Never trust Sir Alex Ferguson. After claiming he’d rest the likes of Carrick and Rooney against Arsenal and play a strengthened side against Chelsea, he did exactly the opposite, and took a point away from the Arsenal game, while losing to Chelsea. In some ways this is helpful, as it’s reconfirmed my hatred for Manchester United.
But it does leave Arsenal in a somewhat sticky position, with Chelsea ahead of them regardless of their result against Spurs, and with the possibility of a Spurs win leaving the Gunners in 5th and relying on the results of other teams.
DON’T PANIC
I for one, refuse to give in to the outstanding sentiment of the day, which is somewhere between ‘it’s gonna be tricky coming 3rd now’ and ‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH’. I still think Arsenal are in a reasonable position to make the automatic Champions League spot. Chelsea and Spurs play the Big Game on Wednesday night, with a draw an ideal result. If Spurs win, things get messy, but if Chelsea win it’s not a total disaster-though it does mean 4th is the only reasonable expectation. So hope for a draw there.
But when you compare the remaining games, Arsenal’s run-in is notably easier:
Arsenal Gareth Bale Chelsea
------------ Chelsea (A) Gareth Bale (H)
Wigan (H) Stoke (A) Aston Villa (A)
Newcastle (A) Sunderland (H) Everton (H)
Some tricky games for all involved against relegation-threatened teams, but Arsenal have a fatigued Wigan and a ruined Newcastle to face, while Chelsea have Everton and the ever-spirited Aston Villa. Spurs have the Orcs and the Fascists.
I can see all parties dropping at least two points, but Spurs seem the most likely candidates. All Arsenal can do is keep winning. Right now we’re playing terribly and still winning. 180 more minutes of that and we’re 4th at least, as long as Spurs don’t win all their other games.
Sounds fairly simple. Ish. You’d like it to be easier, and Arsenal to have, I don’t know, won the league in March or something, but this is how it is.
YAY!
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