Arsenal have completed first step for £44m cash injection as Premier League title omens explored

Arsenal are confirmed to spend Christmas at the top of the Premier League table once again following a set of perfect results on Friday and Saturday

For the second season in a row, Arsenal will be top of the Premier League table at Christmas.

With Aston Villa being held at home by Sheffield United on Friday, it means the Gunners just had to avoid defeat against Liverpool less than 24 hours later to ensure they could not be leapfrogged until Tuesday at the very earliest and the required result was achieved as the two teams played out a 1-1 draw at Anfield.

As normal service has resumed this season, Arsenal have had to wait a little while longer to confirm their place at the top of the tree, but their stay may only be shortlived as Villa and the Reds both play before they welcome West Ham United to the Emirates Stadium on Thursday evening.

Nevertheless, the incentive to lead the way at Christmas was always simple. In 10 of the last 14 seasons, the team that is number one in the table in English football's top-flight on December 25 has gone on to be crowned Premier League champions. By earning a point on Merseyside, the north London outfit have completed the first step.

However, a potential issue for Arsenal is that this was the case a year ago and ultimately they couldn't press home their advantage during the second half of the 2022/23 campaign as they lost out to Manchester City in the end. Although,Mikel Artetabelieves his side are more resilient this time around.

"We have the experience of being where we are today," he said in the post-match press conference. "We should be really happy because that shows a lot of consistency among this new group to do it in the biggest league in the world. But that’s it, we are where we want to be right now - both in the Premier League and the Champions League. We all deserve a beautiful dinner with our families tomorrow, but then we are back on it because West Ham is going to be very tough again."

READ MORE: What Arteta did after Zinchenko error vs Liverpool speaks volumes on Arsenal defensive plan

READ MORE: Arsenal player ratings vs Liverpool as Rice and Gabriel superb but Martinelli and Zinchenko poor

The challenge for the Gunners is to maintain this level of consistency between now and May as winning the Premier League would not only come with UEFA Champions League qualification but potentially a £44million cash injection - if last season's prize money is any indication.

However, not all omens regarding being top at Christmas are in Arsenal's favour. In fact, they have led the way at the festive period on six separate occasions in their history but have never gone on to claim the title. Of course, this was their fate as recently as last season.

Another problem is that in 15 of the Premier League's 31 previous campaigns, the Christmas leaders have been overtaken come the season's end, and interestingly, in the 2020/21 season, Man City became the first team in the competition's history to win the title after being as low as eighth on Christmas Day.

The fact that Man City have very recent experience of not being top at Christmas but still overtaking the leaders come May as well as history not exactly favouring Arsenal, simply highlights the size of the task facing Arteta as he attempts to wrestle the Premier League trophy away from the Etihad Stadium.

football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel

Want to keep up to date with the breaking and important Arsenal stories whilst on the move? Well now you can!

Click this link to follow the football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel, where you'll be kept up to date on the latest Gunners news wherever you are.

Just remember to turn on the notifications once you've followed, and you won't miss a beat!