You know how you wait for a bus and then three turn up at once?
Arsenal could have a similar vibe this season. Having not won any silverware since 2020, as many as four trophies could turn up in 2026 as Mikel Arteta’s men have given themselves a shot in all three domestic competitions and have just breezed through the league stage of the Champions League, to boot.
Admittedly, the FA Cup is still in its early stages. But Arsenal sit atop the Premier League by six points and have booked their place in the Carabao Cup final thanks to Tuesday night’s victory over Chelsea. It’s been six years since they’ve even reached a final, so it’s OK to let their fans dream for now, right?
They probably won’t win the quadruple. Mainly because, well, no one really has. Jock Stein’s Lisbon Lions are the standard bearers here and achieved the feat in 1966-67 — we’re talking a classic quadruple here, none of this Community Shield, Super Cup nonsense. But maybe that’s not the point. As Phil Hay writes in this morning’s edition of The Athletic FC: ‘An observation from looking across the four competitions Arsenal are competing in is that nobody else looks more like winning them… Arteta’s Arsenal are a machine.’
Arsenal are one step closer to a trophy after securing their place in the League Cup final (Adrian Dennis / AFP via Getty Images)
And that’s the point. Taken individually, they are favourites to win each competition they are entered into. Now, football doesn’t work like that (and as Phil, goes on to write: ‘Let’s cut to the chase: they won’t win a quadruple, because nobody wins a quadruple’), but it is a testament to the level that they are playing at right now.
One thing that goes perhaps underestimated is the sheer number of games required to win a quadruple. By my count, they’d be in for a 65-game season across all four competitions, and to maintain perfection across that volume of games is unheard of; even Celtic played fewer than 60 games in a much less physically demanding era of football. Celtic truthers; I’m sorry, please don’t come at me.
Contrast that marathon season with Manchester United, who are staring down the barrel of the opposite end of the spectrum (does a spectrum have a barrel? Can you stare down a spectrum? Probably not.) and their lack of success means they’ll play 40 games this season. 25 extra games is an obscene amount more.
Arsenal’s squad depth has certainly been tested this season and overall they’ve survived. Mikel Arteta moaned (when does he not?) about the Premier League’s scheduling in December as his squad was ravaged by injury, at a time they played seven times in 20 days. Kai Havertz is back and looking good but Mikel Merino is out and there are doubts about Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, too.
It’s all part of the ebb and flow of a regular season and Arsenal are not particularly more injured than any other team in the league according to Premier Injuries. But for something as immaculate as a quadruple, they’ll need injuries to lessen, especially to key players, soon.
The FA Cup has the longest to run, with fourth-round fixtures getting underway this month. Arsenal face Wigan in a tie you’d expect them to win. There’s (potentially) another seven Champions League games to go but they have stacked the deck as best they can by finishing top and not only skipping the play-off stage, but guaranteeing themselves home second-leg ties up to the semi-finals.
The Premier League is an altogether different beast and Arsenal bear the scars of three successive second-place finishes. But, having survived a wobble in form, they look to be back to their best. Victory over Leeds before the Carabao Cup semi-final win has reasserted their six-point margin at the top and, with 14 games to go and with Manchester City looking far from their inevitable best, things are looking good. Fundamentally, they have kept the most clean sheets (12) in the Premier League this season and have by far the highest xG differential, which points to a team defending well and scoring goals, even if they’re not exactly winning style points right now. Either way, it’s a recipe for success.
With history against them and the nature of the task in general, it is perhaps surprising that they are ‘only’ 20/1 to do the impossible. The likelihood of the quadruple happening is rated by Betfair’s computations at 5%, which doesn’t tally with what is, relatively, a short price. Worth a punt perhaps but don’t hold your breath on it coming in.
A Premier League and League Cup double is 8/11 and seems the safest look — not that anything involving the words ‘Arsenal’ and ‘trophy’ are a sure thing. You can find the full list of odds and variations below.
Arsenal celebrate winning the FA Cup in 2020 – their last piece of silverware to date (Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
In James McNicholas’ wonderful post-match piece after the win over Chelsea, he wrote about the belief coursing through the team right now.
‘This club have waited six years to reach a men’s final again. Along the way, there have been four semi-final failures. But this is a different Arsenal — an Arsenal who believe that their time is now.’
He’s writing about the League Cup but that feeling runs deeper, across all competitions and every match they play. Only time will tell if their time to make history is now, but they are in with a chance and that’s all the need right now.
Selected Arsenal trophy odds*:
Premier League – 2/13 (F)
FA Cup 7/2 (F)
Champions League – 10/3 (F)
League Cup – 4/5 (F)
PL & League Cup – 8/11
PL & FA Cup – 3/1
FA Cup & League Cup – 9/2
FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League – 19/1
Quadruple – 20/1
*Odds provided by Betfair, accurate as of February 4.