It has been a long time coming for Arsenal, and has been a tough task to drag ourselves back into the top four of the Premier League after a poor start was compounded by a few injury problems and a rotten record away from home which was not helped by some pretty poor decisions from the match officials.
The big question now is whether the Gunners can stick around and cement our place in the top four or whether we Gooners will, instead, look back on this weekend as a brief moment in the sun before we drop below Liverpool and Tottenham again.
Arsenal were certainly helped by the fixture list this weekend which saw Chelsea and Liverpool face each other, but at the same time a lot of pundits did not expect us to win at Burnley, and you could say that we have not had much luck so far in this Premier League campaign.
Sky Sports reported that Arsene Wenger accepted that Arsenal were quite lucky to get that late goal, although he did say it was definitely a penalty, because Burnley had done very well to blunt our attack and are clearly a tough team to beat at Turf Moor. So that could be a massive goal come the end of the season although the boss wanted to play down any early talk of getting back into the Champions League next season.
He said, “It’s early, it changes from one week to another. We wanted to win away from home and we did it. It’s only November and it is too early to talk about the Champions League.”
Only time will tell, of course, but I am fairly confident about Arsenal staying where we are or rising higher rather than slipping back. A look at the upcoming games shows that despite facing second placed Manchester United next weekend, there is no reason for us to worry.
We are at home against United and do have a decent recent record against them at the Emirates. Our other games before the festive period are at home to Huddersfield and Newcastle and away to West Ham and Southampton, so as long our form does not collapse there should be a lot of points coming our way.
Also, apart from Man City, our rivals do not look too great or consistent themselves. Unfortunately the title looks like City’s to lose but Arsenal for me should be one of the clubs ready to take advantage if they do. Will Arsenal still be in the top four at the halfway stage, do you think?
Bob.