Arsenal are preparing to play West Ham tomorrow in yet another Cup Final in the race for the coveted Top Four position, or even potentially Top Three.
West Ham were once one of the favourites to finish in the Top Four, along with Man United, Wolves and Tottenham, but now it looks like a straight fight between us and Spurs who are only two points below us.
In his pre-game press conference, Mikel Arteta was asked if he was convinced it was now a two-horse race. “I don’t think so,” he said. “there will still be some twists and turns, we all have difficult matches to play. We all know how difficult it is to win games in the Premier League and now we had two really good results that put us in a really good position. But it is about doing it again at West Ham.
“I think in the league when you are able to win consecutively away and at home, it gives you a huge platform and things quickly change. We have some momentum now and we want to make the most out of it.”
This may seem like a Cup Final to us Arsenal fans, but for the Hammers they have a real Europa League semi-final to keep an eye on, with the hope of reaching the Champions League through the back door. I am sure that David Moyes will be making big changes to keep his team fresh for next Thursday, but Arteta doesn’t believe that will make much difference to this game. “They have been doing that all season and they have been really good in both competitions. They have a big squad as well, they have many different options to change their players and still maintain their level. So I don’t see that. We have played games Wednesday night and Saturday at 12.30pm, we have managed to beat them, so I don’t think about that.”
Despite all the speculation, it will come down to 11 against 11 on the football pitch on Sunday. Hopefully our confidence and the momentum of winning games will stand us in good stead.
Come on you Gooners!!!