(ed note: thanks to commenter for pointing out error in headline! )
(Note; for those of you who don’t know me, not only am I an ardent Washington Nationals fan but I’m also an Arsenal supporter and a soccer fan in general. I began to follow soccer in general when the World Cup came to America in 1994 and really started to get into the sport by the early 2000s, visiting European cities and seeing games with family and friends, watching the games from the 2002 World Cup in the middle of the night, and beginning to follow the three big european leagues in England, Italy and Spain).
Despite Arsenal’s lack of world class striking talent … they are hanging in on this year’s EPL race. And, Tuesday’s 2-1 Chelsea victory over Man Utd at Stamford Bridge has suddenly thrust Arsenal firmly into the title race.
At the beginning of the season, it seemed that the Schedule makers were playing a cruel joke on Arsenal. Of their matchups against their top rivals (the “big four” teams including themselves, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool) as well as matchups against the newly arriving challengers in the EPL (Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham), 5 of their first 6 matchups were away from home. If Arsenal could keep pace, then having reverse matchups at the Emirates on the back-side of the season could prove to be a massive advantage in the title race.
Now, that’s seemingly exactly where we’re heading. With a game in hand (at Tottenham, which upset Arsenal at the Emirates 2-3 back in December), Arsenal trails Man Utd by 4 points. If Arsenal draws at Tottenham when they replay the game (a fully possible result given that Tottenham has zero chance of winning the league but is advancing in Europe), they’d be 3 back exactly. Here’s the “big 4” game matrix as it stands now (home games read across, away games down, and scores listed as home-away in the European method of showing scores).
| Arsenal | Chelsea | Liverpool | Man Utd | |
| Arsenal | x | 3-1 | 4/16 | 4/30 |
| Chelsea | 2-0 | x | 0-1 | 2-1 |
| Liverpool | 1-1 | 2-0 | x | 3/5 |
| Man Utd | 1-0 | 5/7 | 3-2 | x |
This leaves this “mini-table” of just big four results;
| big4 rcrd | big4 played | big4 pts | |
| Chelsea | 2-0-3 | 5 | 6 |
| Man Utd | 2-0-1 | 3 | 6 |
| Arsenal | 1-1-2 | 4 | 4 |
| Liverpool | 2-1-1 | 4 | 7 |
Man Utd still has the best record against its biggest rivals … having taken 6 points from 3 games. But they have the hardest schedule coming in: Man Utd travels to the Emirates at the end of April. Arsenal has already beaten Chelsea at home handily and would have to be considered favorites to take all 3 points. Meanwhile, Man Utd still has Chelsea at home, and away games at Liverpool to deal with.
Arsenal’s slate is much easier; away game at Tottenham, home games against Liverpool (who they tied away earlier), Aston Villa (who they destroyed in Birmingham early in the season) and the Man Utd game.
The 4/30/11 Arsenal-Man Utd game may very well decide the title race.
Sorry, but check your headline. Didn’t Chelsea unfortunately win 2-1 over ManU, not the otherway around as you have it?
Rick the Hotspur fan
2 Mar 11 at 2:12 pm
Ha. wow, I wrote it so fast I didn’t even notice it. Perhaps it was freudian, since I fully expected Chelsea to capitulate and lose the game. Thanks for pointing this out, i just fixed the headline.
Todd Boss
2 Mar 11 at 2:20 pm
Go GOONERS.
Peter
2 Mar 11 at 3:14 pm
I’ll definitely organize my Arsenal buddies to watch that 4/30 scheduled game against Man Utd. Probably in a bar in Arlington, assuming it airs in the showcase time of 11am EST on sunday 5/1. That game could be absolutely fantastic viewing.
Todd Boss
2 Mar 11 at 3:16 pm