UNPOPULAR OPINION: Is there a world where Arsenal finish third? by Benedict
Arsenal are battling for European football after completely missing out last year, however there’s a chance that the third spot is the one we can end up in, something that would be a huge success for Arteta.
Currently in sixth with three games in hand over Manchester United and West Ham, we now sit three points above rivals Tottenham who lost two games in the past week.
If we win these games, we will slide into fourth place.
Now, it is easy to get overexcited at this stage in the season with plenty of games still left to play; however, we will only lie two points behind European Champions Chelsea (third), whom we still need to play for a second time.
I know that they have a much better-quality squad with a lot of depth, however losing Chilwell and James has left them in poor form, drawing three and losing one in their last five.
Chelsea’s goals have come from their defence this season with big money signings Lukaku and Werner struggling to find the back of the net as their confidence hits rock bottom.
The date (ARS-CHE) is not yet confirmed but could become a huge game in the conclusion of the season, could we leapfrog them?
Especially with the fact that they are still competing in the FA Cup, EFL Cup, Champions League and Prem, they will have a travelled and tired squad.
We must remain injury free for the rest of the season and need Martinelli, Saka and ESR to keep up their fine form and continue scoring goals from midfield. A big ask for the youngsters all having their best seasons.
Think about our rivals, Spurs don’t seem to have a good enough squad yet, West Ham lack star quality and Man United can’t score more than a goal a game under Rangnick.
It seems that Wolves may be our closest rival for the fourth spot at this rate, defensively assured and well organised, but the good thing is we just beat them 1-0 away from home with ten men!
With 16 games to go this season, we will still inevitably drop points against sides until this season ends, however we do play less games against the top six than most and a lot of our remaining games are also at home, which we have managed to keep a strong record this season.
Carragher picked Arsenal as his favourite for the top four while Souness believes that we simply lack the goals in our squad. So even the pundits think its tough to call.
The Premier League is always unpredictable, games in hand does not mean wins in the most competitive league in the world. Every team will be the favourite until they drop points.
We need to have an almost perfect record to end of the season if we want a chance of getting top four and even maybe, just maybe, even third place.
Where will we end up?
Key Dates:
24th February – Wolves (home)
23rd April – Manchester United (home)
30th April – West Ham (away)
TBC – Sp*rs (away)
TBC – Chelsea (away)
Until Next Time Gooners,
Benedict