Mikel Arteta has been warned he will ‘cost’ Arsenal the Premier League title this season.
Arsenal, desperate to finally win the title after three successive second-place finishes, have made a bright start to the 2025-26 campaign.
The Gunners beat struggling Manchester United on the opening day before thrashing Premier League new-boys Leeds United 5-0 in their first home game of the season.
Arsenal suffered a disappointing and potentially costly 1-0 defeat to reigning champions Liverpool before the international break but at least returned to winning ways on Saturday, beating Ange Postecoglou’s Nottingham Forest 3-0.
Arteta’s side are joint-second with north London rivals Tottenham and Bournemouth after four games, three points behind early leaders Liverpool.
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Arsenal have made huge strides since Arteta took over in December 2019 but the former midfielder is yet to lead the Gunners to a Premier League trophy.
Sports broadcaster Richard Keys believes it is no coincidence that the title has evaded Arsenal and claims it is Arteta who will once again prevent the trophy from heading to the Emirates Stadium.
Keys says Arteta ‘got it badly wrong’ in the narrow defeat at Anfield and ‘got it wrong again’ in Arsenal’s win over Forest.
Pep Guardiola’s former Manchester City assistant opted to start the game with Declan Rice on the bench before the England midfielder came on for the final 25 minutes.
While Rice’s absence did not hinder Arsenal, who were already 3-0 up when he came on, Keys felt it was another mistake from Arteta that showed why he was incapable of leading the club to the title.
‘For me, the one thing that will cost Arsenal the title this year is Mikel Arteta,’ Keys said on beIN SPORTS.
‘He got it wrong at Liverpool, badly wrong. Got it wrong today for me. How many games has Declan Rice played? Rested.
‘Surely you put everything you’ve got into this early part of the season and say, “Go and get me a league, go and make a statement”.’
Arsenal summer signing Martin Zubimendi scored twice in the comfortable victory over Nottingham Forest, with fellow new addition Viktor Gyokeres also getting on the scoresheet.
Discussing his team’s performance, Arteta said: ‘We had quite a lot of uncertainties, the boys had been away for 10 days travelling the world, only one day to prepare the match with an early kick-off.
‘With those conditions, I think the boys did really well.
‘A lot of new relationships on the pitches and you can see how they will flourish. Three goals, a clean sheet, three points so, overall, very good.’
On the selection dilemmas he faces following Arsenal’s productive summer transfer window, Arteta added: ‘This is what we want.
‘When you look at other teams and the squads they have built, we all have the same. You want to be competing at the very highest level.
‘We’ve lost Kai [Havertz] already for three of four months, Bukayo [Saka] for a few weeks and you need replacements. In the Premier League, it is so tough.’
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