Arsene Wenger was pretty upbeat at the Arsenal AGM this week, talking about the strength and depth of the current squad and how it gives the Gunners a good chance of competing for the Premier League title, even though the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Tottenham are making it look like the closest campaign in a long time.
One of the things that the Frenchman said, as reported by the Daily Mail, is that with us, Liverpool and Man City on 20 points after the first nine games, he thinks he knows the sort of points total that will be needed to become champions.
Wenger said, ‘After nine games the first trend is set, it’s about 20 points so the title will be decided between 82 and 86 points.’
Let us assume that the prof is right about that and take the higher total of 86 points as a guide, meaning that for Arsenal to be on track at the halfway point we would want to have 43 points. The home game against Crystal Palace on new years day will be our 19th EPL match, so can we really get to that stage having dropped no more than seven extra points?
Those 10 games include trips to Manchester United, West Ham, Everton and Tottenham, as well as the first north London derby with Tottenham, so it is a tall order. If we can stay relatively injury free though and the likes of Ozil, Walcott, Alexis Sanchez and the defenders can maintain their form, is it really too much for Arsenal fans to hope for?
Bob.
We can really do it, but we suppose get as much points as possible from this half of the season, 2nd half is harder to get points from.
I expect us to gain 46 points from 1st 19 that means we can still draw 2 games from 10.
We have a good chance to do something big this season and so do four to six other teams. It is definitely good for us to be positive and upbeat. And there is also that possibility that the eventual winner of the epl just might nick it on goal difference.
i could be wrong but i believe that it will take less than 86 pts to be champion i,d say 75-80 pts,all the top teams will drop more points that’s for sure!!