The 2023/24 Premier League season ended in heartbreak for Arsenal, who despite their stellar performance, failed to clinch the title.
The Gunners matched Manchester City’s league-winning 89 points from the previous season but fell short due to goal difference.
Arsenal, under Mikel Arteta, concluded the season level on points with Pep Guardiola’s side.
Both teams finished with 89 points, but Arsenal’s 65 goals conceded, compared to City’s 34, made the difference.
The Gunners scored 91 goals, conceded 29, and boasted the league’s best defense with 18 clean sheets, surpassing both Everton and City, who each had 13.
Arteta’s squad won 28 out of 38 matches, surpassing the average number of wins needed to secure the title.
Their goal-scoring prowess saw them net an average of 2.9 goals per game, against the typical 2.2 goals per game needed by an average Premier League winner.
Despite having the third-youngest squad in the league, analysts at OptaJoe have argued that Arsenal were the best team this season.
However, their efforts yielded no major trophies as they finished second in the Premier League, crashed out in the third round of the FA Cup, exited the Carabao Cup in the fourth round, and were eliminated by Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
Arsenal dominated the ‘big six’ mini-league, securing 22 points from their 10 games against Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea.
This included a double over United and four points each from City, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Chelsea.
In 20 of the 31 seasons before 2023-24, tallying 89 points would have secured the Premier League title.
Unfortunately, a home defeat to Aston Villa handed City a two-point lead, which ultimately decided the championship.
Arsenal’s near miss underscores their prolonged trophy drought, now spanning two decades, earning them the moniker “Bottlers FC.” In light of this, Nigerianewstoday.com examines footballers who departed Arsenal and subsequently won domestic and European trophies.
Former Arsenal Players Who Found Success Elsewhere:
Granit Xhaka: Left Arsenal in 2023 and won the league with Bayer Leverkusen in 2024.
Cesc Fabregas: Departed in 2011 and won La Liga with Barcelona (2012–13) and two EPL titles with Chelsea (2014–15, 2016–17).
Robin Van Persie: Left in 2012, won the EPL title with Manchester United in his first season (2013), and secured his second consecutive Premier League Golden Boot.
Mathieu Flamini: Left in 2008, won Serie A with AC Milan in the 2010/11 season.
Samir Nasri: Departed in 2011, won two EPL titles with Manchester City (2011/12 and 2013/14).
Gael Clichy: Won two EPL titles with City (2011/12 and 2013/14) after leaving Arsenal in 2011. He was part of Arsenal’s Invincibles squad of 2003/04.
Patrick Vieira: Captained Arsenal’s 2003-04 Invincibles. Post-Arsenal, he won four consecutive Serie A titles with Inter Milan from 2006–07 to 2009–10.
Ashley Cole: Won two EPL titles with Arsenal (2001/02 & 2003/04) and added another with Chelsea (2009/10).
Thierry Henry: Left in 2007 for Barcelona, winning two La Liga titles (2008–09, 2009–10) and the Champions League.
Aleksander Hleb: Left in 2008, won La Liga with Barcelona in 2008–09, and was part of the Birmingham side that defeated Arsenal in the 2010–11 League Cup final.
Kolo Toure: Another Invincible, won his second EPL title with Manchester City in 2011/12 and the Scottish Premiership with Celtic in 2016–17.
Other notable mentions include Emmanuel Adebayor, who won the Copa Del Rey with Real Madrid, and Saed Kolasinac, who won the Europa League with Atalanta.
