Are Arsenal Genuine Contenders for the Premier League Title?

 Arsenal players, among them Mesut Özil, celebrate during their 3-1 victory over Leicester City on Monday. Unai Emery’s men have now won 10 successive games in all competitions. Photograph: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Arsenal players, among them Mesut Özil, celebrate during their 3-1 victory over Leicester City on Monday. Unai Emery’s men have now won 10 successive games in all competitions. Photograph: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
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Are Arsenal Genuine Contenders for the Premier League Title?

 Arsenal players, among them Mesut Özil, celebrate during their 3-1 victory over Leicester City on Monday. Unai Emery’s men have now won 10 successive games in all competitions. Photograph: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Arsenal players, among them Mesut Özil, celebrate during their 3-1 victory over Leicester City on Monday. Unai Emery’s men have now won 10 successive games in all competitions. Photograph: Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Defensive weaknesses remain a huge issue

The reasons for Arsenal’s improvement lie in greater organisation, harder running and midfielders who actually bother to put a tackle in. Complaints aimed at Arsène Wenger during the latter years of his tenure have been addressed; in Unai Emery, Arsenal appointed the technocrat that Wenger had long ceased to be. The Basque has created a foundation for Mesut Özil to weave his magic, and Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score goals. When fans sing of having their Arsenal “back” it is the beautiful football of Wenger’s peak era they are harking back to, and not yet the strident winning machine the team was at the start of this century. Arsenal’s weaknesses still lie in a defence that was sorely tested by Leicester in Monday’s first half. Emery lacks the quality of defenders that Liverpool and Manchester City boast. Champions League qualification would seem the limit of ambition for now. John Brewin

Much improved but still too flawed to go all the way

The football is thrilling, the spirit is invigorated, the crowd is united, but it still feels unlikely that, come the end of the season, any of Arsenal’s five captains will be lifting the Premier League trophy. These are heady days in the Unai Emery-era, with the second-half display against Leicester as good as it’s got so far under the 46-year-old, but there is a distinctly Liverpool 2013-14 feel about this Arsenal side in that it can score for fun, contains an enigmatic, attacking genius but remains notably flawed. Arsenal’s defence is not only paper-thin in terms of resources but also incredibly fragile, as seen during the first half against Leicester. Also, Emery’s men continue to start games poorly and against better teams that will surely cost them. All of which should not dampen the upbeat mood surrounding Arsenal – they appear reborn and, in Lucas Torreira, may have found the gnarly, canny midfielder lacking for so long under Wenger. A top-four finish looks increasingly possible. But the title? Not yet. Sachin Nakrani

Momentum could take on a life of its own

Let’s ignore the caveats for a moment (the defence, Manchester City) and accentuate the positives. When Arsenal attack, as they did in the second-half against Leicester, they reveal themselves to have the firepower of champions. In Lacazette and Aubameyang, they have two expert finishers (and to be cheeky for a moment, with Gabriel Jesus stalling in his development, do City?). In Henrikh Mikhitaryan, Aaron Ramsey and Özil they have creativity to match their rivals, too. Of course there’s a difference between having the talent and making best use of it, as Arsenal know all too well from recent years. But that’s the most striking aspect of the improvement so far under Emery – individual performance levels are rising. Keep it going and momentum might take on a life of its own. Arsenal’s next five fixtures are Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Wolves, Bournemouth and Tottenham. Paul MacInnes

Liverpool visit will provide a litmus test

Arsenal are certainly on an impressive run of form: 10 wins on the bounce, with 18 scored and three conceded in the last seven. There might be green shoots under Emery but this has been a relatively easy run of fixtures – just two of those wins came against teams in the top half of the Premier League. Against Watford and Leicester in particular Arsenal were defensively frail – they have conceded more shots on their goal this season (125) than Manchester City (55), Liverpool (78) or Chelsea (82). A sense of perspective remains key: Arsenal’s record against the so-called Big Six remains dreadful, with just one win in the past 12 matches. If Arsenal are to make the leap from last season’s sixth place to genuine title contenders, they must beat (or at least avoid defeat to) their title rivals. Liverpool’s visit on 3 November should be a good litmus test of how far this team has come under Emery, and how far they still have to go. Michael Butler

