After round 28, Arsenal topped the table with 69 points, creating an 8-point gap compared to Man City.
Man City celebrate a 3 – 1 victory over Arsenal in the first leg. Photo: ITN.
The chance to win the Premier League this season has tilted in favor of Arsenal, but the London Gunners still need to overcome a “red fire” April, including a battle on the field of rivals chasing Man City. So, the possibility of Arsenal falling before the finish line can still happen.
The flag is in hand
The last English Premier League title won by Arsenal was from the 2003-2004 season, gaining 90 points from 38 unbeaten matches. The Gunners that year became the first team in the English top flight to win without losing a game since Preston North End in 1889.
Up to now, this record of Arsenal exists and no team has broken it. Arsenal 19 years ago was rated as one of the most watchable teams in the history of the Premier League as well as the Gunners.
After round 28, Arsenal topped the table with 69 points, creating an 8-point gap compared to Man City.
The bright spot with the Gunners this season is that they have resolved quite thoroughly to limit their away achievements with very impressive results, winning 11, drawing 1 and losing only 2, gaining 34 points, while the whole season before Mr. Coach Arteta only won 28 points in 19 matches to leave the “mecca” Emirates.
Besides, Arsenal are open to the championship because they have shown their bravery in the most difficult moments. For example, in 10 London derbies from the beginning of the season so far, the Gunners have won 9 matches – a record in the English Premier League and only lost 1 match. That achievement comes from an Arsenal with a skillful combination of youth and experience, bravery and desire to win.
From last year’s lesson, Arsenal did not strengthen the squad even after letting striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang go to Barcelona, and then at the end of the season they kept getting weaker with each lap.
This season, coach Arteta took advantage of the opportunity to add forces to bring in the players he needed to serve his ambition to quench his thirst for championships after 19 long years.
The Gunners proved wiser and more sophisticated in their transfer than in previous seasons. Besides the maturity of young players like Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, the new faces have almost completely filled in the gaps in terms of personnel and the Gunner’s identified gameplay.
Especially, with faces like Jorginho, Gabriel Jesus or Oleksandr Zinchenko, in addition to experience, these players also bring the qualities of champions, which Arsenal used to be considered “kindergarten” without. .
On the journey of 28 Premier League races, there were many times when Arteta’s teachers and students faced a crisis, such as 4 matches only drawn and lost in early February. Experts say that the Gunners will step in their own footsteps and fall in the next rounds. But with what it takes of a championship candidate, Arsenal have returned to the winning trajectory to restore the 8-point gap against Man City.
Arteta and his students recently wobbled once more, being bitterly eliminated by Sporting CP of Portugal in the 1/8 round of the Europa League. However, that is invisible to the Gunners because they have the conditions to put all their energy into the English Premier League.
Meanwhile, Man City will focus on the quarter-finals of the Champions League, meeting Bayern Munich (Germany). Obviously at this moment, Man City, which is too “full” of the domestic league, is yearning for the European championship more than ever.
Stormy April
The schedule of the remaining matches of Arsenal and Man City. Photo: Sunsport.
However, many experts still maintain the view that Arsenal will collapse under pressure in the race to win the Premier League.
Gary Neville – Man Utd’s legendary player – commented: “Arsenal will start to panic, anxiety will soon come, the pressure will increase. History shows that they always have difficulty in the latter part of the season and this season, Arteta still has 10 difficult games in front of them. I still believe that Man City will finish at No.
Gary Neville’s view, although not received by the majority of the audience, but some experts also share this opinion. Arsenal are more than 8 points but Man City played one game less.
In addition, the Blue Man at home has a direct confrontation with Arsenal. This season, Man City beat Arsenal 1-0 in the FA Cup and 3-1 in the first leg of the Premier League.
And if, under the assumption that Man City wins the second leg against Arsenal and wins the match against West Ham, it is postponed because the Blue Man kicks the FA Cup, then the other 8 points gap is only 2.
Arsenal entered April full of pitfalls. Arteta’s teachers and students will encounter very unpleasant opponents, potentially causing surprises like Leeds, Liverpool and West Ham before they have a 6-point battle at the Etihad.
Gunners have the ability to maintain a safe distance in points? Very difficult! Because only 2 days after the match against Man City (April 27), Arsenal will close the “death” month with another difficult match at home, the opponent is Chelsea. Therefore, Man City is likely to usurp the top spot to bring back the right to self-determination on the championship track.
How about May? In theory, the Gunners have an easier schedule against opponents like Newcastle (May 6), Brighton (May 13), Nottingham (May 20) and Wolverhampton (May 28).
But will Arteta’s teachers and students make it through the fiery April? If not overcome, it is very likely that the consequences will drag to May and the Gunners will fall before the “door of heaven” as many times in the past, 19 years ago.
How Man City will enter May depends on 2 main unknowns. Did they beat Arsenal at home, and did they beat the German Gray Lobster? In addition, the Green Man still has one more front, that is the FA Cup where they have won the right to the semi-finals.
If under the assumption that Man City reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and the final of the FA Cup, this team would have to play 16 matches in April and May, 7 more games than Arsenal.
Recently, Man City received bad news when the assassin Erling Haaland was injured, during the national team gathering. Without the striker who has scored 42 goals in 37 games, how will the Green Man fight? So, the race between Arsenal and Man City promises to be very dramatic, unpredictable and most likely the result will not be for the faint-hearted audience. Let’s see!
