In early February, on the 3rd precisely, the harsh reality of how our season would end up was revealed to the gooners. That day, which was actually the deadline for the January transfer window, Arsenal failed to add a single player to the squad. Arteta in the few press conferences prior to its closure sounded like a man in need of desperate help from his employers after realizing the size of the task ahead. At the start of the window, a forward signing at the very least was expected to be made given our needs at time. We failed to do so even after our problems got exacerbated by the long-term injury to Gabriel Jesus. The club decided to bank on our forwards staying fit for the remainder of the campaign, but we got punished almost instantly as we proceeded to lose both Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz in Dubai.
Martinelli has just made a return to the Arsenal squad but Havertz will not play again till next season. That failure in January has seriously affected our campaign and now we are in danger of missing out on silverware – yet again – as a result of it. We currently find ourselves trailing Liverpool by a whopping 12 points in the Premier League after dropping points to West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United in the last month or so. In those three games, Arsenal managed only a single goal!
In the Champions League, things have been a little different as the Gunners find themselves at the quarter-final stage of the prestigious competition, after dismantling PSV in the previous round. Despite the 12 point margin and the small matter of a clash against Real Madrid in the UCL, some Gooners still harbor hopes of silverware at the end of the season.
Firstly, when looking at the possibility of Premier League glory. We will require a monumental collapse from the Reds along with perfection to win the League. Winning it at this stage will be unprecedented, and by all means unlikely, but the Gunners might have something to cling on to in the form of hope. Liverpool have started to stutter in recent weeks after crashing out of the Champions League and losing the EFL Cup final in just a matter of days. They’re starting to lose some players to injury too as the effects of the long campaign has started to take its toll. This would’ve been a massive boost if we were like five points behind but a 12 point cushion plus a superior goal difference has afforded them greater margin for error.
Winning the Champions League will be easier in my opinion but that doesn’t mean we won’t suffer. If we manage to get past the reigning champions, PSG or Aston Villa will await in the semi-final. Given how good they’ve been playing in recent months, I fully expect us to play the French giants in the hypothetical semi-final. Looking at how they outclassed Liverpool over the course of two legs, they will be a very difficult opponent to overcome. If we do manage to make it to the final then well It IS the UCL final, games don’t come much harder than that!
Winning either competition is still within the realms of possibility but I will only believe in either one if Liverpool start dropping points consistently and we manage to knock out Real Madrid. Until that happens, our realistic aim for the final two months of the season should be to secure a top four place and consolidate our place as runners-up.
That is my genuine take on the headline, give me yours in the comments please Gooners!
BENJAMIN KENNETH
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Just try our very best to win our remaining matches in EPL. Also try our very best against Real Madrid in Champions League. It would be amazing if we beat them
👍Stephanie
Exactly Stephanie. That’s all anyone can ask for.
Exactly what I was going to write Stephanie.
Making sure of top 4, so as to be in next season’s CL is the first objective of every season for a major club (if we exclude “avoiding relegation” as the No 1 objective 🤣).
Just trying to win games from here on in is the key thing in the PL.
The CL may need some tactical nous, thinking about the two-legged format against top opponents. The competition has already been a success for Arsenal though, anything further is icing on the cake.
Staying in second place is about the best the club can hope for. Next best thing is avoiding any further injury issues.
Securing top four is an realistic aim, and the most important one right now. I feel that the risk of ending up in a top four battle is bigger than our chances of actually winning anything this season. Winning PL/CL would be a big bonus in a very frustrating season!
Statistically, We have a better chance of finishing outside top 6 than catching Liverpool.
Liv’pool: 70pts
Arsenal: 58pts
6th placed team: 47pts
The best we can hope for is to finish in the top 6 and be eliminated at the hands of Madrid with a respectable scoreline.
Slightly negative outlook on things…
Also, the comment asserts that it is more likely that the 3rd – 6th clubs will ALL get 11 points more than we do during the rest of the season as opposed to us getting 12 more points than LP. So you definitely hit the nail on the head.
@timpthy,
You are overly negative! Despite our injuries we’re still second on the table. Now, with the return of couple of players from injuries you still expect us in the top 6? Shame on you. You’re either lacking football knowledge or just a hopeless fan.
Soccer boy,
I thought you were a bit harsh there on @timpthy. You may not agree with him, but to say shame on him was a bit over the top.
He’s got nothing to be ashamed about. Just my opinion of course. 👍
Don’t need your negativity, take it elsewhere, no matter what happens, anything can happen
I think that the best we can hope for is another second place finish, and hopefully at the very least give a good account of ourselves over the two legs versus Real Madrid. 😉👍
Well, it’s not the best we can hope for but it is the most likely result if the players continue to work hard and have dogged determination for 90 mins against RM.
Bruise Banana,
Point taken re: The best we can hope for. It’s a good job your here to educate me. 🤣😂😉👍
I bet there is something better than being coming secome and giving good account over two legs if it’s to hoping. The best hope will be to lift both trophies though not most likely.
Not trying to educate in any way, just making a point that we can always shoot for the sky – it’s our god given right as gooners, 🤣
Now that’s an educated summary of being a football fan BB.
I always believe we will win something, until we, mathematically can’t!!
Bruised Banana,
If we shoot for the stars we have no chance of beating Real Madrid, the goals a lot lower than where the stars are. 😂🤣😉👍
We just have to make sure we’re using the right balls. (sorry MA)
Bruised Banana,
😂😉👍
First British team to beat RM at their ground, so why not again?
We are not winning the PL and we have a slim chance of beating Real Madrid realistically!
But in football anything can happen, miracles do occur!
Liverpool’s last 5 matches are too tough. They’ve the history of faltering in those circumstances. Maybe their elimination from ucl help them to focus on epl. My friends that support Liverpool have recently become too suspicious of their team’s performances. Can Arsenal overhaul them? Maybe not but the current 12 pts gap should be decreasing at increasing rate from here afterwards. In Ucl final 2006 repeats itself featuring Barca v Arsenal. Arsenal runners up. Then the venue was Paris now in Munich. In summary two 2nd positions (2 silver medals) not bad really with misfortunes such as red cards and injuries to key players.
Top 4 trophy
🤙🤙