Arsenal Perkasa in Puncak, Arteta Still Humble: Advantage Means Nothing

JAKARTA - Arsenal is getting stronger at the top of the 2025/26 English League standings after a convincing 3-0 win over Sunderland in London, Saturday.

The victory makes the Gunners now collecting 56 points from 25 matches and nine points ahead of closest competitors.

However, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta insists the lead has no bearing on the title race.

"(A nine-point advantage) means nothing. We still have to keep winning a lot of games to reach our target, so don't focus on that. That's another thing," Arteta said, quoted by ESPN, Sunday, February 8.

In another match on the same day, one of Arsenal's rivals, Aston Villa, failed to get the full points after being held to a draw by Bournemouth with a score of 1-1. The result puts Villa in third place with 47 points, the same number as Manchester City in second place.

Manchester City themselves still have one important game against Liverpool at Anfield, which could potentially put extra pressure on the English Premier League title race.

Arteta stressed that his team's main focus at the moment is not on the standings, but rather maintaining consistency in performance from one match to the next.

"We have completed the task, we have done what we had to do. Now let's evaluate, fix what needs to be fixed, and prepare for the match against Brentford," said the Spanish coach.

Arteta's cautious attitude is considered inseparable from Arsenal's bitter experience in the 2022/23 season. At that time, The Gunners were eight points ahead of Manchester City at the beginning of April, but eventually had to finish in second place with a five-point gap.

Arsenal last won the English League in the 2003/04 season under Arsene Wenger. In the last three seasons with Arteta, Arsenal always ended the competition as runners-up, so the coach's caution was seen as an effort to keep the team focused until the end of the season.