Gary Neville has predicted that Arsenal will fail in their attempt to win a first Premier League title since 2004. If Mikel Arteta’s side is to claim the Premier League, they’ll need to get through the month of April.
Let’s take a look at Arsenal’s final 10 fixtures in the Premier League, with the first on April 1st at home to Leeds:
- Leeds (H)
- Liverpool (A)
- West Ham (A)
- Southampton (H)
- Manchester City (A)
- Chelsea (H)
- Newcastle (A)
- Brighton (H)
- Forest (A)
- Wolves (H)
Thanks to the FA Cup and previously postponed fixtures, Arteta faces his old colleague Pep Guardiola 3 times before the end of the season. The first of those meetings is on Saturday in the FA Cup. That fixture will be an interesting indication of where Manchester City are at right now…
If you have watched Manchester City lately, it’s clear that they are not at their absolute best. When you have the individual players and ability that they do, you will always win games, but in terms of the football being played… They still have a few gears to move into you feel.
I do think Arsenal will win the league this season. We might only be half way through the season, but it was around this time (early February) that Leicester City famously went to the Etihad and won 3-1 during their incredible title winning season. I, like most, remember watching that game finally believing that this team can do the impossible. They can win the league.
This is how I have felt about Arsenal after the Premier League returned to action last month. Gabriel Jesus was ruled out for ~3 months. Many saw this and instantly cast doubt over Eddie Nketiah and his ability to deputise for the Brazilian, myself included. This Arsenal team loves to prove people wrong, or maybe they don’t. In actuality, it feels like they don’t even care about what’s being said. They just go out there and play their own game.
Mikel Arteta deserves massive credit for this. April is going to be a decisive month in the title race, as it always is, but this past month might prove to be just as important for Arsenal. The way they went to Spurs and won 0-2 and the recent victory against Manchester United have me feeling like I did after watching Leicester City in February of 2016. I’m starting to believe, and I think Arsenal fans should too. This team is special.
Written by Joe (Founder @ OddAlerts)