Arsenal must show North London Derby intensity every week
Arsenal produced a scintillating display to beat Tottenham 2-0 on Saturday and make a mockery of talk of a North London power shift. Later that afternoon, Man City quietly butchered Leicester to extend their unbeaten run, preserve their mammoth lead at the top of the table and remain 12 points clear of the Gunners. North London may be painted red and white this weekend and Gooners are deservedly celebrating a famous win, but the reality is that a title challenge looks to have already slipped away. City are on fire and nobody is clinging to their coattails, leaving Pep Guardiola’s men just 1/6 to win the title. The best Arsenal can realistically hope for is breaking back into the top four, securing Champions League football and shoring up their finances to ensure they can reinvest in the squad next summer.
After the 3-1 defeat at the hands of Man City before the international break, that looked a tall order. Spurs were rampant, having just beaten Real Madrid at Wembley, while Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool are all strong. However, Arsenal’s comfortable victory over Tottenham moved them to within a point of their bitter rivals and – City aside – it is all getting very congested at the top of the table. Arsenal are level on points with Liverpool, one behind Spurs, three behind Chelsea and four behind Man Utd. They have an excellent chance of improving on last season’s fifth placed finish if they continue to play with the heart, desire and guts they displayed at The Emirates on Saturday.
The bookmakers still make Arsenal outsiders to finish in the top four at the end of the season. Check out Youwager reviews for the most competitive prices on the market and browse the best odds available, and you will see that Man Utd are just 1/10 to nail down a top four spot, Chelsea are 1/3 and Tottenham – despite recent defeats to Utd and Arsenal – are 4/7. Then Liverpool are 6/5 and Arsenal are 6/4. It is close, but Arsenal are tipped by bookies to finish sixth this season.
How can they avoid such a fate? Consistency is key. The Gunners showed on Saturday that they can beat anyone on their day. Tottenham have had the meanest defence in the Premiership over the last few years and Arsenal ripped their backline to shreds time after time. When Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette all start in a front three, Arsenal are devastating. It has only happened three times this season and Arsene Wenger needs to give them a run of games together. They also need a little luck with injuries as Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal formed a magnificent back three against Tottenham – they were experienced and accomplished and kept Harry Kane and co extremely quiet – and if they too can enjoy a run of games alongside one another Arsenal’s prospects will be improved no end.
Ultimately Arsenal must produce that level of intensity week in, week out. They adopted the hallmarks of this Tottenham side – pressing hard and high, giving the opposition no time on the ball and forcing them into mistakes in dangerous positions – and used them against Spurs to deadly effect. If that can play with that much energy and that much passion away at Burnley next weekend they should take three points from the fortress that is Turf Moor. It is all well and good raising your game in a fierce North London derby while the Sky Sports cameras are rolling and the world is watching on, but the Gunners need to maintain that in the less glamorous fixtures during the cold winter months. The so-called big six is very strong at present but each team has its weaknesses and Arsenal can finish above at least two of them if they play to the best of their ability.