What a ride Arsenal is on; they came out of nowhere this season to find themselves at the top of the Premier League and haven’t let go. After their dominant 4-0 win over Everton, Arsenal are now leading the title charge with 60 points, 5 points ahead of defending champions Manchester City, who are second.
Even though there is that huge point gap, the league looks to be tight according to how things are now, considering that not only Manchester City but also Manchester United are showing interest in being the league’s title contenders this season despite being 11 points off the top spot but with a game in hand.
With at least 14 games to go, anything can happen, but, personally, I think Arsenal stand a better chance of beating the other English Premier League sides and becoming the new champions.
Here are some of the reasons why I believe this:
1. They are now 5 points clear of their main competitor, Manchester City, who is in second place and 11 points ahead of 3rd-placed Manchester United. Of the two, Manchester City has easily dropped points this season. Manchester United seem to be in good form, but they may be pressured by the tight schedule they have.
2. Gabriel Jesus, Arteta’s talisman, could be back soon. The Brazilian was a hit in Arsenal colours before getting injured. Since getting injured in the Qatar World Cup, he has been out of action for over eight weeks. His return will be a big boost to the team.
3. Jorginho and Leandro Trossard’s winter transfer deals have cushioned Arsenal against the injury struggles many predicted would impede their title charge. Arteta can now not only rotate his team but also have a strong squad when an injury arises in midfield or attack.
What do you think about these reasons? The comment section below is open for your opinion…
Daniel O
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The Citizens are still the favorite though not a hot one mainly because of their experience and the mighty assemble squad at their disposal.
But somthing now tells me whoever catch us shall surely win.
Todays betting:
Arsenal 4/5
City. 11/10
Man U. 12/1
N’Cast 500/1
Tot. 500/1
Liv. 750/1
Was just in my opinion the Citizens are favorite,
Honestly though if I was a betting man I could not bet against Arsenal lifting the big jug come the end of this campaign..
Pat
I agree with you that we are on one hell of a ride and enjoying the moment
I don’t agree with you that we have come out of no where
Last season we showed at times we could give as good as we get
We just needed more consistency
Winning by just getting over the line but some on here said not good enough but couldn’t see beyond the end of there nose that Winning at all cost breeds confidence
I am so happy for MA and some of the team as they took a lot of stick
I even gave some and especially xhaka who I thought was not good enough for us at times
I stand corrected this season and he has been a rock
We have a good chance of seeing off all comers but again if we are still there or there abouts come end of March then I believe we could capture the big prize. A long way to go still.
Onwards and upwards
Alan, Daniel O, NOT Pat, wrote this article.
Game by game please. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Though I’m excited about our current squad. We look good enough to challenge any opponent. I still want us open the gap a little wider than 5 points come April. Then I will begin to shout louder of us winning the league. With the return injured players, I see arsenal finishing strongly. Let’s keep our fingers crossed as this seems to be promising.
I would only consider us having better chance than Man City if we manage to win all our games in March and the games against Liverpool/ Chelsea in April
We still have to play against four big teams:
– Liverpool vs Arsenal at Anfield: We should get at least one point here
– Man City vs Arsenal at Etihad: We’d likely lose, because they have better attacking cohesion and quality on the bench
– Arsenal vs Chelsea at the Emirates: We must win here, otherwise Man City could overtake us since they have way easier fixtures
– Newcastle vs Arsenal at St James Park: Another must-win game
Man City just need to play against three big teams at Etihad stadium
GAI
I like reading your comments but have to say that at times you make the world so doom and gloom
We do have play some hard games but from now to the end of the season they will all be hard in one or another.
Have you started to believe now? As you had concerns about us even making top 4 at the start
City only have 3 so called hard games but from past performance they have dropped points against lesser teams
Alan, Man City were inconsistent at the beginning of the season, but it’s different now
They will play all their difficult games at home, whereas we will have three tough away games + the one against Chelsea at the Emirates
As I said, I would only be confident of our EPL title winning chance if we win all our games in March and the games against Liverpool/ Chelsea in April
I bet as soon as you snt the message your regretted
City losst against the spuds not so long ago
Drew against forest more recently
They have the pedigree but it’s been
A funny season a d anything can happen
Man City lost against Spuds in London
I agree that football is unpredictable though
How is “it different now “.
They have dropped five points in past five weeks. That isn’t so long ago “IN THE PAST” if u ask me.
Based on their results this year, they only drop points in tough away games
so Palace, brighton, fulham and brentford away are not difficult for Mcity.
Palace led 2-0 at etihad
fulham were only beaten by a dive by debruyne
brentford beat them
An everton team probably in a relegation dogfight on Wk36 isn’t going to be easy.
