Will Arsenal go another trophy-less season under Mikel Arteta?

It marks another “almost” for Mikel Arteta’s men during his tenure. Despite reestablishing the club as a premier destination for world-class players, the Spanish manager only has one trophy in six seasons: the 2020 FA Cup.

Arsenal came painstakingly close to the Premier League title the past two seasons, finishing second both times. In agonizing fashion last season, the Gunners were top of the table until the last two games, losing to Manchester City by only two points.

The club is now knocked out of the two domestic cup competitions, the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, which it exited in January on penalties to Manchester United in the third round. That leaves the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League for Arsenal to avoid yet another disappointing, trophy-less season.

The Gunners sit second in the Premier League table after 24 games, six points behind Liverpool. The Reds, however, have a game in hand and show no signs of slowing down. They’ve lost once all season and refuse to drop points, unlike the Gunners.

The London side has eight draws to clubs like Fulham, Everton and Brighton. It also didn’t make a move for a clinical striker in the January transfer window despite center forward Kai Havertz ranking third in big chances missed this season.

Even though the squad can sometimes conjure up a flurry of goals, as it showed last Premier League outing in a 5-1 drubbing of Manchester City, the lack of season-long reliability up top could keep it from catching Liverpool and Golden Boot leader Mohamed Salah.

Likely Arsenal’s best chance for a trophy this season is in the Champions League. The Gunners have been close with Arteta in European competition. They were knocked out of the semifinals of the Europa League in 2021 and the quarterfinals of the Champions League last season.

Arsenal had a strong League Phase campaign in the fall, finishing third. The team qualified for the Round of 16 and, because of its good position in the table, should get a favorable matchup. Unlike in the Premier League, it won’t have to play catch-up, and it controls its own destiny.

While Arteta deserves plaudits for taking a team that hadn’t sniffed the top four in years to a perennial title contender, getting oh-so-close is beginning to get old in north London.

Will he eventually get the squad over the hump? Or will pressure start to mount for the club to find someone who can?