Martin Keown has claimed that Arsenal will fail to make the top-four this season because of our dismal away form, but I think that is naive reasoning considering the circumstances.
The Premier League is set to return to action next week, where we will travel to take on Manchester City next Wednesday.
We will of course kick off our return away from home, but thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, away matches will almost feel like a neutral encounter, with not a single away fan being allowed in stadiums.
Despite such new regulations being in place, Martin Keown still has doubts about our ability to play well away from home, and claims that our travels will stop us from climbing up the table.
Keown told DailyMail:‘Arsenal’s problem, for the last two and a half seasons, has been their away form. It’s their achilles heel.
‘In 2019-20, they’ve won twice on the road in 13 attempts, and their next three games are all away from home — against Manchester City, Brighton and Southampton.
‘Then later in the campaign, they face Wolves and Tottenham away, too, before travelling to Aston Villa.
‘If you’re a Manchester United player looking at those Arsenal fixtures, you’d be saying: “Good luck with that.” United have a slight head start and a more favourable run-in.
‘Something affects this Arsenal group when they’re competing away from home, and I doubt they’ll make it into the Champions League because of that.’
I personally think it would be naive to discount Arsenal’s ability to win on the road given that stadium’s will not have opposing fans in them, whilst it is also worth noting that we have won three and drawn two of our last five matches on the road in all competitions, including a draw at Stamford Bridge.
Is Keown being naive to claim our away form will hamper us in the remainder of the season?
Patrick
