Why The Upcoming Period Could Make Or Break Arsenal’s Season

Arséne Wenger’s Arsenal side has surpassed all of their expectations this season, so far. The Gunners entered the season with pundits and rival fans all claiming that they would be a failure, and that their lack of significant signings would surely lead to them falling out of the top four in favour of their arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Indeed, the Gunners’ shock opening day 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa seemed to confirm that it would be a season of doom for Arsenal, but lo and behold, it would turn out to be a whole different story.

Following that disastrous game, the Gunners would win their following three games against Fulham and Fenerbahce x2, before going on to pull off a masterpiece of a signing on deadline day. They were able to acquire the talented Mesut Özil who had become worried over his starting place in a Real Madrid side that had just signed Isco and more importantly, Gareth Bale.

The Gunners would then continue their great form, going on to win most of their following matches with the exceptions of a disappointing draw at West Bromwich Albion and naïve losses to Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea in the Champions League and the Capital One Cup, respectively. However, the loss that really caused anguish and anger for Arsenal fans was their most recent one: a 1-0 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

While in previous seasons, many Arsenal fans could have been forgiven for being happy the difference wasn’t more than one goal, Arsenal fans went into this game pretty confident due to the shortcomings of Manchester United this season. However, while this result might be disheartening for Arsenal fans, they need not worry yet, because their next set of fixtures is what really matters now.

Arsenal are currently top of the league with a lead of two points over their closest rivals, Liverpool. However, The Gunners now have a congested set of fixtures up until December the 23^rd that includes crucial home fixtures against high-flying Southampton, Marseille, Sturdy Everton, as well as rivals Chelsea. Arsenal also have away fixtures against surprise newcomers Cardiff, Napoli as well as powerhouses Manchester City.

If the Gunners are able to come out of this difficult period with their title hopes still alive, then maybe, with a couple of good additions in January, they can really go all the way and win the title this season.

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Comments

[Mike]

Hang on a minute. A few matches ago everyone was saying Liverpool, Dortmund and Man U would be the pivotal and season determining phase. So now we've got through those games, you've decided they weren't a test after all. So we've just played the second best team in Europe, the second best team in England (NB we're always told when we're not top, the table never lies!) and the English Champions; we've won two of those three and are still the best team in England (given the table never lies) but that's not enough for you...............................oh please!!

[Omar Bahgat]

I'm not saying that at all. In fact I think that we did brilliantly in the past two weeks. We navigated three tricky fixtures relatively well. However, what I'm now saying is that we're now facing an extended period of difficult matches and if we keep reminiscing about our recent wins, we might get too distracted. We did well, brilliant actually, but now we need to focus on getting through this difficult period in order to confirm our title credentials.