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It’s time to find out what Arsenal are made of.
With just eight games left for them, they still hold a six-point lead over relentless Manchester City.
But with a superior goal difference, a game in hand, and a visit from Arsenal still to come, if City run the table, they win the championship. That has to be making the Gunners sweat. Dropping a two-goal lead at Liverpool last week has taken destiny out of Arsenal’s hands in a way. They still have control if they can avoid a loss against City, but having lead the league since nearly the first kick of the season, the pressure is going to mount. At the start of the season a Top Four finish for Arsenal would have been seen as a massive achievement.
Yet if you were in position to win your first title in 19 years, having an 11-point lead, only to see that get frittered away and get pipped at the post could have serious ramifications on their psyche going forward. It will be seen as an epic choke and the kind of thing that will hang in the minds of everyone at the club, and in the stands.
With that in mind, this is a massive week that can’t deliver anything other an Arsenal win as they travel across London to West Ham.
The Hammers were considered outsiders to get into top four at the start of the season but now find themselves just three points out of the relegation zone.
City host Leicester having just sacked their manager, have lost three in a row and only have a single point out of the last 18 on offer. They are in second-to-last and are four points from safety and only the most blindly optimistic supporter could even see them scratching out a point this weekend.
If there was any sort of silver lining for Arsenal it would be that City’s true ambition, to be Champions of Europe, is a priority and a distraction for them, but having won their first leg easily by three goals against Bayern Munich, they’ll be relaxed thinking they already have one foot in the semi-finals.
With Newcastle finding form again, the Top Four spots are looking a little more assured so most of the action down the stretch will focus on the scramble to stay up. With West Ham and Leicester staring at probable losses this weekend, it’s imperative for Everton, Nottingham Forest, Leeds and Bournemouth to try and scrape together any points they can this weekend.
Everton in particular have a roller coaster run-in going from battles against top end teams to fellow relegation fodder. After Fulham this week they take on Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Leicester, Brighton, Manchester City, Wolves then finish with Bournemouth, which could decide with of those two go down.
Leeds will have to wait until Monday to face Liverpool. The Reds have hit the wall, they looked dreadful in the first 20 minutes against Arsenal last week, but in particular in the second half they blew the league leaders off the park and frankly had three golden chances to win the game, including a missed Mo Salah penalty.
There’s crushing reality in Liverpool this week where they publicly admitted they were pulling out of the race to sign Jude Bellingham in the summer, a target they’d admitted was their number one priority two years ago. The chase for a Champions League spot has seemingly been given up, and the focus will be on a significant rebuild for next season. Does that mean a team like Leeds should expect a result this weekend? You can’t tell with this Liverpool squad to be honest, you could see them losing this one 1-0, as they did to Leeds at home back in the winter, or coming out with another 7-0 blinder.
Keep an eye on Crystal Palace this weekend. Yes they get bereft Southampton. But since firing Patrick Vieira and bringing back good ol’ grandad Roy Hodgson they’ve won two in a row and looked suitable dangerous last week. A win on Saturday would see them nine points above the drop zone and most likely pull them out of the conversation around the drop.
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Off the pitch the Premier League announced they were dropping gambling companies as being full-time shirt sponsors. Bravo, now maybe turn your attention to letting member states, including ones who hang people for their sexual orientation or chop up journalists with bone saws, own your clubs.
SATURDAY: Aston Villa v. Newcastle; Chelsea v. Brighton; Everton v. Fulham; Southampton v. Crystal Palace; Tottenham v. Bournemouth; Wolves v. Brentford; Manchester City v. Leicester.
SUNDAY: West Ham v. Arsenal; Nottingham Forest v. Manchester United
MONDAY: Leeds v. Liverpool.
Serie A
It’s not like Jose Mourinho to do anything quietly. Yet with Napoli running away with the title it may have slipped under the radar that Mourinho has his Roma team in position to finish at least third and qualify for the Champions League. With their city rivals Lazio cemented in second, Roma’s inclusion in next-season’s top competition would be at the expense of one of the Milan clubs.
Roma are just one point up on AC Milan and two up on Inter, who have a tough task with Juventus on tap this weekend.
FRIDAY: Cremonese v. Empoli; Spezia v. Lazio.
SATURDAY: Bologna v. AC Milan; Napoli v. Hellas Verona; Inter v. Juventus; Roma v. Udinese.
MONDAY: Fiorentina v. Atalanta.
La Liga
Real Madrid are in league pergatory, 13 points behind leader Barcelona yet 12 points above fifth-place Villareal, who beat them 3-2 last weekend. So they can’t win the league, and have already wrapped up Champions League qualification. They have a 2-0 first-leg lead on Chelsea in their Champions League quarterfinal tie, so you can expect them to prioritize defending their title in that competition.
Barca are on cruise control with the title secured and no cups to play for. Transfer speculation will get an early start in Spain with not much left to be decided in the league as they hit the home stretch.
FRIDAY: Rayo Vallecano v. Osasuna.
SATURDAY: Villarreal v. Real Valladolid; Athletic Bilbao v. Real Sociedad; Real Betis v. Espanyol; Cádiz v. Real Madrid.
SUNDAY: Girona v. Elche; Getafe v. Barcelona; Atlético Madrid v. Almería; Valencia v. Sevilla.
MONDAY: Celta Vigo v. Mallorca.
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