Who would have thought as March comes to a close, that I would have to worry about Arsenal having a chance to compete for a Top 4 spot? For the past few years, I have been stuck hoping Arsenal win Europa League knockout rounds against Eastern European farmers such as Slavia Prague to make our season worthwhile. Usually at this point of the season, we are out of the running for Top 4 and I am just causing pain to myself by watching meaningless April games for absolutely no fucking reason. With the international break taking place coming to a close, our Top 4 hopes more than likely will rely on how we perform in these April fixtures outlined below:
I’ll go into what we can expect going into each match and the context that will be taking place around us and our opponents.
CRYSTAL PALACE: As long as Crystal Palace have Patrick Vieira as their manager, they will always be my 2nd favorite team. This game will be hard for me to watch as I’ve enjoyed watching Palace play this season but this is a must-win game for the Gunners. The game will be at Selhurst Park which has given us trouble in the past. Fortunately for us, their two wingers Wilfried Zaha and the talented Michael Olise both picked up knocks over the International break so Patty V needs to chill and let his stars recover after Monday. Even if we get lucky and Zaha and Olise are out, Palace still have an in-form Conor Gallagher who is in my current PL TOTY with how well he has played. Back when we played them in October, it was a back and forth 2-2 draw with Mikel playing Ødegaard in a deep playmaking role next to Thomas. Both teams have changed drastically so no point in delving too much into that game but as long as we somehow get revenge on James McCarthur if he touches the field, I’ll be happy. Such a fuckm that guy. PREDICTION Arsenal 1 – Crystal Palance 0, ESR to get our goal off the bench.
BRIGHTON: Brighton at the Emirates has to be 3 points and there isn’t any other option. Brighton are as dead of a team as they come outside of the relegation teams as seen below:
Fortunately for Brighton, their solid start to the season has given them another season in the top flight but make no mistake about it, I am willing to say anything but 3 points in this fixtures sees our top 4 hopes pretty much gone. Might be the easiest game we have in our remaining schedule given the circumstances. People might say I am being dramatic but not everybody has their happiness all locked into grown men playing soccer. PREDICTION: Arsenal win or else I may not make it.
SOUTHAMPTON: Arsenal going down to South England has been a tricky fixture for us. Southampton are as mid-table as it gets currently with bright young stars in Salisu, Walker-Peters, and the free-kick maestro James Ward-Prowse. We dominated them quite easily in December with a solid 3-0 victory at the Emirates but I highly doubt Hasenhüttl will let us play that freely at St Mary’s. Regardless, this needs to be a victory but I can easily see a draw as we struggle to break open a structured Southampton squad. PREDICTION: Me wanting to kill myself after a 1-1 draw.
CHELSEA: By far the toughest game this month on paper as it pertains to where Chelsea is on the standings but also to where this game will be taking place (Stamford Bridge).
Chelsea had a disastrous loss yesterday against Brentford 4-1 but that took place yesterday and will be a few weeks before we play them which means analyzing each team’s current form can be quite useless when trying to predict this matchup.
Despite their loss to Brentford, they have a massive Champions League tie with Real Madrid, a FA Cup semi-finals with Palace, and benign Premier League matches before facing us. By far, the game(s) that will be on Tuchel’s mind in the forefront will be Real Madrid but Chelsea does need to be careful of Arsenal. If Arsenal win their game in hand against Palace, we would only be 2 points behind them with our game at the Bridge be the matchup that determines 3rd place instead of Arsenal fighting for 4th. But regardless, Chelsea does have the squad depth to compete in all these matches despite their troubling form. PREDICTION : Chelsea will beat us 2-0 and I will not be able to sleep for the rest of the season. The reason I say this, is I have a huge doubt that we can keep on this run without a disastrous result. Despite the form, I have an uneasy feeling about Chelsea and Stamford Bridge. I have seen us go into that place beautifully on form and just like that, we end up on the losing side, something about that damn place and team. I’d like to say otherwise but at the end of the day, they have the better and more experienced team on paper and will pull a result out when they need it.
MANCHESTER UNITED: If I had to pick 5 games scheduled this month that I want us to win more than any other, it’s this one. There is not a greater joy in my life than beating those clowns up North. It pains me that we couldn’t put Ole to the sword in December and let Ronaldo beat us 3-2. With Sir Alex Ferguson, we have been quite successful against United at home and with them having their own internal struggles, it feels right to say we rebound after a hypothetical Chelsea loss to save our season. PREDICTION: Arsenal beats those clowns 2-0 and saves our season and my life going into May.
CONCLUSION: With a maximum of 15 points, I am predicting we get 10/15 which if you asked me now, I would take in a heartbeat. At this point in the season, there are no games that are guarantees (except Brighton so we better not lose to those fucks) but there are games this month that we absolutely need victories to give us some margin for error against the big boys. Hopefully along the way Spurs will slip up here and there but we control our own fate and I’d like us to put our destiny in our own hands. Lettuce pray we make it out of this month alive cause if our season is decided on a game against Spurs at their stadium, I can’t even think of the words…..
Featured image credits: Reuters
GIF Credits: NBC
Video Credits: NBC
Image credits: Google