Arteta determined to end Arsenal’s unwanted title race recordShareArsenal secured top spot in the Premier League on New Year’s Day with a win over Aston Villa, but the Gunners have been here before.Mikel Arteta has urged his Arsenal side to break their unwanted record when entering the new year at the top of the Premier League.The Gunners ensured they would start 2026 at the top of the pile with an emphatic 4-1 win over title rivals Aston Villa, though they have struggled from this position before.Since their last Premier League title in 2004, Arsenal have failed to win the title on each of the five occasions when they started the year in top spot.The most recent season where this happened was during the 2022-23 campaign, when Arsenal finished five points behind Manchester City despite leading for the majority of the title race.Ahead of their upcoming trip to Bournemouth, Arteta insisted that his team are determined to put an end to that run.“Let's break it,” said Arteta when asked about the statistic.“That's what the players transmit every single day when they're with us, training, and in every match. You can see their desire. You can see the energy that they put in, and how much they want it.“There are still five months to go. Let's take it day-by-day, enjoy that process of being where we are, and go for it.”Arsenal have lost just one of their last 16 Premier League games (W12 D3), winning the last four in a row since a 2-1 defeat at Villa.And the Gunners have lost their opening league game in just one of the last 10 calendar years (W7 D2), going down 2-1 at home to Man City on New Year’s Day 2022.Arsenal have only failed to score in one of their 16 Premier League games against Bournemouth, though it was in a 2-0 defeat in this exact fixture last season.Arteta determined to end Arsenal’s unwanted title race recordArsenal secured top spot in the Premier League on New Year’s Day with a win over Aston Villa, but the Gunners have been here before.Mikel Arteta has urged his Arsenal side to break their unwanted record when entering the new year at the top of the Premier League.The Gunners ensured they would start 2026 at the top of the pile with an emphatic 4-1 win over title rivals Aston Villa, though they have struggled from this position before.Since their last Premier League title in 2004, Arsenal have failed to win the title on each of the five occasions when they started the year in top spot.The most recent season where this happened was during the 2022-23 campaign, when Arsenal finished five points behind Manchester City despite leading for the majority of the title race.Ahead of their upcoming trip to Bournemouth, Arteta insisted that his team are determined to put an end to that run.“Let's break it,” said Arteta when asked about the statistic.“That's what the players transmit every single day when they're with us, training, and in every match. You can see their desire. You can see the energy that they put in, and how much they want it.“There are still five months to go. Let's take it day-by-day, enjoy that process of being where we are, and go for it.”Arsenal have lost just one of their last 16 Premier League games (W12 D3), winning the last four in a row since a 2-1 defeat at Villa.And the Gunners have lost their opening league game in just one of the last 10 calendar years (W7 D2), going down 2-1 at home to Man City on New Year’s Day 2022.Arsenal have only failed to score in one of their 16 Premier League games against Bournemouth, though it was in a 2-0 defeat in this exact fixture last season.