I know that a lot of Arsenal fans were hoping for a draw in the local derby between Manchester United and Liverpool at Anfield yesterday. With both clubs appearing to Arsenal´s biggest rivals for a top four finish, a draw would have meant that we had a decent gap of three points above United.
But I think that the United win has actually done the Gunners a big favour. It might mean that we are less likely to improve on last season by coming second or third but it does increase our chances of being in the Champions League again next season.
More important than the points from the result, however, could be the damage it does to Brendan Rodgers and his team. They were really beginning to look dangerous and were putting together the sort of run that nearly earned them the Premier League title last year. Now their tactics are not looking so great and their confidence has taken a real knock.
We know that they can really build momentum, winning 11 in a row towards the end of last season and looking unbeatable. This time their run was five wins in a row and just one draw in the last nine league games. But we also saw last season that they can lose all their momentum with one bad game and yesterday´s reminded me of that `slip´ at home to Chelsea last time.
It was Gerrard again and as he is such a big figure at the club, I think they will struggle to regain that momentum which is great news for Arsenal as we face them at the Emirates stadium in our next game and we could end up facing them in the FA cup final. What would be perfect though is for us to punish them further in the next game and then see Blackburn knock them out of the cup a few days later.
With Arsenal in great form and the international break to give us a rest and with Gerrard and probably Skrtel banned for the game against us and Lallana a doubt with a groin problem that has forced him out of the England squad, Liverpool could hardly pick a worse time to play us at home.
So will United´s win prove to be a big help to Arsenal?