Retaining the Crown: Why Arsenal Need a Fresh Blueprint to Stay on Top

Winning the Premier League was the target Arsenal pursued for years. Now comes a different challenge: doing it again.

Mikel Arteta’s side enters 2026/27 as reigning champions following an 85-point campaign and the club’s first league title in 22 years. Starting the campaign with a routine 3–0 dispatching of Coventry didn't exactly ring any alarm bells. Havertz, Saka, and Ødegaard all got on the scoresheet, making Arsenal look entirely at ease wearing the target on their backs.

However, a title defender rarely faces the exact same problems as the year before. Opponents have had an entire summer to study the champions.

Last Year’s Formula Won’t Be Enough Every Week

Arsenal’s path to the title was heavily built on control. Arteta’s side was difficult to play through, strong after the break, and adept at protecting leads. When taking a 1–0 lead, Arsenal averaged 2.73 points per game.

Set pieces were another major asset. Arsenal scored 19 goals from corners—more than any other team previously in a Premier League season. A massive 35 percent of the team's goals came from corners.

Those are fantastic numbers, but they also create a question moving forward: What happens when teams start defending those exact situations differently?

Arteta needs more routes to goal.

Low Blocks Will Be the Recurring Challenge

The champions will be met with respect. At the Emirates, this often means opponents who accept long periods without the ball and attempt to shut down the central space.

Coventry made an attempt on opening day, but Arsenal found alternative solutions. Overlaps and underlapping runs created movement around their defense, while Christos Tzolis gave the team a direct threat from the left, recording four shots and eight touches in the opponent's penalty area.

That kind of variation could become far more important than before.

Saka will still draw two defenders. Ødegaard will still want to find pockets of space on the right. But if the opposition knows where the next pass is going, Arsenal must be able to shift the attack elsewhere.

The Midfield Gives Arteta More Options

Go back a couple of years, and the 4-3-3 was basically set in stone. That rigid approach started shifting during their title run, though. Arteta actually rolled out a 4-2-3-1 in 14 league fixtures—a massive jump from the mere two times he used it the year before—mostly because letting Declan Rice tuck in next to Martin Zubimendi gave them a completely different shape.

Fast forward to now, and that battle for spots has gotten even tighter. Adding Bruno Guimarães into the fold alongside Myles Lewis-Skelly’s emergence in central areas gives Arteta serious tactical flexibility. He’s no longer forced to grind out the exact same central trio across a grueling 38-game calendar; he can finally tweak his engine room depending on who they're up against.

For those following odds and the BetMGM sports page, team lineups could be particularly interesting this season. A more offensive midfield combination against a low block creates a completely different match dynamic than a control-oriented setup against Manchester City or Liverpool.

Champions Status Alters Match Dynamics

There is a psychological shift as well. Last season, Arsenal were chasing something. Now, everyone else is chasing Arsenal.

Arteta himself seems aware of the trap. Ahead of the opening match, he refused to describe the task as "defending" the title. Instead, Arsenal were going to attack the next one.

Classic coach-speak on the surface, maybe, but he's completely right. As soon as a team starts playing defensively to protect past trophies instead of chasing the next one, they lose the edge that made them dangerous.

Evolving while keeping the foundation

It’s a tricky needle to thread: changing things up without ruining what already works. Arsenal don't need a total overhaul anyway—that press, structural control, and defensive solidity are precisely what got them over the finish line. At the same time, Arteta cannot rely on his 2025/26 solutions to keep surprising anyone.

The opening weekend provided a promising initial answer. Arsenal comfortably saw off their opponent 3–0, even having the luxury of pulling Ødegaard and Rice off early without their system missing a beat. That might just be the real evolution here: it isn't about blowing up the tactical blueprint, but building a roster flexible enough to shift gears week to week while keeping its soul intact.

Becoming champions required Arsenal to find a winning way to play. Retaining the crown may require several.