Arsenal's boss, Mikel Arteta, thinks his team is finally seeing their effort pay off as they finish 2025 leading the Premier League.

After Tuesday's big 4-1 victory against Aston Villa, who are also chasing the title, Arsenal is now five points ahead of Manchester City. City plays Sunderland on New Year's Day.

Arsenal hasn't won the Premier League since 2004. When asked if this might finally be the year they break their twenty-year title drought, Arteta praised his team's belief and energy.

We're playing like every other day. The schedule is really packed, and we've got some tough games and injuries. But the guys are still winning, and that helps, he said.

All the hard work and dedication you put in shows in the results and how well we're playing. That feels great, but we know there's still a lot left to play.

He added, "It's a fantastic way to wrap up the year, for sure." We'll have a nice New Year's Eve with family, but then we're back at it the next day. We've got to go to Bournemouth on Saturday, and we know what that's all about.

After winning their last three league games against Wolverhampton, Everton, and Brighton by just one goal, Arsenal scored four for the first time since beating Tottenham in the north London derby at the Emirates Stadium back in November.

“We needed this game,” said Martin Zubimendi. He, along with Gabriel, Leandro Trossard, and Gabriel Jesus, scored against Villa in a game Arsenal controlled in the second half.

We were at home, and we wanted to end the year at the top, especially against Aston Villa, who are a really strong team tactically. So, we're happy with how we played.

We had some trouble with their counterattacks in the first half. At halftime, we tweaked a few things, and in the second half, once we got the first two goals, the game opened up, and we got four.

We could feel the crowd's support; they were always pushing us, always wanting more.

Jamie Carragher, the former Liverpool defender, thinks Arsenal should start either Gabriel Jesus or Kai Havertz at striker over Viktor Gyokeres. He says they're both better players.

Gyokeres joined the Gunners for £55 million this summer, and a lot of people thought he could complete the team. But the Swedish striker hasn't settled in, only scoring five goals in 17 Prem appearances.

The 27-year-old has been the main focus of Arsenal's attack, which hasn't been great lately. He wasn't very good, even though they beat Aston Villa 4-1.

Adding to that, Jesus replaced Gyokeres and scored a really great goal late in the game, making it 4-0.

Carragher, a Sky Sports expert, said after the game that he's a big fan of Jesus and that either he or Havertz should be starting instead of Gyokeres.

The only bad thing tonight for Arsenal is that Gyokeres shouldn't be starting when they have players like this, Carragher explained.

In a couple of games, when Jesus is in better shape, he should start. He's better than Gyokeres; that's just how it is.

Jesus and Havertz have just returned from being injured for a while. Jesus scored his first goal in over a year against Villa after recovering from ACL surgery.

Even though Gyokeres was signed to lead Arsenal's attack after doing well at Sporting, he hasn't played that well in England. Carragher said that Jesus and Havertz are better choices to lead the line right now.

People have asked if [Jesus] is good enough for Arsenal to win the league, the former England player added. But now, he's better than the guy they brought in, who they thought would win it for them.

Either he or Havertz is better than Gyokeres as a striker. He's not as skilled or good as the guys they have on the bench. I think Arsenal needs to get someone better than Gyokeres, and they already have that player in Jesus.