Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
After a shortened weekend of Premier League action this time last week we are back to a full programme this time around as we enter the final quarter of the season. There are still many issues left to be resolved at both end of the table and one of the issues is the ongoing race for a top four position. This Lunchtime we’ll witness Arsenal look to close the gap on Liverpool in 4th. They may well be 5 points behind but they do have 2 games in hand.
West Brom missed the opportunity to close the gap to Everton in 7th last Saturday as they were soundly beaten at Goodison Park. With 7th place looking all the more likely one that will now offer a Europa League place the hopes that Tony Pulis may have harboured of European football next season will have no doubt taken a dent as they were soundly beaten by a Romelu Lukaku led performance by Everton.
They still have a 4 point gap over Stoke in 9th and will certainly be looking to make sure that there season does not fizzle out in these last nine games to the point where they fail to secure a top half finish come the end of the season. It was a rare off day during this campaign for West Brom last Saturday, a game they never really got a foothold in and an Afternoon that Tony Pulis will not only want to forget but will also hope that they put up more of a fight when Arsenal visit in a few hours.
The last times these two teams met Arsenal ran out narrow 1-0 winners at the end of 2016. West Brom’s resolve was broken by a late Arsenal winner but you could argue that The Baggies only really came alive once they had gone behind. It was a case of too little too late that Afternoon but you would imagine that they will provide somewhat of a sterner test for Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side who are looking to return to winning ways in the league.
They may well have made light work of Lincoln City last weekend in the F.A. Cup but what did we really learn from that. Once again they rolled over Non-League opposition as they progress another stepped closer to the final but that 5-0 win will have hardly papered over the cracks after the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield a fortnight ago. That was a game where many felt that Arsene Wenger had lost it all after leaving Alexis Sanchez on the bench. Reports of a bust up then followed as an out clause for his substitute role but the big question will be whether or not he features from the start this Lunchtime.
The 5-0 defeat of Lincoln would have done very little to erase the raw feelings that another 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Bayern Munich would have bought but Arsenal fans can ill afford to dwell on that as the main focus is eroding the gap that Liverpool have managed to put themselves and the North London outfit. Gunners fans will be hoping that a combination of results go there way, a win here and victory for Manchester City for Jurgen Klopp’s men on Sunday would cut the gap to two points but more importantly Arsenal would still have those two games spare.
Can Arsenal bounce back from their Anfield abbaration, they can ill afford to lose especially with Arsenal fans once again set to protest before the start of the game. You would think the F.A. Cup win would have at least settled matters slightly at The Emirates and they should have enough to win. West Brom will not make it easy but I can’t envisage anything other than 3 points for Arsenal. An away win for me.
