Arsenal are already FIVE points behind the leaders! Too much too soon?
Doesn’t time fly when you realise we have already had three Premier League fixtures, the first international break is upon us and ties in the EFL Cup and Champions League are due in the coming weeks. Arsenal’s start to the season finally got up and running third time lucky against Watford on Saturday, although it has been a relatively shakey start for the Gunners in the league.
Whilst there were many positives to take from this weekend’s fixture, many believed it was simply ‘papering over the cracks’ rather than truly fixing the problem. Thierry Henry said after Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Watford: “One thing I am thinking is, and I know it’s early, but [they] are five points behind the top three. I’m hoping that they are not going to run after those five points all season.”
Arsenal are currently standing on four points after three games of the new premier league season. A loss on the opening day to Liverpool, a draw with Premier League champions Leicester City and a win against Watford has seen Arsenal accumulate their points, whilst a top three of City, United and Chelsea have steamrolled ahead with three wins from their first three fixtures. Now I know that it’s not until after 10 games that a table truly starts to take shape (although let’s hope it doesn’t take until the 10th game for Arsenal to catchup), but seeing Arsenal having to play catchup to their rivals once again really does cause concern.
Why does Arsenal always seem to have a slow start to a new season that leaves us on the backfoot from the off, rather than striding ahead to lead the league?
A lot can change over these next few weeks and so for no reason should we be worried of Arsenal not being amongst the challengers for the top four, it would just be nice to see the Gunners lead the line in the Premier League. At least one of the Manchester clubs will drop points after the International week finishes, as they play each other in the Manchester derby. With Arsenal playing Southampton, who have not been as impressive as previous seasons so far, let’s hope the Gunners can close the gap before it gets too big too early.
By AH