Arsenal’s first league title in 22 years has taken them down a long road.Mikel Arteta’s side have changed and evolved during his seven seasons in charge, a process which has finally brought them the Premier League title they have long craved.But there wasn’t a major shift in approach to win the 2025-26 Premier League, instead Arsenal have largely maintained the playing style which helped them finish as runners-up in each of the three prior campaigns. However, minor tweaks introduced by Arteta and his staff, alongside their summer 2025 signings, have added a different edge to this team.“(We need to) make sure that when we are evolving, we are maintaining the great things that we do and just tweaking and making things that can give us big value,” the Arsenal manager said in August. “That is what we have done, and we are going to continue to do — you will see them.“The evolution comes from the individuals. It’s about the players, putting those players in those positions as often as possible to express their qualities.”Here, The Athletic breaks down the key tactical themes behind Arsenal’s Premier League triumph.Kai Havertz’s goal against Burnley on Monday was Arsenal’s 18th of the season from a corner, a Premier League record (Glyn KIRK / AFP via Getty Images)Dynamic build-up and progressionArsenal’s build-up blunders in the Carabao Cup final against City in March and what looked like a costly 2-1 defeat against Bournemouth three weeks later were anomalies for a team who have comfortably played out from the back and progressed the ball up the pitch in the Premier League this season.The way Arsenal have built their attacks varies depending on the available players, the idea they want to execute and the opponents’ setup. It can be a 3-1 shape with midfielder Declan Rice splitting the centre-backs, a 3-2 with one of the full-backs in an advanced position, an orthodox 4-2 formation or something else.Yet, these telephone numbers don’t portray the complete story because Arsenal’s flexible build-up can and has changed within the same match, and it’s more about the movements of the players and their execution on the ball.The summer addition of Martin Zubimendi to midfield and his interchanges with Rice have also empowered Arsenal’s ability to progress the ball through the thirds.“Especially with the qualities that they have and the way they can complement each other in that space,” said Arteta after the 3-0 win against Spain’s Athletic Club in pre-season. “We saw another evolution today and things that the team can really benefit from to be much more unpredictable.”On top of that, Arsenal have been able to go long and fight for the second balls to progress up the pitch and force their opponents deeper.The pitch map below shows where Arteta’s side, on average, have controlled possession in the Premier League this season. After progressing the ball, Arsenal have continued their focus on attacking the wide areas in the final third (red shaded area) — partly due to the opponents dropping into a deep block against them.Riding the set-piece waveOne of the strongest features of this Arsenal team is their threat from dead-ball situations.Arteta has long believed in the importance of set pieces as an offensive tool, especially considering how his team focuses their attacks down the wings and the eventuality of facing deep defensive blocks.“A lot of teams are defending with low blocks, so open play is one thing, but set pieces aren’t something very different to the game,” he said in October 2023. “It’s something that is connected, so it’s as important, because against low blocks we are going to generate more free kicks and more corners.”Declan Rice prepares to take an inswinging corner from the left hand side of the pitch against Newcastle United (George Wood/Getty Images)The arrival of Nicolas Jover, Arsenal’s specialist set-piece coach, in the summer of 2021, at the end of Arteta’s first full season in charge, has proven to be a transformative moment. However, their set-piece success is also about Arteta and the players’ belief in it, the work done in that area on the training pitch and the execution of the free kicks and corners on matchday.As the set-piece revolution hit the Premier League, Arsenal were riding the wave instead of playing catch-up.In the 2025-26 Premier League, they have scored the highest number of goals from set pieces (24) and conceded the fewest (eight). Looking at the goals per 100 set pieces — which allows us to level the playing field when comparing across teams because one might have more opportunities than another — Arsenal’s rate of 7.4 is the second-best in the division this season behind Manchester United (7.9).Corners are Arsenal’s superpower, and they have doubled down on them in their journey to win this Premier League title, with their diverse routines and perfect execution making them impossible to stop.Their 18 goals from corners this season are the