It’s been twelve years since Arsenal finished the season at the top of the Premier League. They have come close on many occasions since, but they have always ended up falling short. For many people, this is somewhat of an oddity. Arsenal clearly has the team to win the league, and they may even have the manager that is needed, but it just never happens.
This year, however, it looks like they may actually do it, and according to www.allgamblingsites.com, they are not too far off from getting it done.
At the time of this writing, Chelsea sit at the top of the Premier League with 37 points. Arsenal is second with 34. Chelsea currently have a game in hand and they are flying at the moment with twelve wins this season in comparison to Arsenal’s 10. Arsenal should have topped the league yesterday, in fact, they were expected to. However, they lost 2-1 to 7th placed Everton. This was Arsenal’s first defeat in the league since August.
That’s impressive, but they are still going to need to make some serious changes if they want to pick up their first title in over a decade.
One of the major issues with Arsenal right now is their squad rotation.
In their last four games, Arsenal have managed to bang in 15 goals. This is a huge number. The game against Everton was the 4th game in the span of 10 days. I know people complain about football players not working enough, but four games in 10 days is a huge amount when you are playing to a professional standard.
Given the large workload, Wenger should have rotated out some of the players who were not quite as sharp in the Everton match. Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, as brilliant as they are, did not look all that great at Goodison Park.
They had come out of some strenuous matches and needed to be rested.
It is my belief that if Arsenal had given these two a break and played alternatives, then they might have picked up a win.
This idea was verified when Alex Iwobi came on and almost scored. Lucas Perez starting would have probably made a difference too.
If Wenger properly rotates his squad, something he should already know how to do, then he is probably going to finally get another league title, Chelsea are going to lose form eventually. They can’t stay on the out-of-the-world pace that they’re currently on forever. However, Arsenal must prioritize rotation of their squad. They have three different competitions going on right now- Premier League, Champions League and soon, The FA Cup. You can’t play the same players in all of these.
It won’t work; especially when their rivals for the league title, Chelsea and Liverpool have no European competitions this season, and thus, the advantage of keeping their squad for league play.
One of the major problems for Arsenal right now, and one which they hope to rectify in the January transfer window, is the midfield. Everything in this position group runs through Santi Cazorla. If he is out of action, then they are screwed. In fact, the loss of Cazorla last year really hampered their chances of winning the title. That was a year that Arsenal really should have won. After all, let’s be honest, a top Arsenal side should have been able to snatch that title away from Leicester. In the Everton game last night, the midfield was collapsing under even the slightest of pressure.
Finally, Arsenal need to work on their defensive set-pieces.
They have had 17 goals scored against them this season. Five of these have been penalties. Another four have come from set pieces. If they can learn how to deal with this issue, then they should top the league table when all is said and done. Marking really needs some work here. Last night, it seemed that only Xhaka and Ozil really tried marking anybody. Everything else was ‘up in the air’.
So, would I bet on Arsenal winning the league? Yes. Yes I would.
I feel confident that Arsenal have the team to really give it a go this year. Yes, this is something that I say every single year, but I genuinely believe that when the last match rolls around of the 2016/2017 season, Arsenal will have won the league.