Journalist Amy Lawrence now believes that Arsenal have a major positive factor in their favour when it comes to the Premier League title race.
Arsenal are currently battling it out with Liverpool and Manchester City for the right to be crowned champions at the end of this season.
Liverpool and Manchester City both hold certain advantages over Arsenal. For a start, both clubs have won the Premier League title in recent years, under the guidance of their current managers, and with many of the players in their current squads. Both the Merseyside outfit and Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions know what it takes to get over the line. This Arsenal group have not yet had that experience.
On top of that, as the table currently stands, the Gunners need both the Reds and City to drop points. All three sides have now played 27 matches, and whilst Mikel Arteta’s men can boast the best goal difference in the division, Liverpool currently lead the way with 63 points, just ahead of Manchester City who have amassed 62 points. Arsenal have 61 points to their name.
Arsenal do have some factors going in their favour, though. They are currently the most in-form team in the Premier League, having won their last seven matches on the bounce, scoring a whopping 31 goals in that period whilst conceding just 3 times. The Arsenal defence has been on a completely different level in recent weeks.
What’s more, this Arsenal team is hungry for success. Arteta has pulled together a young, talented group of players, and most of them have never won any major silverware before. They will be desperate to do so, together, very soon.
Arsenal receiving energy injection at vital time
Amy Lawrence is convinced that certain qualities that exist in this squad now stand them in great stead of achieving something special together. Speaking on the Handbrake Off podcast, the reporter said, “just on the endurance factor of the players, I think this is huge for the coming weeks.”
“Particularly, you look at Gabriel, Saliba, Rice, the very, very strong, physical players, they are the foundation if you like. Odegaard, whose physicality is more energetic but he still brings a lot to the game in that way. Saka, who we know is super strong. Havertz, who has got this interesting, you know, his own unique style, but he’s able to be effective for long periods of lots of games. Keeping these boys fit, as well as sharp, is just massive. I think the squad is looking healthier.”
Arsenal’s ranks have been boosted recently by the return of a number of players from injury. After spells on the sidelines, Gabriel Jesus, Thomas Partey, and Fabio Vieira were all reintroduced to first-team action against Sheffield United last time out. On top of that, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu are closing in on being back to full fitness. There is even now a timeline for when Jurrien Timber might be ready to come back into the fold.
Injuries, specifically the loss of William Saliba, contributed significantly to the collapse of Arsenal’s title challenge last season. This time around though, at this point, it seems as if the Arsenal squad is gaining strength as the run-in looms.
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