A statement victory: Arsenal end Aston Villa’s ten-game win streak in style to go five points clear at the top

Arsenal finish the calendar year as table toppers, but will they make it count? (Image credits – Heute, Licence Details)

Arsenal continue to march towards the Premier League title with a sensational 4-1 victory over title rivals Aston Villa. The Gunners are now five points clear of Manchester City, who have a game in hand against Sunderland.

Mikel Arteta’s men came strong in the second half as they netted four goals to crush Unai Emery’s side, who have caused some problems for Arteta's side recently. Villa were the better side in the first half, but Ollie Watkins missed a sitter to give his side an early lead.

Mikel Arteta's halftime talk worked wonders, as the Gunners looked a completely transformed side in the second half, as they bagged two goals just seven minutes into the second half.

Gabriel Magalhaes took advantage of an unfortunate parry from Emi Martinez from a set-piece situation to give Arsenal the lead. In-form midfielder Martin Zubimendi added the second with a beautiful finish assisted by Martin Odegaard.

Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus added the third and fourth goals, respectively, to secure a dominating home victory against their title rivals. Watkins did score a consolation goal late in injury time, but the damage had already been inflicted by the home side.

Villa were on an eight-game win streak in the Premier League, but Arsenal ended it and in style, as it's only the fourth time that a team with a win streak of eight or more games in the Premier League has had it ended by a defeat by three goals or more.

Emery’s side had more possession (54%) than Arsenal (46%), but the home side managed to secure an xG of 3.04, while the visitors managed 2.67, with most chances coming late in the second half, during injury time.

Can Arsenal finally bury the ghosts of the past and win the Premier League title this time?

Arsenal have been in this position before, back in 2023 when they were five points above Manchester City heading into the new year. However, the rest is history, and we know how the elephant slipped off the branch of the tree.

The Gunners have ended at the top of the table at the end of the calendar year on six occasions and won only once during the 2001-02 season.

As per Opta, 52% of the teams heading into the new year as table toppers end up winning the Premier League trophy. Before the Villa game, Arsenal struggled to beat Wolves, Brighton and Everton and looked far from convincing.

However, the result against an in-form Aston Villa side in such fashion showed clear intent from the Arsenal lads, who do not want to slip from this position like before.

Mikel Arteta's side have also ground out results this season from losing positions, which shows a clear shift in mentality from the previous seasons, and the fans are positive that the players will learn from their previous mistakes, not get nervous during this period and clinch the league title.

"We know how long this is going to be. It's been an incredible 2025,” said coach Mikel Arteta. (sic)

He further added, "We know what we want from 2026; we're going to have to earn it, and we're still a long way away." (sic)

Now that the defensive duo, William Saliba and Gabriel, are back together, this side looks more settled than ever at the back, and as we all know, attack wins you games, but a solid defence wins you titles.