Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will lock horns with mentor Pep Guardiola when the Gunners return to action at The Etihad on June 17. The eagerly anticipated clash will mark the end of the Premier League’s 100-day hiatus, and victory could propel the Gunners up to sixth in the table.
The Gunners had won three league games on the bounce before the season was suspended in March. Arteta has now fully recovered from a bout of Covid-19, and he will urge his troops to regain the impressive momentum they enjoyed before the season came to a halt.
A trip to The Etihad represents a ferociously difficult assignment, but Arteta may have a few tricks up his sleeve after serving as Guardiola’s assistant during Man City’s recent title-winning campaigns. Arsenal will then have nine games in which to break into the top four. Can they pull it off? We have predicted the results they will secure between now and the end of the campaign.
WINS
Arsenal are currently languishing in ninth place in the Premier League table after taking 40 points from 28 games so far this season. They probably need to pick up seven wins from their remaining 10 matches if they are to gate-crash the top-four. Chelsea are currently fourth, with 48 points, but Arsenal have a game in hand, and the table is looking very congested, so hope springs eternal for Gunners fans.
However, they have some extremely difficult fixtures to contend with, and it is hard to see the Gunners winning more than five games before the end of the season. We think they can beat Southampton, Brighton and Aston Villa on the road, and pick up home wins against Norwich and Leicester.
Arsenal could only draw 2-2 away at Norwich earlier this season. However, the Gunners are a lot more resilient under Arteta and they should sweep the Canaries aside. They were outplayed when they faced Leicester at the King Power in November, but Brendan Rodgers’ men were in poor form before the season was suspended, and we think Arsenal could turn them over.
They also have enough quality to avenge the dismal 2-1 home defeat they suffered at the hands of Brighton in the wake of Unai Emery’s departure. They scraped a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa earlier this season, and should beat them again. It will be difficult, as Villa, Brighton and Norwich are all battling relegation, but Arsenal have a match winner in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and a big enough squad to thrive during the remaining weeks of the season.>
Draws
Arsenal are the draw kings of the Premier League. Thirteen of their games have finished all-square this season. That is the joint highest in the league, along with Wolves. It is therefore easy to imagine the teams sharing the spoils when Arsenal take on Nuno Espirito Santo’s men at Molineux.
We also think Arsenal will draw away at Tottenham, and at home against Watford. The Gunners are up against five clubs desperately battling relegation, and it is difficult to see them taking 15 points from those fixtures. Watford are the best of the bunch.
Arsenal blew a two-goal lead at Vicarage Road earlier in the campaign and ended up clinging on for a point. Watford have been seriously impressive since Nigel Pearson took the reins – they are the only team to beat league leaders Liverpool this season – and they are strong enough to take a point off Arsenal at The Emirates.
The Gunners looked all but certain to finish ahead of their north London rivals before the season was suspended. Spurs had several key men out injured and their form was dreadful, whereas Arsenal were on fire. Yet the hiatus will give Tottenham time to regroup and welcome the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min back, so a point away at Tottenham would be a reasonably good result for Arsenal when the season resumes.
DEFEATS
We believe Arsenal will lose to Man City on the first day back. They have lost their last five meetings with the reigning Premier League champions, and Guardiola will be keen to assert his dominance over his former assistant. Arsenal are 13/2 outsiders in the Sporting Index odds on that game, while Man City are priced at just 4/11 to get the job done.
The Gunners also have a dreadful recent record against Liverpool, so the champions elect should leave The Emirates with all three points this summer. Even a point from either of these games would be a great result, but both sides are superior to Arsenal and it is difficult to see Arteta’s men having much joy in those matches.
VERDICT
Arsenal should overhaul Sheff Utd in the remaining weeks of the season, and you would bet on them finishing ahead of Wolves too, as the Midlands club have a pretty small squad. Fans would be delighted if Arsenal could finish above Spurs, and that looks like a distinct possibility.
However, Man Utd are galvanised after singing Bruno Fernandes and they should enjoy a strong end to the season. Chelsea and Leicester also enjoy a comfortable lead over the Gunners, and they should hold off Arteta’s men.
We therefore predict that Arsenal will finish seventh this season. That tallies up with the bookmakers’ projections. They make Arsenal 17/1 outsiders to finish in the top four.
A seventh placed finish would represent Arsenal’s worst season since the mid-1990s, but they left themselves with a mountain to climb when Arteta took charge, so it would actually be a pretty decent result. Seventh could be enough for a Europa League place, while Arsenal will still have an FA Cup run to look forward to. They should beat the Blades in the quarter-finals, and they stand a good chance of ending the season with silverware.
