by ROB HARRISON Arsenal lie 5 points behind leaders Manchester United with a game in hand. United have yet to travel to the Emirates this season, although given their dominance in recent clashes with The Gunners, they won’t be too concerned about their impending trip to North London.
Arsenal’s game in hand is away to Tottenham, a team who would love nothing more than to put the final knife in Arsene Wenger’s men’s imploding season. Spurs came from behind to beat Arsenal in a thrilling contest at the Emirates earlier in the season and Harry Redknapp will go into the game confident about doing the double over their rivals given Arsenal’s current stumble in form.
The Gunners haven’t been the same side since their shock defeat in the Carling Cup Final at the hands of Birmingham City and still seem aggrieved at their controversial exit from the Champions League at the hands of Barcelona (and referee Massimo Busacca).
Despite the dent in morale from fighting on four fronts to having only The Premier League to contend for, this could be an intriguing advantage to Arsenal, provided their best form returns. Manchester United has the FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League to divide their attentions amongst; whilst their defence is falling apart through injuries and the suspension of Jonny Evans.
But to utilise this sense of tunnel vision Arsenal must put behind them the events of the previous few weeks and stop losing costly points to the likes of Sunderland and West Brom. Wenger has injury problems of his own with Thomas Vermaelen, Johan Djourou, Theo Walcott and Wojciech Szczesny all unavailable for selection.
If the North Londoners need inspiration they need look no further than the team of 1997/98 who went on an amazing unbeaten run starring the talismanic Dennis Bergkamp, his Dutch compatriot Marc Overmars, Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira among other Arsenal legends. A 1-0 victory at Old Trafford courtesy of a Marc Overmars goal was the catalyst as The Gunners overhauled leaders United and won the title by one point. Samir Nasri has had a fantastic season, Robin Van Persie has shown shades of his best and the emergence of Jack Wilshere has been very encouraging; Wenger will be looking at these players to come to the fore as Arsenal battle their way toward what is looking like an increasingly unlikely title.
Chelsea should not be written off yet, they have been galvanised since the arrival of instant cult-hero David Luiz and are only 4 points behind The Gunners but Arsenal needn’t worry about that if they manage to take maximum points from their remaining fixtures. Chelsea’s challenge could yet be helpful to them as Carlo Ancelotti’s side will be determined to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford to stay in the chase.
Wenger’s master plan will be this: win at White Hart Lane to bridge to gap to two points, beat United at home and grind out results in their other fixtures and the title is theirs; what could be simpler? One thing is for certain; we all love a good title race.
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