most any team has scored in a single campaign in the 34-year Premier League era. More importantly, 13 of those 18 have put Arsenal in the lead — the most times a team have gone ahead via a corner goal in a Premier League campaign.Arsenal’s ability to break games open with their attacking corners isn’t due to the number of opportunities they have. Their rate of 12 goals per 100 corners when the scores are level is the best in the Premier League this season.The value of Arsenal’s lead-taking corners is in how they have changed the game state and forced their opponents to be more proactive.Once they get into winning game-states, Arteta’s men have been able to rely on their other strengths: controlling the match with the ball, striking on the transitions and limiting the opponent’s chances when out of possession.Out-of-possession prowessArsenal have only conceded 26 times, which doesn’t make it into the top 10 totals for fewest goals against in a Premier League season but was a crucial factor in them winning this title, with ’keeper David Raya and his defence racking up 19 clean sheets in the first 37 games.A compact 4-4-2 defensive block has been hard to break down, with the north Londoners limiting the quality of opposition chances throughout the season. Arsenal have conceded the lowest non-penalty xG per game (0.74) in the 2025-26 Premier League — a distance from their nearest competitor for that metric, City (1.1).Higher up the pitch, their pressing has suffocated teams. Only Brighton and Hove Albion (5.0 per 90) have won the ball back in their attacking third more times than Arsenal (4.8 per 90) in the Premier League this season.The tweak in their high press in 2025-26 has been the identity of the player supporting the centre-forward in harrying the goalkeeper and centre-backs.Over the previous couple of years, and on a few occasions this season, it was Martin Odegaard moving up from midfield to do this. Though in 2024-25, there were instances of the right-winger starting in a narrow position to jump towards the opponents’ left centre-back instead of the Norwegian midfielder.This has been the main approach in the current campaign, with Bukayo Saka or Noni Madueke performing the role. As a result, the vertical jump now comes from Jurrien Timber or Ben White down the right instead of centre-backs William Saliba or Gabriel pushing into midfield when Arsenal’s hybrid press locks into a man-to-man orientation.The threat of Arsenal’s high press frequently forces opposing sides to go long.Defined as passes that are at least 32m in length, they have faced the second-highest proportion of long balls (14.5 per cent) in the Premier League this season after Liverpool (14.8 per cent).This has played into Arsenal’s hands, though, due to their duel-winning ability and sweeping up of the second balls. The back four, alongside Rice and Zubimendi, have dominated the middle of the pitch in a campaign where duels have been in abundance across the division.Embracing transitionsOne of the modifications in Arsenal’s approach when they have won the ball this season has been their increasing verticality, which has provided them with another offensive solution.They have been more open to attacking teams on the transition, which shows up in their direct-attack numbers. These are defined as possessions that start in a team’s half and result in either a shot or a touch inside the other penalty area within 15 seconds — in other words, a counter-attack.Arsenal’s rate of 2.7 direct attacks per game is the joint-eighth highest in the Premier League this season, and their highest since Arteta was first appointed in December 2019. At the same time, they have conceded the second-fewest direct attacks (1.9 per game).Another aspect to look at is midfield transitions, which are defined as possessions that start in the middle third of the pitch and result in a shot or reach the height of the opponent’s penalty area within seven seconds.Arsenal’s 1.6 midfield transitions per game in the Premier League this season is their highest rate of the Arteta era.A possible explanation for this is that the changing landscape of the Premier League and increase in midfield duels have led to more transition opportunities from that part of the pitch. However, if we look at midfield transitions as a share of regains in the middle third of the pitch, Arsenal’s rate of 5.7 per cent is their highest since Arteta succeeded Unai Emery.“When it comes to chaos, I want to be the best; when it comes to positional attack, the best; when it comes to low blocks, the best,” Arteta said in October. “That’s the eagerness to constantly find ways to develop your team, to evolve your team and to give your players more tools to be unpredictable and especially more efficient.”Arsenal have surrendered some ball control this season in exchange for being able to attack open spaces in transitional situations, and they end it as champions of England.