A recent resurgence has seen Arsenal wrestle back control of the Premier League top-four race from Tottenham Hotspur as well as potentially placing themselves in contention to battle Chelsea for third.
Just over a week ago, it appeared the Gunners were going to struggle to even finish fourth let alone contemplate the idea of hunting down Thomas Tuchel’s side after losing three games on the bounce against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton which left them three points off the final Champions League spot – albeit having played one game fewer than Spurs.
And to the surprise of many, Arsenal used the game in hand to their advantage as they beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to move level on points with their north London rivals and then jumped into fourth last weekend thanks to a 3-1 win over Manchester United as well as Spurs drawing 0-0 with Brentford.
Those wins also took the Gunners to within two points of Chelsea prior to their Sunday afternoon kick-off against West Ham United, and up until Christian Pulisic’s last minute winner, it looked as if Tuchel’s side were going to be dragged into a top-four battle as they would have had a three-point cushion had the game finished goalless.
Interestingly, in a pre-match press conference, the German stressed that the Blues hadn’t yet secured a top-four finish: “We never feel secure. I never feel secure in the Premier League. It’s good. I think nobody should, never, because feeling secure does not keep you on the edge,” he said. “Feeling secure is very close, a thin line to not being fully alert. I never feel safe in no part of the season, and nobody should be in Premier League.”
So much to the relief of Tuchel, Pulisic scored and instead, the west Londoners restored their five-point gap to Arsenal. Now following their trip to Old Trafford on Thursday night, both sides have now played the same number of games which means the idea of a top-three finish for Mikel Arteta’s side can be assessed.
Of course, the best-case scenario before a ball was kicked at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ would have been the hosts avoiding defeat as Arsenal falling eight points behind Chelsea with five games to go would realistically have ended any slight chance of a top three finish.
As it turned out, the two teams had to settle for a share of the points. Despite being the better side and taking the lead through Marcos Alonso, the Blues were pegged back almost immediately as Cristiano Ronaldo followed up his goal against the Gunners with another five days later.
With Chelsea are now six points clear of Arsenal, some can make the argument that the door is somewhat slightly ajar for the Gunners to finish third. In order for that to happen, Arteta’s side will need to win all of their remaining games and hope that their London rivals don’t get the required 10 points that would end those slim chances once and for all.
Arsenal’s remaining fixtures
West Ham United (A) – May 1
Leeds United (H) – May 8
Tottenham (A) – May 12
Newcastle United (A) – May 16
Everton (H) – May 22
Chelsea’s remaining fixtures
Everton (A) – May 1
Wolves (H) – May 7
Leeds United (A) – May 11
Leicester City (H) – May 19
Watford (H) – May 22
