Scholes Reckons Arsenal Could Be "Worst Team Ever" to Win the Premier League

Paul Scholes has thrown down a provocative marker, suggesting that should Arsenal land the Premier League crown under Mikel Arteta's stewardship, they'd represent the weakest attacking force ever to do so.

The Gunners suffered a gut-wrenching 3-2 reversal at Manchester United's hands on Sunday, with Matheus Cunha settling matters in the dying moments. That slip-up proved costly—Manchester City and Aston Villa, sitting second and third respectively, have now clawed back four points on the north Londoners.

The pressure cooker is heating up around the Emirates. Arteta has endured three consecutive runner-up finishes in the league despite lavish summer spending, and now his squad's offensive output is coming under intense scrutiny.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, the 11-time league winner from his Old Trafford days pulled no punches. "If Arsenal win the league, this could be the worst team to win the league," Scholes declared. "If you're picking your team of the season and selecting the front four, nobody from Arsenal gets in that."

He continued: "Look at previous champions—Liverpool's forwards were brilliant. Possibly the only one is Saka, and I don't think he's been brilliant. He's not scored many goals this year or assists."

Jamie Carragher, the former Liverpool stalwart now gracing Sky Sports' studios, backed up Scholes' line of thinking. He posed a rhetorical question that cuts to the heart of Arsenal's predicament: "When have you ever seen a team at the top of the table, who have been top by six or seven points, but if you were picking the best team of the Premier League so far, you wouldn't have one of their players in the front four?"

Carragher added: "That is not normal, that would never happen. The best team in the league would always have at least one, maybe two players [forwards], in the team of the season. Arsenal don't have that right now, and that plays into the fact that they don't have a genuine superstar at the top end of the pitch."

Gary Lineker, the former Tottenham striker turned pundit, struck a more measured tone on The Rest Is Football, though he too acknowledged the goal-scoring drought. "Arsenal, it's a little bit squeaky Arse-nal time," Lineker quipped. "It's too early for that—you've got a good lead. You're going to get little blips and Man City are also inconsistent at the moment."

He offered perspective on the wider landscape: "Villa are absolutely punching above their weight at the moment, they've got some really good players and they're a very good side. And then there's quite a gap. I still think Arsenal should be fine. You're going to lose the occasional football match because it's hard not to."

Yet the numbers tell a damning story. Lineker laid bare the attacking malaise: Bukayo Saka has drawn a blank in his last 13 games across all competitions. Viktor Gyokeres hasn't registered a non-penalty Premier League goal in 11 appearances. Gabriel Martinelli has gone 13 league matches without a goal. Noni Madueke hasn't scored in 25 Premier League outings. Leandro Trossard has managed just one goal in his last 11 appearances in all competitions.

Micah Richards voiced growing unease, noting: "I'm starting to get a little bit worried for Arsenal because I feel that they're playing quite defensively. I don't think this has just been the last couple of games, it's been the majority of the season. They've scored 13 goals from set pieces. The next top scorer is on five."

Lineker acknowledged other contributors—Eberechi Eze's hat-trick against Tottenham and defensive contributions elsewhere—but the fundamental issue remains stark: Arsenal simply don't have a consistent goalscorer operating at the elite level required of champions.