Why Arsenal can win both the Premier League AND Champions League this season – and the tactical tweak Mikel Arteta made for wins over Spurs and Bayern Munich that will leave their rivals in fear

The evidence explaining why Arsenal should position themselves as capable of achieving a national and European double this season, which occurred three days last week.

Not for who they beat, Tottenham and Bayern Munich, but for how they did it. Spurs were dismantled and Bayern – the man-for-man machine tuned by Vincent Kompany – was shaken, leading to mild accusations from Joshua Kimmich regarding set-pieces and long balls.

They were two separate plans to overcome very different opposition – 57 per cent of the ball last Sunday, 40 per cent on Wednesday – and indicated a flexibility that Mikel Arteta was not exactly renowned for during his six years in charge. It is for this, as well as significant investments in the transfer market, that Arsenal will be feared across the continent.

They have the tools to become the fourth club in England to win the league and the European Cup in the same season. The other three are the North West giants, all of whom are currently watching with envy.

The way Arteta fought his way through this week bore some resemblance to Pep Guardiola, whose more pragmatic tendencies have often been overlooked during his decade here.

But having seen City complete the treble two years ago, that’s where the similarities end for now – largely because Arsenal have hit the ground running. The misconception around City was that they had won league titles, but the reality is somewhat different. The mind often plays tricks with the audience’s memory.

Mikel Arteta should believe Arsenal can win the Premier League and Champions League

The Gunners are rampant and showed their tactical flexibility last week

It is exceptionally rare for City to be six points ahead at the end of November. The only time was during the Centurions’ record-breaking 2017-18 campaign and they have only led the way once in the last six seasons at this stage (Guardiola’s all-time numbers: -1, +8, +2, -9, -3, -3, -1, +1, -8, -7).

Of Guardiola’s 10 years, only three of them saw City take the lead after 12 matches. In the year of the treble, they were a point behind Arsenal and with a home defeat to Brentford to absorb. Only two of their titles were blowout jobs, but one of them, 2020-21, saw them seventh and three points behind. They ended up winning by 12 points, the first of four straight crowns.

You never really saw it coming with City and only once was a successful campaign truly telegraphed before Christmas, even though Liverpool knocked them out of the Champions League en route to the final. This should serve as a warning to Arsenal, as plundering the league does not necessarily translate to Europe.

The pundits never seemed to learn with City. Social media trash-talkers and loud radio stations always rushed to proclaim that this was the year everything was going to fall apart. False dawns for the chasing pack until 2024, when injuries mounted and desire evaporated.

Before that and amid damaging defeats, there was always a calm around Guardiola that they would start rolling and this title win in 2021 came down to 15 straight wins. It is perhaps no coincidence that they reached a first Champions League final at the end of this season.

Getting past a Borussia Dortmund side featuring Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland, sweeping aside Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final, is what momentum generated by league form does for you and what City have always traded on.

Arteta’s task is to keep going, to find new ways to tick off matches relentlessly, and it doesn’t look like it will be particularly easy from this far away.

But they should heed the warnings from City and Liverpool – who have both crashed out in Europe despite fleeing the Premier League.

They have been in dominant situations before and given up, and there is also a lack of winning experience. This will be at the forefront of Arteta’s concerns and it would be strange if it wasn’t.

Championship stumbles seem less likely this time around, however, with more determination and more quality in the team. Logic suggests that shouldn’t happen and they should end the long wait for league glory – 22 years, their longest title drought since their first in 1931.

Whether that translates to Europe is another matter entirely, even after investing in the tools needed to reach heights that few have managed to achieve. The difficulties and obstacles that lie ahead only illustrate the monumental achievements of Liverpool, Manchester United and City.