With a raft of injuries to first team regulars, Arsenal are about to enter a period that will potentially define their title fate this season. Two successive away fixtures beckons: Liverpool and Stoke, before Chelsea visits the Emirates. You can understand why Arsene Wenger has decided to give his players a mini winter break after the grueling Christmas fixtures. If the team can come through these three fixtures with no new injuries and at least seven points then you can dream eh?
Alexis Sanchez, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky are all expected to return in the next week or so. You would expect Alexis to go straight into the team for the Liverpool clash and Arteta to make the bench, at least. Arsenal has managed to be competitive with Campbell and Walcott deputizing on the left side of attack over the past three weeks. Of course, the results have been okay but these players have not really fired on all cylinders. Sanchez brings a massive goal threat and substantially lifts the confidence of the players around him. He's a menace to defenders because he will never stop running at you. His fitness over the course of the season will surely be a deciding factor on whether Arsenal can sustain their title charge.
It is rather disappointing that Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck are still out with no one exactly sure when they will return. If, and this is a massive if, the duo return in time for the two legged Champions League tie vs Barca, then you really do fancy Arsenal to maybe, just maybe edge out Barcelona on away goals. With the imminent arrival of Mohammed Elneny (let's hope this doesn't turn to another Yann M'vila/Higuain wahala eh?) and Coquelin starting to run again, you really do fancy this Arsenal team to go all the way (you can dream, it's free :-) )
Leroy Rosenior of Premier League FanZone said Arsenal can only win the league if they are four points ahead with one game left in the season. The fans might disagree but you can see why he said that. Arsenal could have won the league in 2011/2012 and 2013/2014 but the team couldn't hold on. Wenger's inability to strengthen the team in January, coupled with injuries and failure in Europe saw the team's challenge fizzle out.
With Arsenal away to Man City on the penultimate week of the season, you can see why Leroy made that statement. This could potentially be a title decider. Can Wenger add more than Elneny this January? Knowing full well he has just Man City to beat (for now, things can change quickly) to win this league, or will he hope his injured stars make a quick and full recovery to aid title charge? Has he learnt from previous seasons? How ruthless is he at 66? This might be his last chance to win the Premier League before his contract expires in a year and half.
Table
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 20 | 42 |
| 2 | Leicester City | 20 | 40 |
| 3 | Man City | 20 | 39 |
| 4 | Tottenham | 20 | 36 |
| 5 | Man Utd | 20 | 33 |
| 6 | West Ham | 20 | 32 |
No comments:
Post a Comment