UNPOPULAR OPINION: Is there a world where Arsenal finish third? by Benedict
Arsenal are battling for European football after completely missing out last year, however there’s a chance that the third spot is the one we can end up in, something that would be a huge success for Arteta.
Currently in sixth with three games in hand over Manchester United and West Ham, we now sit three points above rivals Tottenham who lost two games in the past week.
If we win these games, we will slide into fourth place.
Now, it is easy to get overexcited at this stage in the season with plenty of games still left to play; however, we will only lie two points behind European Champions Chelsea (third), whom we still need to play for a second time.
I know that they have a much better-quality squad with a lot of depth, however losing Chilwell and James has left them in poor form, drawing three and losing one in their last five.
Chelsea’s goals have come from their defence this season with big money signings Lukaku and Werner struggling to find the back of the net as their confidence hits rock bottom.
The date (ARS-CHE) is not yet confirmed but could become a huge game in the conclusion of the season, could we leapfrog them?
Especially with the fact that they are still competing in the FA Cup, EFL Cup, Champions League and Prem, they will have a travelled and tired squad.
We must remain injury free for the rest of the season and need Martinelli, Saka and ESR to keep up their fine form and continue scoring goals from midfield. A big ask for the youngsters all having their best seasons.
Think about our rivals, Spurs don’t seem to have a good enough squad yet, West Ham lack star quality and Man United can’t score more than a goal a game under Rangnick.
It seems that Wolves may be our closest rival for the fourth spot at this rate, defensively assured and well organised, but the good thing is we just beat them 1-0 away from home with ten men!
With 16 games to go this season, we will still inevitably drop points against sides until this season ends, however we do play less games against the top six than most and a lot of our remaining games are also at home, which we have managed to keep a strong record this season.
Carragher picked Arsenal as his favourite for the top four while Souness believes that we simply lack the goals in our squad. So even the pundits think its tough to call.
The Premier League is always unpredictable, games in hand does not mean wins in the most competitive league in the world. Every team will be the favourite until they drop points.
We need to have an almost perfect record to end of the season if we want a chance of getting top four and even maybe, just maybe, even third place.
Where will we end up?
Key Dates:
24th February – Wolves (home)
23rd April – Manchester United (home)
30th April – West Ham (away)
TBC – Sp*rs (away)
TBC – Chelsea (away)
Until Next Time Gooners,
Benedict
It’s highly improbable, since Chelsea have more firepower, are more consistent and have better players
I don’t think any team can finish in top four if all their main CFs are leaving
GAI
really disappointed in you that you cannot see further then our main CF
yes we should have bolstered our front line in the Jan window but for what ever reason we didn’t so we are where we are.
We got to 4th spot in Jan with out our CF who by the way failed to show up on numerous occasions when picked. He needed a change and.new challenge and we needed
To take him out of the equation so it worked out well for both sides.
Our defence is the key. We keep strong there then we have every chance of top 4. Who knows chelski might blow up and we nick top 3
Clean sheet equates to points and nicking a goal here and there equates to 3 points
Onwards and upwards
Our defense is great, but goalless matches won’t make us finish in top four
Without an excellent CF, we struggled to score against Burnley/ Wolves and couldn’t even win against the top three teams
If I am not mistaken we s ores against wolves and CLAIMED the 3 points
We didn’t score against Burnley but didn’t concede..1 points on the board
What do points make….prizes 😀
We have not had a top striker all Season and we ended 4th at Christmas
Stay positive
Onwards and upwards
Of course we can,provided we can go unbeaten in the remainder of the season with not more than three draws.
The away games against Chelsea and the Spuds will be key. That said, every game is tough and we need to be at our best for every game. I only hope our forwards click and remain injury free and we dont have any further red cards. Also hoping Arteta starts using Pepe as CF and Pepe should deliver the goods for us. An attacking group of Pepe, Saka, Martinelli and ESR should strike fear into any defence, with Laca and Odegard contributing in their own ways. Cautious optimism is the word as far as the rest of the season is concerned but there is no denying the fact that Arteta has turned this squad into a group of determined and gritty players ready to fight it out.
Gunnerforlife
Beleive we have enough in the tank to get us too 4th.
Not sure about pepe delivering the good for us though
My take on him is, good player and could tear most defence apart on his day but his day are fewNd few between but I live in hope he can find consistency
Gotanidea- how are Chelsea more consistent?
Looking at half-a-season’s matches, we have won 12 and gained 39 points. Chelsea have won only 9 and gained 34 points.
Chelsea had a seven point head start on us from first three games of the season, but since then they have been playing at the same level as Wolves (also 34 points from last 19 matches).
That’s not a head start lol…it’s games that count!
You ask how they have been more consistent?
-scored more than us
-conceded less than us
-won more than us
-drawn more than us
-lost less than us
What you’ve said is true, but completely irrelevant to the idea of consistency. Chelsea were top of the league after 6 games (13pts & 5 wins). In the 19 games since then they’ve been far more inconsistent than Arsenal, winning only 9 games. If you don’t believe me try reading any Chelsea blog!!
