Maybe, just maybe, this is Arsenal’s year
WHISPER it, but there’s a growing feeling this may be the year Arsenal win the Premier League.
They’ve started impressively, with just a single opening-day defeat against Liverpool to spoil a record that has also seen them qualify early from their Champions League group and progress to the EFL Cup quarter-finals.
They look more resilient with the addition of the Shkodran Mustafi at centre-half and the emergence of Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin as ball-winners.
They also have their marquee players – Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott – in top form.
They look the real deal, but we’ve been here before.
The Gunners have often had an electric start to the season since they last won the League in 2004 but it’s never lasted.
In November, the wheels come off.
Arsene Wenger’s teams don’t like November.
Since Wenger took charge, the Gunners have lost 26 matches during this particular calendar month. In September they’ve lost just eight, in April and October, nine.
Their points-per-game ratio in November is just over one-and-a-half. The average over every other month is two.
This year the first two Premier League games of November are Spurs at home today and Manchester United away after the international break.
There has never been a better time to prove the November jinx is either a statistical anomaly or superstitious claptrap.
Both those opponents have ambitions to be Champions so taking three points from each would be a double whammy.
Today’s game at the Emirates is a proper test of Arsenal’s credentials.
Spurs have struggled to find goals without the injured Harry Kane but they are the Premier League’s only unbeaten team and have the meanest defence.
Perhaps the biggest question surrounding Arsenal’s ability to win the League is whether the bottle they’ve shown this season – coming back from two down to beat Ludogorets last week, stoppage-time winners against Burnley and Southampton, winning with 10 men against Swansea – is now part of their DNA.
Over the last decade Wenger has spent countless post-match press conferences trying to convince everyone his team has character, as if just saying it made it true.
But Sir Alex Ferguson never banged on about Manchester United’s character when they were winning everything.
In fact, when Arsenal really did have character in the days of Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira, Wenger never mentioned it.
Have they suddenly acquired it?
November should prove it one way or another.