Mikel Arteta causes laughter in the press room with his ambitious points result for Arsenal
Mikel Arteta has joked that Arsenal will have to win every Premier League game next season to become champions.
The gunmen have fought Manchester City for the title in the last two seasons, but lost both times despite showing continued improvement.
Poor form in the latter part of the 2022/23 campaign saw Arsenal fall short before taking City to the final matchday in May, only to lose again.
They could very well be ready to face the reigning champions again this time, but Arteta He believes there is only one way to defeat them.
Asked at a press conference what Arsenal will need to do to overtake City and win the title, he said: “114 points, if we do that we win the league for sure.”
Martin Odegaard stood next to him and gave him a smile before Arteta himself began to laugh along with everyone else in the room.
“That is the objective and from there we will see where we get to, but today that has to be the objective, to win all the games,” he added.
“Earning the right to win and having more chances than the opponent to win the match. When we have difficulties, being better than the opponent is the team's goal.”
To earn 114 points, teams must win all 38 of their Premier League games in a season – a feat that, unsurprisingly, no other team has achieved before.
City and Liverpool currently share the record for most wins in a league campaign with 32, with the former doing so in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, and the latter reaching that mark in 2019/20.
Winning every game would require a monumental effort and it is highly unlikely that any team will ever achieve it.
Despite this, Arsenal know they still need to improve further if they are to win their first league title since 2004.
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Their pre-season began with a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Bournemouth following a 1-1 draw in the United States.
Arsenal face Premier League rivals Manchester United Saturday night (01:00am UK time on Sunday) before further friendly clashes against Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon.
The Gunners have made just one signing so far this summer, as David Raya completed a permanent move from Brentford following his loan spell.
However, it looks like they will soon announce the arrival of Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna in a £34m deal that will rise to £38m with add-ons.
Arsenal open the 2024/25 Premier League season at home to Wolves on August 17 and will be hoping to kick off a third successive title challenge.