John Brewin, Sachin Nakrani, Paul MacInnes and Michael Butler



Verstappen Captures 4th F1 Championship after Mercedes Sweep of Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
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Verstappen Captures 4th F1 Championship after Mercedes Sweep of Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Max Verstappen cruised to a fourth consecutive Formula 1 championship on Saturday night by finishing fifth in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen needed only to finish ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren to give Red Bull a fourth straight driver championship. The Dutchman started fifth but was already up to second by the 10th lap around the street circuit that includes the famed Las Vegas Strip.
Norris, who had to score at least three points more than Verstappen to extend the championship fight, finished sixth. Verstappen needed only to finish higher than Norris to win the title, which he did with two races remaining on the season.
He ended the race up 63 points over Norris with two events remaining this season.
“Max Verstappen you are a four-time world champion," team principal Christian Horner said on the radio. "That is a phenomenal, phenomenal achievement. You can be incredibly proud of yourself as we are."
Verstappen, only the sixth driver in F1 history to win at least four titles, sounded unusually emotional on the radio.
“Oh My God, what a season. Four times. Thank you, thank you guys,” he said. “We gave it all.”
The race was won, meanwhile, by George Russell who was followed by Lewis Hamilton in the first 1-2 sweep for the Mercedes drivers since 2022. Hamilton came from 10th on the grid — two weeks after a demoralizing race in Brazil — to capture his podium finish.
The duo crossed the finish line under a checkered flag waved by actor Sylvester Stallone.
Carlos Sainz Jr. finished third for Ferrari as the constructor championship remains a tight battle between leader McLaren and Ferrari. Charles Leclerc, his teammate, was fourth. Red Bull had won the title that pays roughly $150 million in prize money the last two seasons but has slipped to third in the standings.
But that championship battle appears headed to next month's season finale in Abu Dhabi. McLaren has a 24-point lead over Ferrari headed into this weekend's race in Qatar after Norris and Oscar Piastri finished sixth and seventh in Las Vegas.
“Max deserved to win it. He drove a better season than I did, he deserved it more than anyone else,” Norris said. “Max just doesn't have a weakness. When he's got the best car, he dominates and when he's not got the best car, he's still just there always.”
Verstappen, meanwhile, made easy work of Norris after a season where the McLaren driver pushed him harder than he'd been challenged since Verstappen's first title in 2021.
“To stand here as a four-time world champion is something I never thought would be possible,” Verstappen told actor Terry Crews, who moderated the podium news conference held in front of the Bellagio's famed fountains.
“It was a very challenging season and I had to be calm. I think this season taught me a lot of lessons and we handled it well as a team, so that of course makes it a very special and beautiful season.”
Verstappen, who is 27, won 19 races last year. He opened this season on a tear but a long winless streak from June until Brazil two weeks ago has him with only eight wins, his fewest since 2020.
Verstappen asked at the Bellagio what time it was, noting he was in Las Vegas and “I'm very thirsty.” He had a champagne celebration awaiting him.
Race-winner Russell, meanwhile, said he’d be skipping his scheduled flight home to celebrate the victory with actor Crews. He also twice had to sit down on the podium to wipe champagne out of his eyes.
Verstappen was cruising in third with about 20 laps remaining and not overly pushing when Red Bull urged Verstappen to be patient over the team radio.
“Max, just don't lose sight of our aim today, yeah?” he was told.
Verstappen wasn't interested in receiving any instructions.
“Yeah, yeah. I'm doing my race,” he replied.
When he later saw the Ferrari drivers behind him, he asked for instructions because of the constructor championship implications.
"Do you want me to try to keep them behind or what?" Verstappen asked of Sainz and Leclerc.
"I think you should, yeah," Red Bull told Verstappen.
He couldn't hold them off but it made no difference as his season was dominant enough to match former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel as four-time champions for the organization.
This was the second year of the race after last year's debut was a bit of a disaster in that locals were livid for months over ongoing construction, as well as traffic detours and delays, the inability to access many local businesses, outrageous price gouging by the tourism industry as well as LVGP ticketing, and then a loose valve cover that nearly destroyed Sainz's Ferrari minutes into the first practice.
It caused an hours-long delay for repairs, fans were kicked out of the circuit, and F1 ran practice until 4 a.m. — when it legally had to reopen the streets to the public.
This year has been far less hectic, in part because all of the infrastructure headaches were a year ago, but also that last year's race was spectacular. Despite all its speed bumps, the actual running of the race was one of the best of the F1 season.
Russell started on the pole ahead of Sainz, who wanted redemption after the valve-cover fiasco last year. He had to serve a penalty because his car was damaged in the incident.
“I was hoping Vegas had something to offer me after last year, but I will take a podium," Sainz said. "I was looking at every manhole, avoiding them this time.”
The race is the final stop in the United States for F1, which has exploded in American popularity the last five years. The trio of races in Miami; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas are more than any other country.
After the race completion, F1 next week is expected to announce it will expand the grid to 11 teams to make room for an American team backed by General Motors' Cadillac brand. The team was initially started by Michael Andretti, who could not receive approval from F1 on his expansion application.
Andretti has since turned over his ownership stake to Indiana-businessman Dan Towriss and Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They would run the Cadillac F1 team that would likely join the grid in 2026.
The announcement of the American team did not come during the weekend to not derail from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which is the showpiece of the Liberty Media portfolio.
The race drew 306,000 fans over three days.