Arsene Wenger has once again started the new season with a bang as he looks to take Arsenal to a Premier League triumph this season. They finished 4th and 3rd in the last two seasons respectively winning the FA Cup in both occasions and Wenger will hope that his team can better their results and genuinely challenge for the title come end of the season.
Arsenal are now in the second position of the Barclays Premier League with 26 points from 12 games. They are just behind Manchester City in the table only on goal difference. It is incredible to see the club competing at the top of the table given their lack of activity in the transfer market in the summer. Wenger made just one purchase in the summer and that of shot-stopper Petr Cech from Chelsea. They were the only team in Europe’s top five leagues not to sign any outfield player.
But the performance on the field have improved considerably and the team looks lot more confident and at ease when playing this season. Their biggest victories have been against Manchester United when they beat them 3-0 at the Emirates and also a 2-1 win against Everton at the same place. However, they suffered defeats in the hands of Chelsea and West Ham at the start of the season but have recovered from those losses very quickly.
Wenger has had his own share of injury problems. At the moment, the manager is missing the services of Theo Walcott, Thomas Rosicky, Danny Welbeck, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere who are all first team members for the squad. But the manager has used his resources pretty well and has been getting the results in one way or the other.
They are now on a 6 match unbeaten run in the Premier League, but are facing the daunting prospect of an early exit from the Champions League after losing 3 and winning 1 game out of the 4 in the group stage so far. The early exit from that competition will only help Arsenal in their quest for domestic glory. With no Champions League games in midweek, Wenger can concentrate on the domestic games and will have a better chance at lifting the trophy.
Next 5 games:
WBA (A) ; Norwich (A) ; Sunderland (H) ; Aston Villa (A) ; Manchester City (H)
The biggest fixture that stands out in that list is against Manchester City at the Emirates. This game falls at the start of the busy festive season in the English calendar and result in this game can go a long way in deciding the final outcome at the end of the season.
The biggest reason for Arsenal’s success this season has been the resurgence of German international Mesut Ozil and the form of Alexis Sanchez. Ozil has got back to his best this season and has been playing some incredible football. His vision and passing is on show in almost every match as he picked up 9 assists already, the highest in Europe at the moment.
He has controlled the tempo of the game and has helped the likes of Sanchez and Walcott (before injury) to find space and play with a level of comfort. The manager will hope that his talisman can keep up the good work and is not injured for long parts of the season.
Though going out of the elite European competition has its own downfalls, a Premier League title will erase all those memories and the manager will be hoping that if they do exit the competition early, that it will instill more zeal to win a trophy, hopeful the BPL.
Leave your take on Arsenal’s chances of a Premier League trophy after almost a decade.