Beyond VAR, these cutting-edge technologies helped Arsenal win the Premier League title

On Sunday, Arsenal FC were crowned the 2025/2026 Premier League Champions after defeating Crystal Palace 2-1 in a game whose only effect was to determine how far the London club would finish above their closest rivals. With the win, the Gunners accrued 85 points, seven above Manchester City, who gave them a nail-biting race down to the penultimate matchday.

En route to becoming the champions of England for the first time in 22 years was a dramatic video assistant referee (VAR) goal check away at West Ham. During that three-minute pause upon which hung 22 years of pain and expectations, the officials checked whether a super late West Ham equaliser that could easily have condemned Arsenal to the title of Bottlers yet again was a legitimate goal.

Arsenal fans erupted when the officials rightly decided to chalk off the goal, marking the most important VAR call in the history of the club, and probably the entire league.

While there are conspiracy theorists who believe Arsenal were handed the title by VAR technology, there are indeed several technologies that were actually very instrumental in Arsenal’s title charge and eventual victory.

Arsenal are Premier League champions for the first time in 22 years

STATSports Sonra

STATSports, a leading provider of sports performance analysis tools and wearable technology, has been Arsenal’s performance technology partner since 2012, helping the club optimise player performance on the field.

The system provides real-time data on player performance by tracking player movements and physical exertion levels. It does this through the Sonra software, which allows Arsenal’s sports scientists to monitor players across multiple devices like iPads and Apple Watch apps.

With these, the scientists are able to identify player strengths and weaknesses, pass on the information to the coaches, who then adjust their training accordingly.

The app also does this in real-time. Thus, rather than waiting for the end of a training session to get performance results, the software updates the scientists in real-time, who then pass their analysis to the coaches for immediate adjustment.

So if Odegaard’s fitness is in doubt ahead of a crucial game, the system automatically sets a threshold for him to meet to decide if he is ready for the matchday. It could also give information that will guide training suggestions for Odegaard.

StatDNA for player freshness and recruitment

Arsenal also acquired a sports data analytics company called StatDNA, which is different from STATSports above. The purpose of StatDNA is to deploy predictive technology which helps coaches monitor specific factors that determine overall success.

For example, the model tracks players’ fatigue levels, which will give the manager, Arteta, accurate information on which players should be rested and when, etc.

It also helps in talent recruitment by providing precise data on the physical qualities of targeted players, like high pressing, recovery rate, structural discipline, etc. This helped in the signing of certain important players like Piero Hincapie, Eberechi Eze and others.

​StatsPerformer High-Angle Video Mapping for set-piece strategy

While Arsenal’s set-piece coach, Nicolas Jover, has emerged as one of the heroes of the title-winning side, the record-breaking 24 set-piece goals in a single season would not have been achieved without the High-angle Video Mapping technology used for strategising set pieces.

​Using High-angle feeds from dozens of cameras, the Automated Video Mapping technology maps out every opponent’s defensive spacing and zonal marking flaws. With this information, Mr Jover is able to develop blocker routines and design chaotic scenarios in the opponent’s danger area, thus clearing the path for attacking Arsenal players to score.

These results are based on computer reproductions of the blind spots of the keepers.

Catapult GPS vest and advanced cryotherapy for injury detection and healing

Due to Arsenal’s high pressing system, there is a need to ensure that too much physical exertion does not lead to avoidable injuries. This is why they wear Catapult GPS vests during training and games. The sensors in the vests monitor kinetic load, measure speeds and forceful directional changes all in real-time.

The result is transmitted to the coaches and players who appear to have overworked themselves, and are given a rest.

Similarly, there is also a need for quick tissue repairs due to the long, exhausting campaign across numerous fronts. This is why part of the club’s facilities include whole-body cryotherapy units that can drop below 110°C. Together with hyperbaric oxygen chambers, they reduce inflammation and increase oxygen supply to damaged tissue, leading to rapid healing and recovery within 48 to 72 hours.

​Automated Tactical Video Annotation Software for in-game tactics

Like most great coaches, Arsenal’s coach, Mikel Arteta, regularly switches tactics in-game. To help with deciding exactly when to switch and ensure a seamless transition, this is where the automated tactical video annotation software comes in.

Arsenal analysts positioned in the stands use live video coding software to isolate live match footage and instantly send it to the coaching staff below. During breaks, typically during halftime, the players are shown these clips as feedback to understand what distances are not working, why opposition players are having successes and otherwise, and then fixing the structural issues highlighted.

This makes for excellent in-game management that has made the team look comfortable even with a slight lead.

Microsoft 365 and Acronis for admin

Away from the sporting aspects to some administrative works, all Arsenal data and information are housed on the Microsoft 365 platform, which is the club’s primary business productivity tool.

This includes emails, documents and collaboration tools that are the backbone of the club’s daily operations, more than 300 terabytes of them, held within Exchange, OneDrive and SharePoint. Given the critical nature of this data, the club requires a trusted third-party tool for backup. Acronis is that tool.

In a partnership that began nearly 10 years ago, Acronis has helped the North London club protect its data and create operational efficiencies.

“Acronis gives us peace of mind by taking care of important backups, and restoring files, folders and mailboxes is incredibly straightforward whenever needed. For example, we have a lean policy in place for data retention on Microsoft 365 to minimise storage costs. Acronis gives us the peace of mind that we can recover data removed due to this policy if necessary,” the club once said.

NTT Data for fans’ digital experience

After coming close to winning the title twice and ultimately failing, the club decided its fans needed some cheering up and to be made to feel closer to the club. This, it aimed to achieve, by serving more digital content, products, and experiences.

To this end, the club went into a partnership with an information technology service and consulting company, NTT Data, to provide the required technological platform to achieve its fans’ goals. The club also built its creative studio to be able to develop relevant content that allows the club to tell stories to its supporters.

NTT Data’s UK and Ireland CTO, Tom Winstanley, said his company’s role would be to change the way Arsenal fans were being supported across all of the club’s channels. This would include providing a full stack of support from consulting and software engineering platforms all the way through to core infrastructure. It has also taken advice from its own creative agency.

In the end, Arsenal staff, players and fans are the winners

While these technologies have helped Arsenal become champions of England again after 22 years, they would be nothing without the officials who interpret them and the players who are the personifications of them.

As Arteta himself would say, these are just tools; there is no doubt that the ultimate deciders are the humans who need to use them: “The key is not the numbers themselves but interpreting them correctly. If you rely only on data without understanding the context, you can end up very confused“.

Congratulations to the Arsenal for the good sport, the sound technology and everything in-between.

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