In just a few hours, all the hard work that was put in by Mikel Arteta and the lads will come fully cycle with only two possible outcomes
- Arsenal winning Everton, and Manchester City dropping points to West Ham or
- Arsenal winning Everton, and Manchester City absolutely decimating West Ham, to win their fourth Premier League title in a row
In the turn of 2024, following that amazing warm weather training in Dubai, Arsenal has been a different beast, winning 17 from a possible 19 games, with the only dropped points in the calendar year coming at the Etihad in a 0-0 cagey affair, and most importantly, a Jekyll and Hyde performance against Aston Villa, that handed Manchester City the advantage.
Judging from the events of last season, everyone associated with Arsenal can attest to the fact that they have improved in leaps and bounds, and recruited excellently last summer. David Raya made his Arsenal debut in the fifth game week of the season and still garnered the Golden Gloves, Declan Rice, though very expensive, was a genuine contender for Player of the Season, and was rightly nominated, Kai Havertz, who was much-maligned in his Chelsea days, came onboard and yes, had his initial struggles, but he turned out to be an astute signing, scoring vital goal after vital goal, and eventually kicking Gabriel Jesus out of the side, and as for Jurrien Timber, we got glimpses of his immense quality, before a knee injury robbed us off the chance to see him strut his stuff.
I’m under no illusions about the potential outcome of today after 90 minutes of football, yet, another Manchester City Premier League victory, and judging from how Pep Guardiola and his well-oiled machine have been doing this in the past, it will not be a surprise. But Mikel Arteta and his lad can hold their heads held high that they took the defending champions to the very last match day of the season, with a likelihood of them actually winning the damn thing.
Yes, we can look at those moments when things didn’t bode so well for Arsenal, like the terrible results in December against Fulham and West Ham, as well as the narrow draws to Newcastle and Aston Villa, but we also need to look at the amazing things achieved this season, one of them being eclipsing the total number of wins the Invincible Class of 2004 had (27), as well as breaking last season’s goal scored record of 88.
As for today’s opponents, Everton, they are certainly no pushovers, and credit must be given to them for retaining their Premier League status despite the points deductions. They have a rock solid defense, with 13 clean sheets, five less than Arsenal, so we would expect them to be resolute this afternoon.
Enough have been said.
It’s time to focus on the Premier League final day drama.
Sayonara.
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