After rivals Manchester City and Aston Villa dropped points on Sunday, Arsenal are now firmly back in the driving seat for the league title.
Before a ball was kicked ahead of last weekend’s round of Premier League fixtures, I speculated that the next two gameweeks would have a significant bearing on our title hunt. That view was shaped not only by Arsenal’s own fixtures, but also by City’s schedule, with tough tests against Tottenham and Liverpool in the space of a week. Facing that run, City were always likely to struggle to keep pace with an Arsenal side playing before them.
Rivals stumble as Arsenal surge
Any lingering doubts about Arsenal’s title credentials should now have been eased following the weekend’s results. Not only did the Gunners deliver a confident and comfortable return to form, they also extended their lead at the top of the table.
Arsenal now sit six points clear of Pep Guardiola’s side, a gap that feels significant given the form City are currently showing. They were held to a 2-2 draw by Tottenham after being pegged back from a strong position, in what was another unconvincing display from Guardiola’s men.
Despite a winter spending spree that included Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi, City look a shadow of the team that dominated English football for much of the past decade. They appear to be a side in transition, searching for solutions after years of sustained success.
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Title pressure shifts decisively
City’s upcoming trip to Anfield next week could prove decisive in shaping the title race. I struggle to see this City side ending their five game winless run on Merseyside, particularly with Arsenal likely to go nine points clear the day before.
With every passing week, the pressure intensifies on City, while Arsenal continue to set the standard. Make no mistake, this title is Arsenal’s to lose. The Gunners have been head and shoulders above the rest, showing a level of consistency no other side has matched across all competitions.
After this weekend’s results, there is a growing sense of inevitability about Arsenal lifting the title in May.
Do you agree that this weekend marked the turning point in the title race?
Benjamin Kenneth
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This team should be enough to at least draw Chelsea.
The weekend results were a massive advantage. Still 14 games to go and all we can do is go a game at a time plus maximum support from fans.
We are in a great position and humility and concentration is of prime importance in the next four months.
This is the time you need experienced heads to step and tame the anxiety, Harvetz, jesus, chief among them.
Ah what a weekend.
On our game just a brilliant performance! Nice to see VG get onto the end of one, scoring a proper strikers goal.
And the other results, yes please! Spurs, for all the pain and suffering we have caused you over the years, we truly apologize!
I’m waiting to read what Konstantin says about this weekend’s results.
He’ll probably be blaming Mikel Arteta for the fact that city didn’t lose all three points, while the spuds showed us how to score two goals at home against city 😂😂
Seriously though, where are these fans who come on every time we lose, demanding MA loses his job, certain players need shipping out and the owner needs replacing?
Our demolition of Leeds (home and away 9-0) was the perfect retort after some disappointing results, but this clsmour everytime we drop points is ridiculous.
If we beat Chelsea this week, I really can’t see city115 stopping us from lifting the first trophy of the season…. if we play at our best and they do as well.
I’m personally not getting carried away with regards to the PL as there are many twists and turns yet to overcome, Merino’s absence is a stark reminder of what can happen.
Having been at the Sunderland away game, I know they’ll be no pushover, but with the likes of Konstantin 100% behind the manager and players, we should sit nine points above city115 before their visit to Anfield.
Let’s be honest, would ANYONE change the position we find ourselves in this morning with any other club?
Some of our fans are too reactionary and the slightest dip from us or rise from City sends them into full meltdown. Used to be like this but I found the best solution to it for me, just wait and do a monthly review.
At the start of January we were:
4 pts above City,
1st in CL,
Semi final of EFL and
3rd round of FA cup.
Start of February:
gap increased to 6
R16 of CL as top seed
One home draw from the final
4th round of Fa cup
Ken, don’t hold your breath waiting for Konstantin to write an article on our great win at Leeds. If we would have lost I’m pretty sure an article by him would have already been published on JA.
Hope you had a nice break in Portugal.
Cheers HD – had a great time and now on a seven day cruise, courtesy of one of my two wonderful daughters!!
Life couldn’t get much better at the moment and I hope you are doing well with your recovery.
Watched the Leeds, United and City115 games in the lounge over the weekend and have to say, we looked far and away the best squad of them all.
Looking forward to getting back to the Emirates in time for our Wigan cup tie – meanwhile will watch the Chelsea game on the TV and try to keep tabs on the Sunderland game while flying back to the UK.
Have you managed to get to a game yet this season?
As for Konstantin, I really don’t know what he gets from supporting our club, as he never seems to be positive about anything.
As I said, is there any PL club who wouldn’t want to swap places with The Arsenal at this moment in time?
Actually I hope he never has to write another article, as that would mean MA and his players are doing OK!!
Very pampered! A birthday present perhaps?
After nearly 2 years as a red member my eldest son has now got 3 tickets for him and his 2 boys for the Wigan game. The seven year old’s first proper game. A long wait.
I’ll be reading all the comments for the next 2 weeks as unlikely to be able to watch any. A season ticket friend at Spurs said City aren’t as good as they think they are and by all accounts Rodri and Guardiola have been whinging. Happy days!
Glad you are having a good time Ken. Im feeling a lot better thanks. I haven’t been to a game yet, but my great mate Paul is going to take me to a game soon. He sorted out an area close to the ground where he can park his motor.
👍Great news HD, as I seem to remember you didn’t think you’d be able to get back to The Emirates.
SueP – not a birthday present, but a Dad and Daughter time out.
Really pleased for your family – such a shame more real fans can’t get tickets.
Let’s hope the proposed revamp of The Emirates will go ahead and allow more said real fans to support the club 🤞
One game at a time.24 down,14 more to go.You can do it guys!
I think the way Arteta has handled all these question of pressure has been excellent. Talking about a beautiful journey, we must embrace this and enjoy it, etc. I’m South African, and therefore watch a lot of rugby! Seems like this approach is similar to how Rassie Erasmus approached the narrative, rather saying this is not pressure, it’s privilege.
I think that really rubs off on the players, and after this weekend with our win and other results favouring us, confidence within the camp will be sky high.
As I’ve said in post’s over the season, I’m taking the games in blocks of 6.
In our first block of 6. We took 13 points from a possible 18 points.
The second block of 6. We took 16 from 18. Points total 29.
The third block of 6: We took 13 from 18. Points total 42.
And the forth block of 6: We took 11 from 18. Points total 53.
So although these last 6 have been our worst regards points return, to find ourselves 7 points clear is a pretty impressive position to be in if you ask me. 👍