Well considering you have always been a mcity fanboy, it is not surprising. Yes we have some really difficult fixtures but so does mcity.
Man City have been getting consistent results from their games against mid-table teams, which is similar to our results
So I just compare their upcoming tough matches against top teams with our fixtures
If Newcastle and Crystal Palace can beat Man City, I’d be convinced of our EPL title winning chance
Exactly similar to our results, with 5 pts buffer we just have to match them and not lose at Etihad. Even a loss wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Our Fixtures list is slightly more difficult but again 5 pts buffer means we can afford 1 extra slip up.
yes Gai, apart from Chelsea that we beat away, we lost to ManU away we need to beat at least two big teams and who say we can’t pick a draw against ManCity. Especially if Arteta can manage to play Pathey & Jorginho against city to to make the midfield difficult for then Hadar to penetrate our attack. Our chance to win the league is still big. I bet ManCity won’t win all their matches from now on.. It won’t be that easy..
I’d also like to see Partey in Xhaka’s or Odegaard’s position
I believe we control our own fate in the title chase, and it’s in our hands to win or lose.
City and Utd need us to drop points in the next 14 matches, while if we handle our business it’s irrelevant what their results are.
Going forward it’s crucial to keep this squad intact and not sell players, even those providing depth.
The cohesion and togetherness is hard to attain, and our young squad will only get better.
We can be PL contenders for several years with this squad, and I believe we also can be predators in the Champions League for the next several years.
Massive job done by Arteta and Edu, and massive support by Josh Kroenke for fully believing and financially backing this project.
Let’s focus on our academy to step in for added depth and maybe even compete for 1st team starts in the future.
Absolutely agree with you Durand, especially the part regarding the Kronkies.
They have opened their wallets, backed MA to the hilt and, like us, are reaping the rewards.
As AB says above, it was the “consistency” that seemed to evade MA during the previous seasons and I never knew what performance I was going to see.
Now (apart from the Everton away game) it has been full on 100% consistency and, even if we don’t win the PL, that is all any supporter can ask for.
I don’t agree that chelsea will be a difficult game and only see city and liverpool away as really hard games – however, we know we can, at the very least, match them player for player regarding input and I really think we can achieve top spot.
It’s not about one, two, three or even four reasons why we should win it – it’s about playing to our strengths every game.
Do that and we will win the PL… in my opinion.
Reality is, due to a 5 point advantage, we are favourites. In the real world, it has not happened yet, so prediction doesn’t mean much. We also got a hard copy apology from VAR admitting to Lee-Masongate and we can add two moral/ethical points to our total to denigrate City if they come first. So unless the Shittizens beat us by more than a point Howard Webb will be soiling himself.
OK what do I believe? Belief is a weird thing, a conceptual notion, based on dear old ‘Pandora’s Hope’. I do think we can win it and likely will. With Gabby Jesus about to return and our signings of Leo Trossard and Jorginho, along with City’s ability to drop points suddenly, our five point lead may well be enough.
We may yet be able to dust off that song our supporters sang in 1991 following the two points deduction and winning the league.
Sad to relate, I have come to regard DANIEL O, a regular JA writer, as less than a proper writer but more as a populist stater of the obvious. His articles are depressingly void of any insight or new slants and simply regurgitate stale opinions.
In THIS piece he lists three reasons and asks our opinion of them.
What stands out to my thinking mind is the total lack of any reasons at all for the alternative view, as if only pro Arsenal reasons matter and nothing at all regarding City or United carries ANY weight at all.
Lightweight and shallow is the best I can say for DANIELS writing. Or to put it more simply, at least some attempt at BALANCE !!
Jon, we all can’t be Charles Dickens or Jon Fox, so just read what stimulates your superior brain!!
I just enjoy reading the views / opinions of other Gooners, including yours…. which can sometimes be long winded as can mine!!
KEN did I say you were not allowed to read whatever YOU wish to read? No I DID NOT.
Equally, I will read what I choose and comment on what I CHOOSE !
I gave my own opinion and spoke for myself, not for you. Just to clear up that misconception you seem to have, for whatever reason!
ITS CALLED FREE SPEECH. WHY NOT TRY IT SOMETIME!!
MA is doing a wonderful job with the team. My problem is that we have lost so many points and matches against Man City (11 in EPL). It breaks my heart when teams like Forest, Villa, Everton, etc could managed a stalemate against them and Arsenal couldn’t do so for 5 consecutive PL seasons.
If Arsenal could get a draw at Etihad, they will be champions for sure.
It’s about time we started taking away the smiles of the city players when they play us.