And are we consistent right now since the city game.? We scored only 1 goal so far this year, does that look like the making of a top 3 team? Get real
Chelsea only lost three games, whereas we lost seven. Their goal difference is thirty, but ours is just nine
How do we slide upwards and if Chelsea are having trouble scoring with their forwards do we not also have that problem?.
Mathematically it’s possible, but that would require a nearly perfect finish to the season. We haven’t been consistent in 2 years, doubtful it would start now.
“We haven’t been consistent in 2 years” omg I think it’s been more than two years🤔
Id be more than satisfied with 4th
I would say the chance to finish 3rd is close to impossible, because we are lacking of goals, we won’t score enough goals to keep winning the necessary games
top 4 alone is not easy task. i know our rival dropped points but my question would arsenal could go on winning streak? look how many goals have arsenal scored since january, a win against wolves only scored by a shy tiny one goal and we don’t always have it every game, a game against burnley could give you a better idea how we struggle to score
Top-three, top-four, what does it matter?
All I ask for is Champions League football at the Emirates next season
Best article yet, a real fresh and insightfully written piece! Always my favourite time of the week reading Bens articles
Lacazette does not score goals, Martinelli isn’t at the moment….so I doubt if we can get third, just not possible with our team as it is. Fourth a good chance, but our form of two steps forwards and two steps backwards leaves it on a knife’s edge. I just can’t see enough goals coming from the team and even fourth may be well be a bridge be too far. But no doubt if they stay be strong there is a possibility of fourth, but it will be difficult.
every games now the same no easy club ,only hard strugle will push us forward.
We have always had issues getting a good balance. It is either our defense is good and our attackers do not score goals or the other way round. It’s so frustrating at times.
“Man United can’t score more than a goal a game under Rangnick”
talk about the pot calling the kettle black, especially considering our recent form and the fact that less than 24 hours ago they scored twice
mindless bias banter isn’t going to help us, it’s just going to bring out more tin foil soldiers like those who will blindly argue that we’re more consistent than Chelski
it’s one thing to remain ever hopeful, it’s another thing altogether to present an entirely cherry-picked narrative that cheaply caters to an already overly eager choir
What he said 👆👏
Spot on 👍👍
Some of us have been critical of those who have been unduly negative about our prospects this season. It seems that that in order to get some kind of “balance”we are now seeing articles with increasing grandiosity with regards to hope and expectations.
Arsenal remain in the battle for fourth and and we should be thankful for that at this point. There will be fluctuations in performance and fortune before the season is over.
Speculating about the possibility of third is a ridiculous exercise at this point. The focus should be winning the next game.
Watched Southampton outplay ManU and Spurs in the last week and Brighton go toe to toe with a lucky ManU last night. Like someone said above, all the games are tough. I can’t remember such a competitive season.
I’d be surprised if Chelsea don’t right the ship. I’ll be equally surprised if there aren’t at least three teams with a good shot for the last CL spot with two games to go. I think we’ll be one of them (as long as we stay clear of injuries and suspensions) but after a few years of wilderness it’s just nice to be back in the conversation.
If they can solve their discipline problems then they have a chance, they have to keep players on the field.
I don’t think that the chance is good due to our weak offense. I would be more than happy if they play good football and are right in the discussion til the end.
I started the year thinking that Europa League would be great so I can’t change that now. Don’t get me wrong – more is better – COYG!!!
Some might say Benedict is barking up the wrong tree. I say he is simply barking!
By NO rational analysis can any sensible fan think we are going to finish above Chelsea and in third place.
I dislike fantasy predictions as they have no place in my reality.
We do not score enough goals.
Aything less than 4th is not good enough.
Many on here will say otherwise.
The futbol over 100 games in under Aterta’s reign has not been that exciting to watch, more like watching paint dry….
I agree with the opinion . Third is definitely there for the taking . We need to beat Chelsea for that and they are beatable. They have a good team on paper but have not been performing as expected . We need goals but who has buckets of them in premier league ? Its a tough league . Look at City scrapping through matches before their last game . It kept them picking points . Lets be happy when our team does the same . Take that 1 nil against Wolves away and watch a competitor lose at home to them. Brighton , Wolves, Villa, Westham, Leicester are amongst a group playing to win matches against anyone. No team is getting point merely on being top six alone . Every game is a big fight . Its not about United or Tottenham being poor this season .Its tougher opponents .
There is a lot of worry about goals in our team. We will get goals because we still have good options upfront . We are basically up there because of goals from the same options we still have upfront . Auba had negligible impact goal wise. His absence wont be felt . 3rd is definitely not impossible . A lot of things have to go right on our part . Lets enjoy the matches as they come and we will be alright .
I assume Admin Pat wrote this article during REM sleep.
LOL @JW, you should have read it while awake!
It clearly says written “by Benedict”…