Abysmal Arsenal end hopes of a title race

Remember when this looked like being the
tightest title race in Premier League history?
Well, yeah, we might have been a bit silly about
that one. It could still be a corker, that’s for sure,
but indifferent form of the chasing pack and
Chelsea’s downright refusal to drop any points
whatsoever is making this increasingly like
another year of Blue joy. It’s now 11 matches
since Antonio Conte’s side last dropped a point,
Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal are
trailing in their wake.
Its not over by
a long stretch,
but only two
teams in the
Premier League
have failed to
win the title
having led the
league by six
points at this
stage. Current
point-per-
game rates
have Chelsea
winning the
league by a
distance, with their rivals gazing upwards from
the financial luxury of the Champions League
places. At the moment, the Blues are not just
keeping clean sheets, they are not even giving
their opponents chances. At the other end of the
pitch, Diego Costa’s finishing will regress to
somewhere close to his career average, but the
title could be all but decided by then. Without the
perils of European football, Chelsea’s greatest
challenge is fitness from here on in.
Manchester City have returned to some form of
late, however. Victory over Arsenal has sent the
Gunners into a negative winter spiral once again.
Arsene Wenger’s side suffered late defeat to
Everton in midweek and the limp, lethargic
performances make it hard not to reminisce
about previous Gunners failings around this time
of year.
Although it is only a minor two points separating
the Gunners and their Sunday conquerors, their
credentials took a battering in the pre-Christmas
fixtures. For all the improvement they had shown
this season in producing results when not
performing at their fluent best, the body language
and nature of their two defeats suggested it was
all a mirage. Unable to take advantage of
lacklustre periods for Manchester City and
Everton, Arsenal’s defence and midfield were
parted with ease. The loss of Shkodran Mustafi
was always going to be hurtful, but a single
injury cannot be blamed for the return to such a
common trend.
Pep Guardiola can enjoy some respite from the
press briefly after the victory and he shrewdly
managed to readjust the expectation boundaries
for Manchester City in his post-match
comments. A New Year’s Eve clash with
Liverpool at Anfield hovers over the title race’s
festivities, mind, with Manchester City needing at
least a point if they are to realistically push
Chelsea in the second half of the campaign.
Each of the top six sides has the quality to go on
a run as dominant as Chelsea’s of late, which
always leaves a change at the top possible. The
concern for Tottenham, Manchester United,
Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal is that
even then they need Chelsea to drop off
considerably from their current standards. No
other team has come close to the balance that
the Blues have found, which is perhaps the most
significant issue.
Chelsea were the real winners this weekend.
Guardiola needed a positive result and
performance, but defeat for Arsenal only
decreased the chances of anyone pushing them
away from the Premier League summit. Conte’s
Chelsea are still a tier above the chasing pack
and have a clear, stress-free calendar for the
rest of the season. Sunday’s result was almost
perfect for the Blues.
An Arsenal victory would have seen a return to
form for the Gunners – which is always
dangerous for a team so reliant on momentum –
it may have sparked a challenge from a team
who had taken heart that this season would be
different from all the other seasons. But two
defeats in a row means Arsene Wenger should
now be more concerned about Spurs below than
Chelsea above.
There will be twists and turns for the next few
months, we can at least rely on that.
Unfortunately, though, the tight-fought title race
we expected just a month or so ago now