If things go the way of Arsenal this week, as they did in midweek with the win in Olympiacos that kept us in the Champions League after having one foot and nine toes through the exit door after the first four group games, then we could soon be setting the pace domestically.
The Premier League fixtures this week have certainly thrown up some interesting possibilities. First things first and Arsenal have to go to struggling Aston Villa with the same belief and intent that served us so well in Greece. As long as Arsene Wenger gets the players into the right frame of mind though, with no complacency creeping in, the Gunners should take all three points from the division’s bottom club.
Arsenal play on Sunday so we will know a lot before the game starts as both Manchester clubs play tomorrow and I have a feeling that they might well struggle. United are ravaged by injury and their confidence, which had already taken a blow from the two previous draws, will be seriously tested after crashing out of the Champions League.
Louis van Gaal travel to an in form Bournemouth under real pressure and with hardly any fit defenders and with serious doubts about their ability to create and score goals. Then we have Man City and a few weeks back you would have made them a banker to beat Swansea City.
But as revealed by The Mirror, Man City will have to make do without their main striker Sergio Aguero once more, although Pellegrini says he hopes to have the Argentina international back for their clash with Arsenal a week later. City are also without Kompany, Nasri and Zabaleta. The City manager is also worried that the sacking of Garry Monk will lead to a backlash from the Swansea players.
He said, “I always think when a club changes their manager, they have a special motivation straight away.”
And I hate myself a little bit for saying this, but I think that Chelsea are on the comeback trail and could do us a favour against current league leaders Leicester in Monday night. So if things go well, Arsenal could not only top the table but we could start to open a gap on our rivals and start to take control of the EPL title race.
What do you think this weekend holds Gooners?