Rice ’n shine time Gunners
ART BOYS CAN SILENCE DOUBTERS
THIS is the big test for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal.
The excitement is building around the free-scoring Gunners – and rightly so.
They’ve won eight in a row and scored a whopping 33 goals while conceding just four. To put that into context, Manchester United have scored just six more in 28 Premier League games.
It’s a run which has seen Arteta’s men swat aside some lesser opposition but they’ve also beaten Liverpool and Newcastle to suggest they’re not just flat-track bullies.
But all the hope and optimism that they can go all the way in this title race will vanish if they suffer a heavy defeat to Manchester City tomorrow.
Everything they’ve done this season suggests they’ve got more about them this term after last year’s collapse in the latter stages.
They’re a tighter ship at the back and with Declan Rice in midfield, they are much better at controlling games. While they may have no real No.9 goalscorer, they are finding the net with ease.
But going to the Etihad and winning would really show they’re candidates to be champions.
This is where they can stamp their mark on this season and show they’re the real deal.
The result tomorrow won’t decide the title race. But a win for Arsenal would change the mood of everyone who thinks
City will go on their usual run and turn the race into a procession.
The Gunners beat the champions at home earlier in the campaign but forget about that. That was a nice victory but it was a Rodri-less City and early in the season.
This is when the men stand out from the boys. With six games to go last season, Arsenal went to the Etihad and got thrashed 4-1. They have lost their last eight games away at City, conceding 22 goals in the process. That has to change.
If it doesn’t, then they’ll feed their critics who say they’re not winners yet. If they get a result, they’ll silence them. Arteta has turned the mood at Arsenal, he’s moulded them into a team who play thrilling football and has united a previously fractured fan base.
But you don’t get medals for that. You get lovely plaudits for it but when it is all said and done, it’s the trophies that are counted, not the pats on the back. Arsenal and Arteta have to show they’re winners and start lifting silverware.
If they can beat City at the Etihad, then they’ll be serious contenders once again, like their glory days under Arsene Wenger