If Arsenal fans were hoping for a slip up or two over the christmas period from any of the other clubs in with a chance of challenging for the Premier League title, then we were left with just one hope and that was soon snuffed out last night as our north London rivals Tottenham ran out 4-1 winners over Southampton.
They were helped by a red card shown to the Saints star Nathan Redmond when the score was 2-1 but all that really matters is that they won, as did Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool and Man United, making that last gasp headed winner from Olivier Giroud against West Brom look even more crucial.
The Boxing Day win, however, has not made the league table look any better. In fact it looks a bit worse as the spuds now have the same goal difference as Arsenal while Liverpool’s is four better and Chelsea’s is seven better. Ours is much better than United’s and one better than City’s though, so a draw fopr Pep Guardiola and a win for us would take us back above them.
Looking at the next set of fixtures does not offer us all that much hope of things getting any better soon either, as Chelsea are at home to Stoke, Man United at home to Middlesborough and Tottenham go to Watford. What is worse is that all these games are played before we host Crystal Palace on new years day, so we could find ourselves out of the top four, 12 points off the top and just one point ahead of the sixth placed team when we kick off.
This would surely pile the pressure on Arsene Wenger and the Gunners, but there is one ray of light for us as Liverpool travel to Man City and so one or both of our main rivals will be dropping points. Can Arsenal use this as a goal to produce a performance and get a win or will the pressure tell?
Bob.