The Gunners are peaking at the perfect time to fly under the radar and win the Premier League.
The seven remaining games on the Arsenal schedule are as follows: at West Ham, vs Crystal Palace, vs West Brom, at Sunderland, vs Norwich, at Man City, vs Aston Villa. Four of those matches are against bottom-five clubs, two are against perennial underachievers and the last is against a Man City team they already beat.
Assuming they trounce the bottom-five clubs, beat West Brom at home and get at least 2-4 points from West Ham and Man City, that’s 17-19 points out of 21 left to take which would give Arsenal 75-77 points.
Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur would likely need at least four wins apiece in order to ward of Arsenal’s assault, and they have far more taxing schedules.
The Foxes will have a brutal May schedule in which they face Man United, Everton and Chelsea in a three-week stretch – and could very well lose all three and their shot at the title if they haven’t clinched it by then. If they only claim 7-9 points in the four weeks before that final stretch, the Premier League dream will remain only that – a dream.
The Spurs schedule is hardly less daunting with Man United, Stoke City, West Brom, Chelsea and Southampton occupying a crucial five-game stretch before a laugher against Newcastle United to close out the season. Even if they manage to beat Newcastle and West Brom as expected, any draws or losses from the other four teams could halt their Premier League title bid.
Then again, perhaps Arsenal will be the ones to stumble long before Leicester or Tottenham do. If this season alone is any indication then it certainly wouldn’t be the first time. But in the end, if any team was poised to make a run at the title in the final quarter of the season, Arsenal look like the ones to do it.
So cheer up Arsenal fans, there is still hope!
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