Arsenal now back in the title race!
After a very slow start for the Gunners with a heavy loss to Liverpool and a difficult draw against Leicester, Arsenal fans were kicking themselves thinking that our title chances were falling away before the season had even really begun. Now after three wins in a row and a pick up in form, the Gunners find themselves back amongst the mix of the title challengers in the early stages of the season.
Obviously first things first, we are five games into the season and even if we hadn’t had this run of wins, realistically there would still be a chance of challenging for the title. There are still another 99 potential points to be won and you never know what will become of the usual title challengers over the course of a campaign. Arsenal have now won their last three games on the trot and currently sit in third place. This means Arsenal are now back amongst the top four, although we are still five points behind the leaders Manchester City, who are yet to get anything less than all three points under Pep Guardiola.
After the 4-1 win against Hull this weekend, Arsenal fans will be hoping the team now pushes forward to keep this run going and according to Sky Sports pundit Niall Quinn, Arsenal have an opportunity to ‘cement their position amongst the title challengers.’
Quinn said after the match: “After winning at Watford and Hull so emphatically you would expect them to do the same at Burnley and Sunderland. At home, you always fancy them. If you are an Arsenal fan looking at their upcoming fixtures, you are saying we can get right in the title race.”
I wouldn’t say Arsenal won emphatically against Watford and Hull because although the score lines will suggest that Arsenal gave them a beating, in reality Arsenal did as always, make the match much harder than it should have been. Against Hull, the Tigers were down to 10 men after a red card and a penalty was given in Arsenal’s favour. Arsenal could’ve put the game to bed, but missed the penalty and then largely struggled for periods of the game against a 10 men Hull City side. At Watford, The Gunners played some great football and opened up chance after chance, but failed to take the opportunities being set up on a plate.
The main factor behind challenging for the title is consistency. Leicester showed the entire league last year that you don’t need to have the best team, you just need to have a squad that works well together, believes in themselves and that the team is consistent. That is Arsenal’s biggest problem, we often can’t get all three points from our league challengers, but then we also lose points against some of the leagues lowest ranked clubs. A team that is going to win the league wouldn’t do that and so if Arsenal really want to keep amongst those at the top, it’s vital the Gunners keep up this run of form.
By AH