Arsenal have won just twice in their previous seven games, while Manchester City has risen to the top with straight victories. Manchester City have their league.

This season, Arsenal has held the top spot in the Premier League for 248 days. Seatsnet recorded all-time high sales for the Gunners’ games this season. No team has ever taken the lead for so long without winning praise, but their title defence suddenly seems to be in jeopardy.

After a devastating 3-0 home loss to Brighton, Mikel Arteta’s team finds four points behind treble-chasing Manchester City despite having played one more game.

Three points from their last three games will be enough for City to guarantee to become just the second club in English Premier League history to complete a three-peat.

Given that Pep Guardiola’s team has won 11 straight league games, they’ll win it all against Chelsea next Sunday, extending Arsenal’s title drought to 20 years. On Seatsnet, every ticket for the Chelsea versus City game has already been claimed.

Where, therefore, did everything go wrong for Arsenal?

Last year at this time, Arsenal was going through the same type of heartache. Though not quite as unbearable as this, the season still ended in agony.

With consecutive losses at Tottenham and Newcastle, their attempt to end a five-year absence from the Champions League ended. St. Totteringham’s Day was postponed for another year as Spurs beat Arsenal to fourth place. Arteta’s younger side had been in control, but they couldn’t hang on long enough to succeed.

Sounds recognisable? You might draw the unfair inference that Arsenal tends to capitulate, bottle it, or implode, depending on how you view the last two seasons.

Arsenal did blow a previously held eight-point advantage. Additionally, they have lost 11 points in their last seven contests. However, City has won 11 straight games and has Guardiola.

Think about the advancements made at the Emirates in just a year. They might end the year 18 points better off than the year before after nearly outlasting one of the best-ever squads in Premier League history.

The fact that Arteta is accomplishing this with the second-youngest club in the division—only Southampton’s has been younger, and look what happened to them—makes it all the more astounding. This is not the tale of a team that lost its one chance at greatness and is now doomed to carry the stigma of the opportunity lost.

This is only the start.

Since a while ago, Arsenal’s ‘bottling’ has been a topic of discussion at the Emirates Stadium, first foreshadowing and then explaining their defeat in the title battle.

They are still on track to reach 85 points this season, a record total since the 2003–2004 Invincibles season. Since 2005, they haven’t surpassed the 80-point mark, and just once in the past five years have they reached 70. Arsenal may finish the season 18 points ahead of last year’s total and far ahead of schedule in the title race.

Most people would concur that they overachieve. That will offer some consolation after the dust has settled, but it does nothing to lessen the disappointment of getting so close and failing to cross the finish line.

On the surface, Arsenal’s sneaky admission of Man City is a classic bottle job. In the first half of the English Premier League season, the Gunners only lost seven points, but 20 have already been lost in the second. Even on the level of a fan, ticket sales have been significantly lower on Seatsnet for the second half of the season. They broke under increasing pressure. Man City has done the opposite: taking charge of the title race by winning 13 of their last 14 games.

However, did Arteta’s team ever have the mental will to overcome Guardiola’s winning machine, eradicating years of mediocrity in just nine months beneath the headline numbers? Mark Bowden, a cognitive performance consultant working with several Premier League football players, believes it proved too much to ask in just one season.

Transfer Watch

Fabrizio Romano reports that Bayer Leverkusen and Arsenal are close to a deal for Granit Xhaka to be signed for €15 million (£13 million/$16.3 million).

El Nacional claims PSG and Bayern Munich are interested in getting Martin Odegaard away from Arsenal in the summer.

Odegaard has been the driving force for Arsenal this season, scoring 15 goals and dishing out eight assists. In addition to Bayern Munich and PSG, even Barcelona is watching the Arsenal captain.

If the Gunners were to make a bid for Barcelona winger Ansu Fati, El Nacional reports that the Catalans would want to swap the striker for Martin Odegaard of Arsenal.

As part of their efforts to reinforce their full-back department this summer, Arsenal has made touch with Galatasaray full-back Sacha Boey. In recent weeks, the Gunners have made Boey a target.

According to some rumours, the player has already chosen Arsenal as the side he wants to join the most.

Boey will reportedly be sold this summer, with the Turkish goliaths asking for roughly £10m for their prized asset, according to the Turkish source Aksam. Arsenal reportedly sees Boey as the ideal acquisition to increase the depth at full-back.

Arsenal is reportedly interested in signing Real Madrid defender Ferland Mendy in the summer, per Daily Mirror (via Fichajes).

According to the report, Arsenal is looking to strengthen the left side of their defence and will try to make a move for Mendy because Real Madrid wants to trade him.

The Portuguese sensation Joao Felix is eager to join a team competing in Europe as his season-long loan to Chelsea expires. Felix’s arrival at Stamford Bridge saw a spike in ticket revenue on Seatsnet; now Arsenal is one of the teams the Portugal international is interested in joining, according to Cadena Cope, if he wants to continue in the Premier League for the upcoming season.

Joao Cancelo unexpectedly left Manchester City in January and signed a loan deal with Bayern Munich. Under Pep Guardiola, he quickly left the Etihad after losing favour.

Although he has had difficulty securing a consistent starting position at the Allianz Arena since his arrival, new manager Thomas Tuchel is eager to sign him permanently. Bayern Munich is not likely to exercise their £62 million option to purchase him, but they may try to negotiate a lower price.

But according to recent sources, Cancelo, 28, is attracting interest from other parties besides the Bavarians. The Portuguese international is thought to have longtime admirers at Barcelona, and according to 90min, Arsenal has also entered the competition.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta thinks the Manchester City star would blend perfectly at the Emirates with his inverted full-back style.

Fichajes claims that Arsenal is keeping tabs on Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves and might make a summer transfer for him.

Neves’ contract with Wolves expires next year, and the article claims that in addition to Arsenal, their rivals Manchester United are also interested in signing him.

Aaron Ramsdale and Arsenal are nearing an agreement on a new long-term contract.

The club was eager to reward the 24-year-old custodian for his stellar performance in their surprising Premier League title run with a considerable rise from his present wage even though he only has 2 seasons remaining on his current deal.

Seatsnet continues to see a surge in sales of Arsenal tickets since the new season heroics of the Gunners. Hence, purchasing matchd ay tickets from official sellers could be tedious, and Seatsnet can help you authentically source reliable third-party tickets.