Arsenal remain in a tight Premier League title race after a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City at Etihad Stadium, where City stayed in touch and can move above Arsenal on goal difference by beating Burnley on Wednesday, leaving Martin Odegaard urging calm focus during what Arsenal view as the decisive stretch of the season.

Odegaard, returning from injury, stressed the need for unity and resilience in the dressing room, insisting belief must not dip despite the setback against direct rivals and a recent slide in domestic form that has brought pressure on Mikel Arteta’s squad with the final weeks of the campaign approaching.

Speaking after the loss in Manchester, the Arsenal captain set out a clear message for team-mates, saying: “Keep going, keep going. It’s always going to be going all the way to the end, so we have to keep going, keep working hard, and sticking together,” as Arsenal turn attention to a home match against Newcastle United before meeting Atletico Madrid in a Champions League semi-final first leg.

Despite the result, Arsenal produced more expected goals than Manchester City, with an xG of 1.62 compared to City’s 1.36, while Odegaard created a match-high four chances on return, showing Arsenal still fashioned opportunities even as the scoreline went against them in a fixture that carried major implications for the title picture.

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Arsenal’s defeat continued a difficult spell, as the side have now lost back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since December 2023, ending a five-match unbeaten sequence in league meetings with Manchester City that had contained two wins and three draws, and adding further scrutiny to recent domestic and cup performances.

Across all competitions, Arteta’s team have been beaten in four of the last six fixtures, with one win and one draw, a run that began with last month’s EFL Cup final against Manchester City, in marked contrast to the earlier part of the season when Arsenal lost only three of the first 49 games, posting 37 wins and nine draws.

That pattern of recent setbacks was underlined by Opta, which noted Arsenal’s fourth straight defeat in domestic league and cup action under Arteta, and the first such sequence for the club since March 2018, a previous run that also involved two losses to Manchester City.

Arsenal Premier League title odds and mentality

Even with that downturn, the Opta supercomputer model still rates Arsenal as favourites for the Premier League title, assigning a 73.1% chance to Arteta’s side and 26.9% to Manchester City, figures that help explain why Odegaard continues to stress optimism within the group during the final stretch of the league campaign.

Odegaard highlighted the need to reset quickly after the Etihad loss, saying: “Just look forward to the next game now and bounce back, and keep going. We created a few big, big chances there as well, so of course there are some positives to take – frustrating at the moment, but we’ll analyse it and move onto the next, you know – bounce back. It’s all to play for – and it’s the best part of the season. It’s all to play for, so we’ll just look forward to the next game now, and go from there.”

Arsenal now move into a crucial spell that starts with Newcastle United’s visit to Emirates Stadium and then shifts quickly to continental duties against Atletico Madrid, with domestic data, underlying metrics and external projections all suggesting the Premier League title remains within reach if performances sharpen and recent defeats are addressed.