The five biggest reasons for the Arsenal collapse that threatens to ruin another Premier League title tilt.

The banner unfurled by Manchester City fans on the south stand of the Etihad Stadium on Sunday really did sum up the narrative nicely, "Panic on the streets on the London." After a devastating 2-1 defeat at the home of their Premier League title rivals, Arsenal are now just three points clear of Pep Guardiola's men - and having played one game more.

As a result, if City beat Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday, they'll go top of the table on goal difference, with five rounds of the season remaining.

It's a truly staggering state of affairs. Less than a month ago, Arsenal were 10 points clear after a 2-0 win over Everton that had the Emirates jumping. The fans understandably felt that an agonising 22-year championship drought was drawing to an end.

Now, though, the Gunners' long-suffering supporters are fearing yet another traumatising title-race capitulation, with Mikel Arteta's men having lost their last two league matches.

The great Guardiola

The fallout from Sunday's top-of-the-table clash at the Etihad has focused on Arsenal - and that's understandable. The narrative surrounding the Gunners is utterly compelling. We really could be looking at one of the biggest bottle jobs in football history. However, City are responsible for the vast majority of the pressure that Arsenal are now buckling under - and that needs to be recognised.

This is not a vintage Guardiola team. We know that from the way in which they were dumped out of the Champions League by a mediocre Real Madrid side coached by Alvaro Arbeloa. City have also lost five league games this season - an unthinkable tally back when they were competing for titles with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.

However, City haven't suffered a domestic defeat since being beaten with alarming ease by local rivals Manchester United all the way back in January. Consequently, they're now closing in on a domestic treble - which is just further testament to Guardiola's greatness.

The Catalan has been given a massive helping hand by the club's owners, who made two season-changing acquisitions in Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo, but Guardiola also deserves immense credit for improving Abdukodir Khusanov, putting his faith in Nico O'Reilly, belatedly embracing the maverick genius of Rayan Cherki and, perhaps most importantly of all for a coach accused of overthinking things, figuring out his strongest starting line-up - and sticking with it.

As a result, a pretty settled City side that could have easily folded after back-to-back draws with Nottingham Forest and West Ham in March is now playing its best football of the season, as underlined by four consecutive statement wins in all competitions: two over Arsenal, and one apiece over Liverpool and Chelsea.

Basically, while City are rising to the challenge, Arsenal appear to be overwhelmed by it.

Weight of history

Arsenal's anxiety is understandable. The club hasn't won the title since 2004 - but this was meant to be their season.

While Liverpool were the defending champions and generated the most headlines during the summer transfer window with their £450 million outlay, Arsenal actually ended up with the higher net spend, and the common consensus was that Arteta was in possession of the deepest pool of talent in England.

Theo Walcott even went so far as to question whether the Manchester United team that won the league and Champions League in 2008 could "compete" with Arteta's side, while Piers Morgan claimed Arsenal could win the quadruple because they had "the best squad in the history of world club football".

Such talk may have been ridiculous, but it was indicative of the unhelpful levels of hype surrounding the Gunners, who weren't just expected to end a title drought, but to also make history in the process. However, the more than £1 billion spent on players since Arteta's appointment undeniably made the winning of at least one major honour absolutely imperative.

As legendary full-back Nigel Winterburn told GOAL in November, "I don’t think there have been any excuses from Arteta and the club. If you want to look at it ruthlessly over the last three seasons, we just haven’t been quite good enough.

"But I believe this is the strongest squad that Arsenal have ever had at the Emirates - in terms of its depth. The players that we have added to the squad this season gives me huge belief that we will be very, very difficult to beat."

And they were, at least up until a month ago. Before March 22, Arsenal had lost just three of 49 games in all competitions. They've since lost four of the past six - and it's not actually that surprising that it was a 2-0 defeat by City at Wembley that sent them spiralling.

The Carabao Cup final represented a chance for Arteta's Arsenal to win their first trophy since the 2019 FA Cup and, more importantly, send a message to a team that had twice overhauled them in the home stretch of title races. Instead, they were played off the pitch, which only raised further questions over the quality of their coach and the character of their players.

Running on empty

Arsenal have unquestionably been affected by injuries at a most inopportune time, with Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber and Mikel Merino all presently out of action. Saka's third absence of the season is obviously a big blow, given the right winger is the Gunners 'starboy', so often their most incisive attacker.

Timber, however, has become a hugely influential figure from full-back this season, while Merino's unavailability reduced Arteta's options in midfield - and that's become increasingly consequential, with Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi looking exhausted of late. Indeed, there is a feeling among the fans that fatigue is the biggest factor in Arsenal's late-season wobble, with the engine room no longer operating at full throttle.

Arteta has argued that Arsenal are the only English side left in the Champions League because the Premier League "and this schedule takes the hell out of you". However, the manager has also faced allegations of failing to adequately rotate his players, so as to negate the risk of tiredness - and also injuries, in the cases of Timber and Saka - at the business end of the season.

The good thing is that Arsenal have never really been short on options in attack, but Arteta clearly doesn't feel that former Brentford captain Christian Norgaard is good enough to start on a more regular basis, and he now risks paying a very heavy price for running Rice and Zubimendi into the ground.

GOAL