By Fab4.
Two-horse race?
Now that the dust has settled following Arsenal’s defeat to Utd, lets not forget how quickly things can change in the Premier League. Not so long ago, after a equally humiliating 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea, Arsenal were 11 points behind the leaders and written off as title contenders. A combination of an unbeaten run by Arsenal and some unexpected results by the top two, Arsenal briefly reached the summit for the first time since the opening weekend of the season. We’ve got back in the title race once already this season and from a far worse position than we currently find ourselves in.
Chelsea dropped two points at Hull last night. Before kick-off who expected anything other than a Chelsea victory? But now when you look back in hindsight, it’s not that surprising. Hull are a decent battling side with a bit of quality thrown in. Any away game is unpredictable in this league. We play in the strongest league in the world, no doubt about it. La Liga has some great sides, but the bottom half of the table are whipping boys for the big teams. We don’t have that luxury in England, you get nothing for free.
I feel a draw against Chelsea will keep us right in the mix, beat them and i can see us going the distance. Even a defeat wouldn’t completely end our hopes, a nine point deficit sounds a lot but it’s not insurmountable as you just never know what will happen in the Premier League. Don’t forget that after Sunday we only have a home game against a Torres-less Liverpool left of the games against the so-called ‘big four’. We have tricky games against the likes of City (H) and Stoke (A) as well as the annual trip to 3-point-lane. But after playing Chelsea and Liverpool we have a great run-in. Whereas all the other big-boys have to play each other, guaranteeing one of them at least will drop points. We’re getting all our ‘big’ games out the way now. Then so long as we take care of business against the rest of the league who knows what can happen.
Lets not forget Chelsea and United are not unbeatable. Anyone who watched the Hull-Chelsea game last night, or several other Chelsea games this season for that matter, can see they are vulnerable at set-pieces. More so than Arsenal. They will drop more points this season. Manchester United are overly-reliant on Rooney and their defenders can’t stay fit. An injury or drop of form from Rooney will severely dent their title hopes. Despite their devastating form against Arsenal, United have showed they can still be got at and they will also drop points.
If Arsenal can negotiate the games against the ‘rest of the league’ as they have done in the first half half of the campaign, maybe the defeats to the big-boys wont be so catastrophic? Many factors will determine where the Premier League title will end up this season; injuries, individual brilliance, mental strength, lady-luck, etc, but the unpredictable nature of the Premier League will be a major influence.
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