Arsenal have indeed finished second more often than any other club in Premier League history, which has been the subject of several questions sent in via our 'Ask about Arsenal’ form.
The Gunners have been runners-up nine times, including in each of the past three seasons.
However, in five of those nine campaigns, Arsenal finished at least 10 points behind the champions so it is hard to argue they 'nearly' won the title in those seasons.
If we look at the number of times that clubs finished within six points of the champions – where turning a couple of defeats or a few draws into wins could have won them the title – then Arsenal share the tag of being the Premier League's ultimate 'nearly men' with both Liverpool and Manchester United.
All three sides have been pipped to the post four times in a Premier League title race, with the Gunners the most recent to narrowly miss out when they finished just two points behind champions Manchester City two years ago.
In fact, Liverpool fans could argue that their team are actually the Premier League's ultimate 'nearly men' given how close they have repeatedly come to winning the title.
While the Reds have only finished second five times to Arsenal's nine, the average number of points they've finished behind the champions is just three compared to the Gunners' eight.
On that metric, Arsenal sit in seventh when it comes to the title near-misses.
Liverpool most recently finished behind Manchester City by just a single point in both 2018-19 and 2021-22, despite amassing a whopping 97 and 92 points respectively.
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