MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Arsenal is top of the Premier League at Christmas, but the Champagne can stay on ice for now.
Mikel Arteta knows from painful experience that festive standings guarantee nothing when it comes to eventually lifting the title.
Arsenal led the way at this point in 2022 and 2023, only to be twice beaten to the crown by Manchester City.
Topping the table at Christmas has traditionally been a bad omen for the North London club, even before Arteta's time as manager. On four previous occasions in the Premier League era it has held the Yuletide No.1 and never gone on to be crowned champion.
Pep Guardiola and his City side may be most encouraged by the standings, having gone on to win the title on four occasions when not leading at this stage.
Arteta, however, is not dwelling on past failures.
“What gives me belief and confidence is the level of performance and the consistency of that,” he said after Saturday's narrow win at Everton ensured top spot. “That’s very, very difficult to do in this league and that means the team is constantly there.
"Enjoy the process of winning and you’re going to have to go to difficult places, you’re going to have difficult moments. We have dealt with a lot of things already and we are there.”
In all 33 seasons of the Premier, the top team at Christmas has been crowned champion on 17 occasions, just over 51% of the time.
Arsenal had looked like racing away at the top, taking advantage as Liverpool's title defense unraveled while City also slipped up early.
But the lead is now two points over second-place City after a recent run of two points from a possible nine away from home. City briefly moved to the top on Saturday before Viktor Gyokeres' penalty sealed the 1-0 victory at Everton and broke Arsenal's winless run on the road.
(and which team went on to win the title)
2002-03 - Manchester United
2007-08 - Manchester United
2022-23 - Manchester City
2023-24 - Manchester City
United and Chelsea have won the title on five occasions after leading at Christmas. United has held first place at Christmas seven times in the Premier League era.
Chelsea has a 100% conversion rate when leading at Christmas.
Likewise City, which has won on the three occasions it led. Liverpool has won on two of the seven times it was first.
The sight of City in the rear-view mirror will be a familiar one to Arteta and Arsenal. And while this is far from a vintage Guardiola team, its charge has an ominous feel.
A 3-0 win against West Ham on Saturday was a seventh straight victory in all competitions for City and a fifth in a row in the league.
Guardiola's side may lack some of the fluidity and guile of the teams that dominated English soccer until being dethroned by Liverpool last season but, with Erling Haaland up front, it has the most lethal striker in the country.
Haaland's double against West Ham took his season's total to 38 goals in 28 games for City and Norway. He is far and away the leading scorer in the league with 19 goals, his closest rival is Brentford's Igor Thiago on 11.
If Arsenal hoped the signing of Gyokeres would provide it with a similarly lethal forward, it hasn't worked out like that yet. The Sweden international has just seven goals in 24 games for club and country. His penalty against Everton was only his fifth league goal of the season and his first in six games in all.
Aston Villa is the form team in the top flight, with 10 straight wins in all competitions, and is just three points back from Arsenal in third place.
Victory against United on Sunday made it 11 wins from 12 games in the league. Unai Emery's team is unbeaten in 19 games in all, with 16 wins during that run.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola greets supporters after the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City in London, Sunday, Dec.14, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
The leaders of Denmark and Greenland insisted Monday that the United States won't take over Greenland and demanded respect for their territorial integrity after President Donald Trump announced the appointment of a special envoy to the semi-autonomous territory.
Trump's announcement on Sunday that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry would be the envoy prompted a new flare-up of tensions over Washington's interest in the vast territory of Denmark, a NATO ally. Denmark's foreign minister told Danish broadcasters that he would summon the U.S. ambassador to his ministry.
”We have said it before. Now, we say it again. National borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a joint statement. “They are fundamental principles. You cannot annex another country. Not even with an argument about international security.”
“Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders and the U.S. shall not take over Greenland,” they added in the statement emailed by Frederiksen's office. "We expect respect for our joint territorial integrity.”
Trump called repeatedly during his presidential transition and the early months of his second term for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, and has not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island. In March, Vice President JD Vance visited a remote U.S. military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of under-investing there.
The issue gradually drifted out of the headlines, but in August, Danish officials summoned the top U.S. diplomat in Copenhagen following a report that at least three people with connections to Trump had carried out covert influence operations in Greenland.
On Sunday, Trump announced Landry's appointment, saying on social media that “Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World.”
Landry wrote in a post on social media that “it’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S.”
Danish broadcasters TV2 and DR reported that in comments from the Faroe Islands later Monday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said he summon the U.S. ambassador in Copenhagen, Kenneth Howery, for a meeting.
Greenland's prime minister wrote in a separate statement that Greenland had again woken up to a new announcement from the U.S. president, and that “it may sound significant. But it changes nothing for us here at home.”
Nielsen noted that Greenland has its own democracy and said that “we are happy to cooperate with other countries, including the United States, but this must always take place with respect for us and for our values and wishes.”
Earlier this month, the Danish Defense Intelligence Service said in an annual report that the U.S. is using its economic power to “assert its will” and threaten military force against friend and foe alike.
Denmark is a member of the European Union as well as NATO.
Anouar El Anouni, a spokesperson for the EU's executive Commission, told reporters in Brussels on Monday that it wasn't for him to comment on U.S. decisions. But he underlined the bloc's position that "preserving the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, its sovereignty and the inviolability of its borders is essential for the European Union.”
FILE - Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry speaks to reporters at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La., Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
FILE - Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, right, and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen smile during their meeting at Marienborg in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, on April 27, 2025. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
FILE - Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance tour the U.S. military's Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP, File)
FILE - Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen speaks during a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
