It seems almost counter-intuitive to forget about your team’s main rivals for the Premier League title but it is important that Arsenal do exactly that. There might only be three weeks until the dramatic collision between the Gunners and Man City at the Etihad Stadium, but the distraction of such a huge match on the horizon has already hurt Arsenal once before.
Mikel Arteta has often discussed the idea of 'game-by-game' and even 'training session-by-training session'. However he has masterminded a shockingly good season, that has exceeded almost everyone’s expectations, perhaps besides those inside the club, of what Arsenal might achieve this campaign.
"I want to talk about the next training session and I think it’s the way we have to look at it," Arteta said after winning his first away league North London derby in January. "Still we watch the game, we have a lot of incredible moments but still we have a lot of things we can improve as a team."
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Fast forward more than two months and the Gunners still have the Premier League title in their own hands but it may require a near-perfect run to the end of the season in order to win it. The two games before Man City are a trip to West Ham United before hosting Southampton.
Think back to the league defeat at the Emirates Stadium and the situation for Arsenal going into the game couldn’t have been much worse. The side had next-to-nothing in terms of momentum.
A defeat at Goodison Park was followed by a draw with Brentford. This was a huge blow to the Gunners' form and represented the first real dip in the flow of the season.
Man City, meanwhile, had battered Villa 3-1 and beaten the Gunners in the FA Cup just over two weeks before. Arsenal were also reeling from the frustration of the refereeing blunder against Brentford which arguably cost them two points having failed to spot an offside in Ivan Toney’s equaliser.
Then hours before the game, it transpired that Thomas Partey was going to be unable to play the game. The Ghanaian is perhaps the most important member of the side with his quality in midfield unmatched despite the best efforts of Jorginho.
West Ham and Southampton present Arsenal with the chance to build momentum with two wins, extend their unbeaten run to 10 games and hope to have William Saliba fit to have their full-strength starting XI for just the second time in a big away game this season.
It seems mad to think but at Manchester United, Arsenal had no Partey, at Liverpool no William Saliba and at Tottenham no Gabriel Jesus. Chelsea was the only game where the first-choice XI all started and Arsenal were dominant; despite the close 1-0 scoreline, the Gunners totally controlled proceedings in west London.
For the most important game of Arsenal’s last decade, let alone just this campaign, Mikel Arteta will be praying to have a full-strength side. Even then, having the momentum from the two preceding fixtures could be equally as important.
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