With Arsenal at the top of the Premier League by six points, having been consistently ahead of their competition, some fans are confident that they’ll finish first at the end of the season. However, many others are shifting in their seats, as they’ve been in a similar situation in the past. Arsenal have led the Premier League at this stage of the season three times before, but have only followed through to win once. The 2003/2004 season — known as the ‘Invincibles’ season — is the last time Arsenal won the league, and recreating that this year would be their dream.
Looking at Arsenal’s strong performance this season, many fans are still optimistic. Data analysts at Opta say that there is a 81.6 per cent chance of them winning the league this year, based on 10,000 simulations of the rest of the team’s fixtures.
On the other hand, some pundits seem less confident — former Arsenal Captain Patrick Vieira, who won the Invincibles season with the Gunners, stated that “there are still some questions about the mental strength of the team.” Some believe that the Gunners will crack under the pressure only a few months away from the end of the season.
Not only have Arsenal been dominating in the Premier League, but earlier this week they secured their place in the Carabao Cup final after beating Chelsea with a last-minute goal by Kai Havertz. Now set to face Manchester City in March, even more pressure is on Arsenal than usual.
But that isn’t all of the weight on the Gunners’ backs — Arsenal remain at the top of the Champions League, ahead of Bayern Munich by a mere three points, a matter that could easily change.
And not to be forgotten, Arsenal remain alive in the FA Cup, with competition still in its early stages.
That said, Arsenal have the potential to win the quadruple — four major trophies in one year. Doing so would put Arsenal in the history books alongside a short list of other teams. However, with several months left of the football season, nothing is certain for the team. With Arsenal so close to making history, fans are holding their breath. Can the Gunners persevere through the pressure, or will they succumb to their history and decline? Either way, the spotlight is on Arsenal, and football fans across the world are watching.
“Arsenal Football Club , Emirates stadium 15” by Ank kumar is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
