Following a string of impressive victories in the Premier League, Arsenal will surely be most peoples’ favourites to finish in the top four among all the teams vying for Champions League football. Having won six domestic games on the bounce, the Gunners go into the last eight games with all the momentum in the world. But can Arsenal go one better and trump Manchester City for second?
Looking at the fixture list for both clubs and the recent form as well, there can be no denying that the North London side have every chance to finish second. With City just one point ahead of Arsenal and struggling to find consistency, it has to be said that Manuel Pellegrini’s men will not be very confident of holding on to second, and I believe Arsene Wenger will definitely capitalise.
Manchester City still have difficult away trips to a revitalised Crystal Palace, bitter rivals Manchester United, Spurs and Swansea, while home fixtures against West Ham and Southampton will also be tricky. Looking at Arsenal’s fixture list, an away trip to to Manchester United stands out as the most difficult, although we will play host to Chelsea and Liverpool as well. Comparatively though, I feel Arsenal have a much easier run of fixtures compared to the Champions .
With that being said, not only do I think Arsenal have a chance to finish second, I believe they will! Unless the team find themselves in another injury crisis or suffer from a massive dip in form, I predict that Arsenal will finish above City and claim second spot, giving the team the perfect foundation to sign some quality in the summer and go for the title next season.
Anurag