With the gutting end to the game against Brighton last weekend, there was a temptation from many to throw in the towel. Suggestions Arsenal should field the fringe and even youth stars in the final two games began to creep into the rhetoric.
However, the likelihood that Mikel Arteta will follow this thread is very low indeed. Speaking ahead of the match with Nottingham Forest, a side desperate for points in the title race but who lost by five at the Emirates Stadium earlier this season, Arteta highlighted what is still on offer for the club.
“We have shown this season, and we are still there with two games to go. We can still be champions, against probably the best team in the history of the Premier League, for 10 months and we are still there with two games to go.
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“We’re not going to bottle that, that’s for sure. What happens next season will depend a lot on what we do, how we evolve and how we start. That prediction is very difficult to make today.”
Although the chances are very small, Man City can indeed still somehow not win the league. They play Chelsea on Sunday and should Arsenal win and the Citizens fail to match the result it will go to the next game away at Brighton.
With Arsenal playing before City, Arteta will not want the possibility of taking the game against Forest with any modicum of casualness. The awful scenario that the Gunners could drop points at Forest and watch as City then themselves also drop points is too painful to consider and would surely brandish the label of 'bottlers'.
Therefore the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira will surely have to wait until perhaps the final day of the season. Even if Arsenal see City win, winning their final two league games would see them match the double-winning season tally of 2002 which reached 87 points.
Despite the necessity not to skimp on quality on Saturday afternoon, it would still be a good idea to use the present consistent bench option, Reiss Nelson. The player is embroiled in contract talks and has impressed in his cameos when coming on and Arteta could use these games to his advantage.
Granit Xhaka meanwhile is closing in on an Arsenal exit, football.london understands, with Bayer Leverkusen ready to pay £13m to sign him this summer. He too will keep his place as Mikel Arteta looks to bring in a ready-made upgrade on the Swiss international.
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