Arsenal secured a 3-0 win at home over Bournemouth at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon to keep pace with Manchester City in the Premier League title race, who themselves claimed a 5-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
It leaves the Gunners top of the table by a single point having played one game more than City, still needing their rivals to drop points to have a chance of being crowned champions.
Arsenal’s last two games of the season are at Manchester United, who were thumped 4-0 at Crystal Palace on Monday night, this weekend and then against Everton at the Emirates on final day. City play away to Fulham and Tottenham, before hosting West Ham to round out the season.
The title remains in City’s hands and judging by the form of the teams they have left to play, they could well win every game before the end of the season.
An Arsenal win against Manchester United would at least pile the pressure on and, realistically, City’s penultimate game for the season against Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham could well be the best chance.
Despite United’s embarrassment at Selhurst Park, they often have a way of pulling results out of nowhere, especially at Old Trafford and especially having won the past two meetings against the Gunners at home.
Arsenal have been somewhat unconvincing in big games towards the end of the season, at least in terms of controlling games. But at this point of the season, any way of winning will do.
Mikel Arteta has named the same starting 11 in the past two league games, but bringing in Jorginho would make a lot of sense to try and gain more of a grip on the ball.
Controlling the ball should be the priority, limiting United’s ability to create chaos and hit on the counter. Against Tottenham, Arsenal got sucked into a frantic game and nearly got punished, the same can’t be allowed to happen again.
There will be added pressure heading into the game too, with City playing Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Either Arsenal will have to win to keep up, or there will be even more riding on the game if City drop points.
Two weekends left, two games for Arsenal, and all they can do is win them both to give them the best chance possible.
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