Mikel Arteta has urged his Arsenal players to end their New Year’s Day curse and push on for a first Premier League crown in 22 years.
Arsenal have fallen short of winning the league on the last five occasions they ended a calendar year at the top of the standings — in 2003, 2008, 2014, 2016 and 2023. Although they lifted the title in 2004, the 2022–23 season saw the north London side lead the table for 248 days before Manchester City overtook them with six matches remaining.
As 2026 begins, however, the Gunners sit four points clear after City were held to a draw by Sunderland on Thursday.
Reacting to the statistic, Arteta said: “Let’s break it.
“That’s what they show every single day in training and in every match.
“You can see the hunger. You can see the energy they put in and how badly they want it. That’s what we need. There are still five months to go, so we have to take it one day at a time.
“Enjoy the journey of being where we are and go for it.”
Elsewhere, Arsenal are concerned about Declan Rice’s knee injury ahead of Saturday’s league clash with Bournemouth.
The midfielder picked up the problem during last weekend’s 2–1 victory over Brighton and, while he was with the squad for the midweek 4–1 win against Aston Villa, he was not named on the bench.
Arteta said: “Well, not yet (the swelling hasn’t gone down), and we have another session today. We’ll see how he feels after that, but it was too soon for him in that game.”
Asked whether Rice should have been withdrawn against Brighton, he added: “No, no, no. He was able to continue. That can happen sometimes.
“You take a knock and, with adrenaline and being warm during the game, you manage to get through it. Then the body reacts, and it probably reacted more than we expected, unfortunately. That’s the situation we’re in now.”
