Last night we beat Newcastle United comfortably which saw Arsenal move up to third position in the Premier League and it felt good, it was a relief and to be honest, it felt like vindication after being written off so often, but the job is not complete and it is now time to look towards our next game against Everton on Sunday.
We could actually be back in fifth place come Sunday if Tottenham beat Crystal Palace, Chelsea beat Brighton and Man Utd collect all three points against Wolves.
That would put the pressure straight back on us and it does not help that our away record is shaky. We cannot ignore the fact that we have conceded in every single away game in the Premier League this season.
We cannot ignore the fact that we have by far the worst away record of the top six, we have won just five times on the road from 14 games, a whole nine points worse off than Chelsea, who have the second worst away record of the top six.
We also have to accept that Everton will be tough to beat, they have a mixed home record for sure and are definitely beatable but then Chelsea would have thought that and they lost 2-0 and so did Liverpool who failed to score and ended up with just a single point after a 0-0 draw.
So, we know what we are up against, we have to overcome our poor away record, we have to overcome a team that lifts its game against the top teams at home, well recently anyway and we have to overcome the added pressure if our rivals win their midweek games as expected.
However, we have to also accept that we are full of confidence right now, that the players now believe, that we have shown immense character in recent weeks and that we handled the pressure with ease.
We have the players to beat Everton all day long, for me, it is about our mentality and the signs are there that we are getting better in that area.
Everton will be a tough game absolutely but we will win, I believe that to my core, we are the better team, we just have to show it on the day.
Sam P