Mikel Arteta Reveals Arsenal’s Premier League Points Target — and It Would Set a New Club Record

The Gunners have finished second in each of the past three seasons, with points tallies of 74, 89 and 84.

Arsenal currently lead the Premier League table after 15 rounds of fixtures. They have 33 points at an average of 2.2 per game. That puts them on track to finish on 84 points, but Arteta does not expect that to be enough to finish first.

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal need more than 90 points to win the Premier League

Ahead of Saturday’s home game against Wolves, Arteta was asked if complacency might be an issue against a team that have lost eight straight matches and are on track to be the worst side in Premier League history.

But Arteta replied: “[There is that risk] in any Premier League match and especially against a team that is fighting for results. I know the manager well and how he will push his players. We know what we have to do.

“In the end you are going to have to get over 90 points to win it [the title], that means winning a lot of football matches.”

What is Arsenal’s current record points total?

The most points any Arsenal team have ever accumulated in a single top-flight league season is 90. That was achieved by Arsene Wenger’s class of 2003/04, who became known as “The Invincibles” after completing a full Premier League campaign without losing.

Arsenal won 26 games, drew 12 and lost none in that famous season, but Arteta clearly believes his team will need a much higher win percentage to win the title this term.

Do Arsenal really need more than 90 points to win the title?

Arteta is perhaps right to think that more than 90 points will be needed to clinch the title this season. Six of the last nine Premier League champions have finished with a points tally in excess of 90.

The last decade has seen the points totals for title-winning teams rise significantly. The average points total of a Premier League winner from 1992/93 until 2015/16 was just 85.8, despite the fact that the first three seasons featured 22 teams rather than 20, meaning there were more points available.

Since Leicester won the title with a modest 81 points in 2015/16, the average points tally of a Premier League champion over the past nine seasons has been 92.6.

The bar has clearly been raised in recent years. Only time will tell whether this Arsenal team — touted as potential quadruple winners — has what it takes to reach it and end a 22-year wait for a league title.