Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The pressure is mounting on Arsenal and Arsene Wenger as they have been sucked into not only a battle for 3rd place but also now 4th with Manchester United still poised to snatch a Champions League from the grasp of either Arsenal or City.
They are at home to a side struggling for survival in the form of Norwich but that in itself could bring it’s own pitfalls as you can guarantee that Norwich will be scrapping for just about everything going just as fellow struggers Sunderland did last weekend when Arsenal travelled to The Stadium Of Light.
That goalless draw last Sunday saw the ire of the Arsenal fans who have almost seen enough, tensions wouldn’t have been cooled by the remarks that Arsene Wenger made yesterday when he said that it’s the fans that are costing Arsenal vital points at home due to the atmosphere that they have created as of late
But Wenger is walking a bit of a tightrope here because losing the fanbase is one thing but when you actually start calling them out then you’re days are all but numbered. Maybe Wenger knows this deep down and is thinking well what have I got to lose by saying it?
That’s all conjecture but what isn’t is that if they fail to beat Norwich at home this Evening then more questions will be asked and the race for those Champions League places becomes even tighter. This game is far from a foregone conclusion.
Their opponents Norwich weren’t in action last weekend but more importantly they have now slipped into the bottom 3 thanks to the resurgence of Sunderland. Something that Norwich would have witnessed for themselves a fortnight ago when they lost that all important 6 pointer at Carrow Road.
If Norwich were to have won that then that would have given them a massive boost in terms of survival and almost killed Sunderland off but now as it stands we are looking at 3 horse race for the holy grail of 17th place.
It’s not just defeat to Sunderland that will cause concern it will have been the manner in which they fell to a 3-0 loss in front of their own fans. Also that means it’s now back to back defeats for Norwich after previously taking 7 points from 9. Have they had their surge of form at just the wrong time.
I think the momentum now sits with the North East clubs, Sunderland then Newcastle are more likely to stay up in my opinion. If that is to change then Norwich are going to have to find a win at The Emirates later today.
Unfortunately for them I don’t think it’s going to happen and Arsenal will pick up only their second win in 5 matches and take a bit of pressure of themselves and Wenger as they move back into 3rd place for 24 hours. Home win for me.
Papa Johns – If your team scores twice then it’s half price
