The problem with playing only one game a week is that after a disappointing result you have a whole week to brood on it. That is the situation that Arsenal find themselves in now, after their European exit and their disappointing result at Anfield last weekend, when they led by two goals early on but ultimately dropped two points by conceding a very late equaliser. Now they know they have no margin for error if they are to win the Premier League.
After Anfield, Arsenal Have No More Margin For Error
If a week is famously a long time in politics, then it is a near-eternity in football. This time last week, Arsenal were optimistically heading into the away game with a Liverpool side who have been suffering the mother of all hangovers this season after coming so close to winning the Quadruple last season, whereas Manchester City were facing the daunting prospect of playing European giants Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
A week on and the situation has changed dramatically – so much so that Arsenal and their fans can only hope that it has not changed irreversibly. A visit to Anfield is arguably the hardest away game for any Arsenal team, not least because the memories of 1989 and Arsenal’s last-minute winner in the Hillsborough season will always stoke up the home side and their fans, regardless of how the team is performing.
SuperRam to the rescue 🦸 pic.twitter.com/j27wbNDbxP
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 10, 2023
So it proved again last weekend, when Arsenal played superbly for about half an hour against a Liverpool side, who seemed to have no answer for the seemingly endless interchanging of the Gunners’ front three, which must have evoked painful memories for Liverpool fans of their own “Fab Three” of Salah, Mané and Firmino, only one of whom will remain at Anfield next season. Then, however, the tide turned completely, arguably because Granit Xhaka’s over-reaction to a foul on him fired up the Anfield crowd, and by the end Arsenal were thankful that Aaron Ramsdale had saved them at least a point with a superb late save from Salah.
Manchester City Are Showing Treble-Winning Form
32. What a sight.
🔵 3-0 🦊 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/f6XqggJ04W
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 15, 2023
To make matters even worse for Arsenal, in the absence of a midweek game of their own (after their Europa League defeat to Sporting Lisbon) they could do nothing other than join the rest of Europe in marvelling at Manchester City’s 3-0 destruction of Bayern Munich in the Champions League. More than any other result in their recent UAE-backed history, this one suggested that City are finally ready to win the biggest prize in club football.
Of course most Arsenal fans would happily back City to win the Champions League if it meant that their team could win the Premier League. Indeed, the hope among Gooners had been that the extra exertion required for City to conquer Europe might just tip the balance for their side in domestic competition. However, the ease with which City swept Bayern aside suggests that they have the squad not just to win both the Premier and Champions Leagues but the FA Cup too, to give them the Treble that their arch rivals Manchester United won in 1999 (also at the expense of Arsenal).
Of course, City winning the Treble, or even just the Champions League, is far from a done deal. Even if Bayern cannot stage a near-miraculous comeback to win the quarter-final tie at home next week, the likelihood is that City will face serial Champions League winners Real Madrid in the semi-final, after they dispatched Chelsea at home with almost as much ease as City had dispatched Bayern. Such a semi-final, fought out over one week and two legs, would undoubtedly be a titanic clash that would surely take something out of City, whatever the result, leaving them at least a little less prepared for the Premier League games around it.
Arsenal Now Almost Certainly Need At Least A Point At The Etihad
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that for the moment at least the momentum is with City rather than Arsenal. Indeed, what the Anfield result confirmed is what has been Arsenal fans’ worst nightmare for the last few months: that the gap between the two sides, which has been as great as eight points at various stages this season, would close up so much that Arsenal would have to gain at least a point at The Etihad when the two teams meet on Wednesday April 26th.
That eventuality has been a nightmare for Arsenal fans, and possibly even for the players and manager Mikel Arteta too, because of Arsenal’s recent abysmal record against City in the League. After losing 3-1 to City at home earlier this year, the Gunners have now lost a barely believable 11 League games in succession against them, which is by far the longest losing streak in the League for Arsenal against any team in the club’s entire history. That stat alone is enough to make anyone associated with Arsenal nervous, if not downright terrified, about their imminent trip to The Etihad.
But Before Then Arsenal Have Other Tough Fixtures
Before The Etihad match, however, Arsenal have two other League fixtures to play, at least one of which looks difficult, if not quite on The Etihad scale of difficulty. That is the away match at West Ham this weekend. Admittedly, for once Arsenal will be in the relatively luxurious position of facing an opponent on a Sunday that has played a tiring European match on the Thursday before, rather than vice versa, after West Ham secured a 1-1 away draw at Genk in the Europa Conference League. Nevertheless, the inherent dangers of playing at The London Stadium, even when the home side are fighting against relegation in the Premier League, are there for all to see.
Arsenal themselves will surely need no reminding that two seasons ago they were 3-0 down at West Ham before Martin Ødegaard provided the first glimpses of the genius he has shown consistently since by leading the Gunners to a 3-3 draw. But beyond that, West Ham and their fans, having historically been unable to compete for a League title themselves (the Hammers’ highest ever League finish was third in 1986) have always delighted in inflicting title-destroying defeats (or at least draws) against bigger and supposedly better teams, most notably against Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in both 1992 and 1995. Naturally, they would love to do exactly the same against Arsenal this weekend.
Reasons For Hope For Arsenal And Their Fans
So there is no doubt that the events of the last week have swung the title pendulum firmly in Manchester City’s favour. However, Arsenal and their fans can still have hope even as they contemplate the most arduous of tasks. If they can beat West Ham away and then Southampton at home after that, they will go to City with their spirits lifted again. And even amid the wreckage of the side’s League form against City over the last half a decade or so, the Gunners have twice beaten City in FA Cup semi-finals (in 2017 and 2020), albeit that those games were played at neutral Wembley rather than City’s home ground.
Perhaps more than anything, though, the events of the last week will hopefully have concentrated the minds and hearts of all associated with Arsenal. It would have been unthinkable at the start of the season that they would even have been in this situation of challenging for the title and, whatever happens now, they seem certain to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in seven years, which was the primary target at the start of the season. If, however, they can beat West Ham and Southampton, and then summon the spirit of Anfield 89 (rather than Anfield last week) to eke out at least a draw at The Etihad, it is still possible that they can achieve one of the most remarkable title wins in the club’s history.
