‘Factually incorrect… 2nd again’ – Mikel Arteta brutally trolled for getting numbers wrong in awkward press conference

ARSENAL boss Mikel Arteta has been trolled by fans on social media after messing up his numbers during a Premier League title claim.

The Gunners start their season with a trip to Old Trafford against Manchester United on Sunday, where they will be hoping to avoid losing precious ground in the title race early on.

Following three seasons of finishing as the runner-up, twice to Manchester City and once to Liverpool, Arteta has backed his team’s consistency as the key to finally winning that elusive title.

Speaking to reporters, he said: “You keep digging, digging, ­digging and you have to be digging because one day the gold is going to be there.

“That’s all the time. When I’ve been taught, when I’ve been educated, that’s it.”

The 43-year-old continued: “For three seasons we’ve had more points than any other team in this league, which is incredible. That’s how you have all the consistency.

“Now we have to do it in a season to have one more point or the same amount of points and more goals different than any other team. That’s the objective.”

However, while Arteta is a tactical mastermind at the Emirates, his numbers were a little wide of the mark.

Over the last three completed seasons, Arsenal have racked up an aggregate of 247 points: 84 in 2022/23, 89 in 2023/24 and 74 in 2024/25.

And while those tallies are doubtless impressive on their own merits, it is still eclipsed by Arteta’s former master, Pep Guardiola.

Arsenal’s rise towards the top came halfway through City’s unprecedented four-peat of titles between 2020/21 and 2023/24.

In the latter half of that run, City put up 89 and 91 points to claim the title, before a dramatic dip off last year saw them finish third with 71 points.

But despite the fall off, the Etihad outfit have a higher points total than Arsenal, with 251 points.

Meanwhile, reigning champions Liverpool have a total of 233 in the last three seasons: 67 in 2022/23, 82 in 2023/24 and 84 in 2024/25.

Yet it is easy to suspect Arne Slot and co won’t care too much considering they got their hands on silverware while Arsenal didn’t.

Brainiac fans were quick to point this out in response, with one saying: “Factually incorrect – in the past 3 seasons it’s City 251, Arsenal 247, Liverpool 233. 2nd again.”

A second said: “Three seasons we’ve had more points than other team in this league… where is the title please?”

A third added: “They should stop digging and start playing football.”

Another said: “How does this make sense to him. The team with the highest points per season wins EPL not an accumulation of points over the years.

Arsenal’s transfer deals

IN

• Viktor Gyökeres – from Sporting Lisbon – £72m
• Noni Madueke – from Chelsea – £52m
• Martin Zubimendi – from Real Sociedad – £51m
• Christian Norgaard – from Brentford – £15m
• Cristhian Mosquera – from Valencia – £13m
• Kepa Arrizabalaga – from Chelsea – £5m

TOTAL – £208m

OUT

• Nuno Taveres – to Lazio – £4.4m
• Marquinhos – to Cruzeiro – £2.6m
• Jorginho – to Flamengo – free
• Kieran Tierney – to Celtic – free
• Takehiro Tomiyasu – released
• Thomas Partey – released

TOTAL – £7m

ARSENAL TRANSFER NEWS LIVE

“It’s high time Arsenal get rid of this man cause he has absolutely lost it.”

A fifth said: “Arteta out here sounding like he’s giving a TED Talk for miners instead of a title race press conference.”

SunSport also took a look at how some of the other Premier League sides have fared with their points totals over the last three seasons.

Completing the top four is Newcastle with 197 points, with Aston Villa closely behind on 195 claiming the final Champions League spot in this mini-league.

Despite the historic lows of last season, Man Utd rank 6th in this criteria with 177 points.

This is a single point more than Chelsea, who have spent over a billion pounds to become competitive again.

Savvy recruiters Brighton had quite the dip off in Roberto de Zerbi’s final season, but saw their average go back up under Fabian Hurzeler for the Seagulls to hit an impressive total of 171.

Tottenham are behind them following their historically-poor league campaign last time out, with 164 points totted up – although if they had hit the 60 mark again, they would have been on over 180.

Brentford also suffered a dip two seasons ago as they adjusted to losing big names like Ivan Toney, but still jotted up a total of 154 points.