Odegaard return vital, Liverpool nine-point lead - Is Arsenal's Premier League title race over?

It has been a difficult run of form for Arsenal, make no mistake about it. In the last four Premier League games, they've dropped 10 points - throw in a Champions League defeat to Inter and it's been a far-from typical month for Mikel Arteta's side.

The international break brings with it a pause and hopefully the chance to welcome back some fresh stars ready for a mammoth run of games over the festive period, with the Gunners leaving London just once before the end of December - a Champions League clash against Sporting in Lisbon.

Arteta and his side will be hoping to make up some ground over that run of games, but already face a big gap to overcome, with Liverpool extending their lead over the Gunners to nine points this weekend, and Manchester City's loss opening up a five-point gap at the top of the table.

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While a nine-point gap will be tough to overcome, it is certainly doable. But with Arsenal's current run of form, it's difficult to see happening unless things change quickly.

So, is Arsenal's run for the 2024/25 Premier League title already over? football.london writers decide below...

Lee Wilmot

Can Arsenal still win the Premier League title? Of course they can. Is it going to be extremely difficult? Oh yes.

No one expected Liverpool to start the season like this, least of all me. With Arne Slot coming in, I envisaged a period of transition, stabilisation. But the squad at Anfield is strong and good players will respond to good managers.

Arsenal being nine points behind the Reds is a big comeback. If it was nine behind Manchester City at this stage of the season, I'd be ruling them out completely.

City are so good at the end of the season - a relentless, ruthless machine. So keeping in touch with them is going to be key. Liverpool will slip up somewhere along the line, it's whether or not the Gunners can position themselves to capitalise.

There is still a long way to go and Arsenal will feel they can claw it back, but two points from the last four matches is not good enough and it may be a defining run that Mikel Arteta and his players look back on and rue.

Joe Doyle

I don't think Arsenal are going to win the league. But then I didn't think that at the start of the season, either. I have been slightly surprised by Man City's poor run of form, and Liverpool have adapted to Arne Slot's arrival near-perfectly - even with a number of injury issues.

I think what the Gunners do have going for them is time. There's still more than six months to go before the Premier League winners are crowned, and that leaves plenty of scope to turn things round. But I'm not sure they're going to be 10 points better than Liverpool across the rest of the season, even if they now have Martin Odegaard back fit after nearly two months out.

With the serious injury to Rodri at Man City, it's currently perfectly poised for Liverpool; they just have to make sure they don't bottle it.

Kaya Kaynak

The short answer to this is no. I think you readers will want a slightly longer one though...

It has felt since the last international break that Arsenal were running out of chances to drop points. They have in each of their last four games though and now sit nine points off Liverpool.

Still you have to look at what they've had to deal with. For the first time in a while Mikel Arteta has lost one of his key players for a prolonged period in Martin Odegaard, and nearly every other player in the squad has had a niggle at one point or another.

You could probably get away with that if Arsenal had a nice run of fixtures. Fate has not been so kind, though. By the time they play Nottingham Forest after the coming international break, they'll have played all of the top 10 except for Fulham in their opening 12 games.

In their games against bottom half opponents - Leicester, Southampton and Wolves - Arsenal have picked up maximum points. With a slightly kinder December fixture list coming up they'll back themselves to start making up ground quickly.

Arsenal need to go on a run now, and Arteta will take heart in the fact they've done that before. Liverpool will drop points across the course of the season and the Gunners need to be ready to pounce. It's not over - for now, at least.

Amie Wilson

If football has taught us anything over the years it’s never say never. While I think it’s now a really hard task for Arsenal to claw back Liverpool’s advantage it’s not something that I’m completely writing off just yet.

Man City’s faltering form has helped Arsenal, in terms of keeping them closer - it would have been significantly harder if two teams opened up the gap that Liverpool have.

Arne Slot deserves praise for his work so far at Anfield, but it is his first season in the Premier League, Arsenal will have to hope that that inexperience tells as the campaign goes on. A couple of bad results for Liverpool for Arsenal to take advantage of and then the Reds will be looking over their shoulders.

The problem for Arsenal is that they are already relying on other results going their way, which is not a position that they want to find themselves in. While there is a long way to go, there is now an ever-growing mountain in front of Mikel Arteta’s side.

Sam Truelove

We are only 11 games into the 2024/25 Premier League season so to say Arsenal are out of the title race is a little premature. The Gunners have one of the best squads in the league and, with 27 games remaining, it's all to play for.

Liverpool are a really good side but they will drop points. I can't see Manchester City winning all of their remaining games, either, so Arsenal just need to just keep plugging away. The next six weeks will be vital, though, as if Mikel Arteta's side can get to Christmas and be in and around it, they will fancy their chances.

If Arsenal are still amongst it after Christmas, they may need to dip into the transfer market in January, just to add some extra quality and competition. A wide forward or a striker will be a welcome addition, but whether they can find a player willing to move in the winter window, and for a decent price, is another matter.

Arsenal have Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Manchester United in their next three league fixtures. You wouldn't be surprised if they come out of those games with three victories.