Gunners looking Spursy: Have Arsenal bottled the league title?

Arsenal suffer the Blues after being blown away by City

Without a win in their last four matches and having only managed to score one non-penalty goal in that time, it’s safe to say Arsenal are faltering somewhat. However, suggestions that they have “bottled” the title may prove to be premature. They are equal at the top on points, have a game in hand over City and are still at the heart of the title race. needed to be league leaders, and in the game against Everton you got the sense that the media pressure did get to them. Their January signing of veteran Chelsea midfielder Jorginho may prove an astute one, as he arrives with an experienced head on his shoulders, and may help revitalise an Arsenal who seem almost stunned by their success. Their best performances this season came when they were chasing the top spot, and it was only with the recent back-to-back victories over Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, both keen rivals of the Gunners, that Mikel Arteta’s side were catapulted into the title debate for this season, and became hunted by the rest of the league and the media. For now, Arsenal are back as hunters, and that could be exactly where Mikel Arteta wants them.

It might be worth looking deeper at the games that have made up Arsenal’s troubled past few weeks. Out of the aforementioned four games, two have been against Manchester City, who having won four out of the last five Premier League titles, are indisputably one of the top teams in the world. Whilst Arsenal would’ve liked to beat them to further their gap at the top, defeat to the Cityzens is a pain most Premier League fans face, with Erling Haaland terrorizing defences almost weekly. Their draw to Brentford four days before might’ve materialised into a win, if a costly VAR mistake hadn’t occurred (the official in charge, Lee Mason, has subsequently been removed from his post), and the costly loss against Everton, arguably Arsenal’s worst performance this season, also happened to be new Everton manager Sean Dyche’s first game at the helm of the Toffees, with the Everton players clearly out to impress their new boss.

Embarrassing bloopers happen to teams who go on to win the title.

Liverpool in the 2019/20 season fell to a humiliating 3-0 to Watford, and even Manchester City who went on to win the title with 98 points in the 2018/19 season suffered consecutive defeats to Crystal Palace and Leicester City. In the era of Pep Guardiola’s Man City side and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, we have almost come to expect robotic, ruthless efficiency from title winning sides. But the fact of the matter is, tough patches like this happen to top teams, and it is how Arsenal react now that will determine their place in the league come May.

Their position as underdogs after the City result may suit this Arsenal team, who are the youngest side in the division this season. Whilst players like Bukayo Saka and William Saliba play at a level far beyond their years, they do lack the experience and tolerance to pressure