Morning all,
Sorry for the slight delay as I am out in the wilderness where things you take for granted such as Internet are snatched away from you. I have finally managed to upload my piece which I hope you enjoy. Here we are looking at each side individually and a bit more personally compared to the statistic overload from the first piece.
Arsenal:
We should know better than most fans that “easy run-in’s” don’t exist. We have suffered twice when logic would suggest that we could go on and win the league in recent memory. I have predicted on the cautious side and to be honest veering on the edge of a worst case scenario. I would hope that we would be able to beat City and I certainly think, squad permitting, Chelsea will struggle on our patch. Especially as they have qualified for the Champion’s League Semi-Final, with Barcelona awaiting.
They will have to play us sandwiched between two Barcelona ties which would have a tremendous strain on their resources. If they play on a Tuesday night and manage to stay in the game, it will be a huge dilemma for John Terry Di Matteo to see who plays. Again all hypothetical but again highlights the complexity of the run in.
Aside from those two fixtures I feel we have a winnable set of ties. This however will only be possible if we manage to maintain a consistent level of work ethic thus avoiding the odd spate of complacency that invariably gets thrown into the fray of an arsenal challenge.
Tottenham:
On paper, there is no denying that Tottenham have the easiest run-in. But judging from previous years, at this time of the year, it rarely counts for anything. What is crucial is that they will be in series of matches where the opposition is playing for survival. As we have learned in the past few years, that is no easy task.
It could get to the stage where despite Tottenham’s apparent easy run, games against QPR (A), Blackburn (H) and Bolton (A) in succession could just as easily read LLL as WWW. That is not even considering that Aston Villa (A) could be a very difficult fixture as if the bottom 4 continue in the form they are in then Villa could very much be fighting for their survival also.
Chelsea:
As I have already alluded to, Chelsea are going to face some serious fixture congestion and with their squad they will struggle to meet the “predicted” tally I have them down for. Whilst on paper and on their day they could potentially beat all the teams they are to face, there will be certain slip ups, it is just difficult to tell when the old guard decides when they want to play.
They have a number of tough games including Arsenal, Fulham and Liverpool all away. As mentioned in yesterday’s post Chelsea have struggled away from home and have only managed an average 1.44 points a game so far this season. This would suggest that they may struggle in at least 2 of these matches if they continue in their current form. Added to that their piling fixture list they may well be the team to drop out of Champions League football.
Newcastle:
As you have already seen my predictions are worth very little. Newcastle had a fantastic result against a good difficult Swansea team and are hitting a good run of form at a crucial time. Perhaps this is karma biting me in the bottom as I have continually dismissed the chances of Newcastle throughout the season. I still don’t think they will have enough to finish in the top four but you never know.
So in conclusion: Anyone can make it. I honestly think we will do it. I think we must do it and more importantly we have to do it.
Come on Arsenal!
GoonerVerse
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