The concern is that the Gunners are not still winning games while playing poorly, whereas Manchester City and Liverpool are. This season, unlike previous years, key players are getting injured and the club are coming across as having a soft underbelly.

How Arsenal - no wins in three league games - respond to this period will define how soft that underbelly really is. This is a character-testing period for the Gunners, who have been accused of being 'bottlers' in the past.

These tough times are when fans will really see who they can count on amid the push for silverware. If you're title-worthy, these are the times to show up. Next Sunday's trip to Chelsea has suddenly become much more important.

Will Evans

Context is everything and Arsenal's current injury crisis coupled with their tough run and flurry of red cards is a huge reason they're slipping behind.

The Gunners have already faced Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Newcastle and Aston Villa. Dropping points against Brighton and Bournemouth at this stage is poor though even if they were a man down.

Their next game away to Chelsea will be a real indicator of how bad this current run is. The two sides were poles apart last season but the gap has narrowed significantly largely due to Enzo Maresca's impact at Stamford Bridge.

There's a long way to go, and I still expect Mikel Arteta's men to be in the race come April/May, but there's a good possibility they will succumb to the pressure again.

Kieran Horn

Mikel Arteta will certainly be concerned about how his Arsenal side have performed so far this season, but it is only November and plenty can change over the next six months. Firstly, it is absolutely worth pointing out that the Gunners have taken points off both Liverpool and Manchester City.

An eight point gap at this stage of the season is quite significant but as Arsenal know very well, that can disappear very quickly. As evidenced by City's defeat to Bournemouth and Liverpool dropping points at home to Nottingham Forest, shock results have already and will continue to occur.

The absence of Martin Odegaard has been a killer blow for Arteta and his return will be key in Arsenal getting back to their best. Perhaps the most worrying trend though is Arsenal's lack of clean sheets despite having strengthened the spine of their team over the summer.

However, there is no real need to overreact just yet especially as 84 points are still up for grabs and thus Arsenal are absolutely still in the title race.

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Matty Hewitt

Arsenal have a seven point gap to Liverpool at the top of the table - a sentence I certainly didn't think I'd be writing at this stage of the season. Sure, the Reds have a squad full to the brim of quality and still have members of their Premier League title winning squad to call upon, but after Jurgen Klopp's departure, I certainly didn't expect them to start this well.

There are plenty of factors and reasons why the Gunners are seven points adrift, and yet it felt like was going to be the year Arsenal gets their hands on the Premier League trophy. Injuries have been the biggest hinderance to Arteta's side this season, but the same can be said for Manchester City.

Arsenal will still be up there come the end of the season, but the defeat to Newcastle felt like they were off the boil and lacking ideas in the final third. Odegaard's absence has been a real blow and they need him back soon if they want to claw back at the deficit.

No title is won at the beginning of November, but with every disappointing result, Arsenal leave themselves needing an almost flawless run if Liverpool continue to pick up points. There's a long way to go, but there's also plenty of work to be done to get back to their imperious best.