After the euphoria on Tuesday, it's time for everyone to come down to earth and live in reality again. I want to take a look at the fixture list of the top four in March to see what may lie ahead.
Arsenal have four EPL matches in March. The club is out of the FA cup so there are no other games in the fixture list for this month. The quarter final tie for the Champions League is not until the first or second of April.
March 9 Wigan v. Arsenal
March 15 Arsenal v. 'Boro
March 23 Chelsea v. Arsenal
March 29 Bolton v. Arsenal
Three away matches out of four could be tricky to navigate but all of the opponents are beatable. The players should be relatively well rested with only one match per week. The added bonus is the return of Van Persie. However, with Eboue still having to serve suspension for two more matches and Walcott being injured (in a closed-door game against the Colorado Rapids), the flanks are thin and are a worry; only Hleb, and Diaby, maybe Denilson regularly play there.
Walcott also plays on the right flank but he may be used more up front while RvP works his way back to match fitness. The manager will have a little bit of a headache regarding center halves when Kolo Toure regains fitness (he's supposed to be out only two weeks about two weeks ago). Senderos is in form right now and it'll be difficult to drop him. Except for the Chelsea game, the other tree games might see a little squad rotation to give the second string players some match time to keep them sharp and keep the first-teamers fresh for the European encounters in early April.
Man. U., Liverpool, and Chelsea all play more matches in March than Arsenal. MU and Chelsea are still in contention for the FA cup while 'Pool play the second leg of their round-of-16 tie against Inter on the 11th.
While Arsenal has a top-four encounter against Chelsea this month, the other top four sides each have two potentially tough games. MU meet Liverpool on super Sunday 3/23 then host Aston Villa one week later. Liverpool visit MU on the 23rd then must lock horns at home with Everton in the local derby. Chelsea visit White Hart Lane on the 19th before hosting Arsenal on the 23rd. Arsenal play three away matches in March but the other top four sides all have three home matches. Out of those, MU are in the best position to take advantage because the only away game for them is to Derby County.
The main task at hand for Arsenal is to maintain focus to keep the momentum in both EPL and CL. If injures are avoided and we get players back fit again, the team will be in good shape to contend for glory.
2 hours ago
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1 deflections:
If Arsenal are to win the title, they'll want to collect 9 points from Wigan, Boro, and Bolton, but against Chelsea, I'd suggest, more than just the title race is at stake, as Chelsea's practice of funding their football with non-football-related capital, spending beyond the team's ability to generate revenue, is an abomination contrary to the spirit embodied by the indomitable Arsenal; and what's required against Chelsea, and it even rises to the level of a moral obligation, is to beat them like a rented mule.
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