Arsenal’s phenomenal form in the run-in has been stealing the headlines, but there some statistics which are quite frankly scary . The Gunners were the worst out of the top 5 teams in England in the matches against one another by far, even Spurs managed to double our points.
Interestingly City and Chelsea finished top after both coming victorious over Manchester United towards the end of the season, but what is worrying is how far off the pace the Gunners were. The losses to Tottenham, Chelsea and City in 2013 really dented their hope of catching the top two or even made a top four finish seem inconceivable.
The only bright spots were the 5-2 win over Bale FC way back in November and the two battling draws against United and City, however the former had already won the title. Here is a table of the final head to head results for the Premier League’s top five:
While we can rue the lost points there is something positive to take from this seasons battles with the top five. Apart from the 2-o loss to City in early January, all other results were 2-1 losses so just the one goal in it. However at times they were lucky to finish with such a scoreline.
Jack Wilshere shared some of his desire to win the big games next season and feels that if the Gunners can do so they can have a real crack at the title. He told Arsenal Player:
The games earlier on don’t decide our season but we have got to think that we have to win them, because that is what champions do.
The likes of Manchester United go away and win games and leave you thinking, ‘they keep winning and winning’ and at the end of the season the points tally shows that.
That is what we have to do [to challenge for the title], and we also have to improve our record against the big teams. It has not been great this season and if you want to become champions you have to beat those sides.
The Gunners certainly have to step up their game next season and switch on from the get-go. The new players are nicely integrated in the set-up now, and after such a stellar run over the last few months it bodes well for a promising upcoming season. But like Wilshere said they need to win the big games as well as the others, beating Newcastle 7-3 and West Ham 5-1 doesn’t make you a champion but grinding out consistent wins certainly does especially against the Premier Leagues elite as it strips points away from the title potentials.