Arsenal

[dom]

https://twitter.com/UpshotTowers/status/1626206845177315329

Those were the days. Looking back, Football almost seemed like an amateur sport back then.

[dom]

Ended up with a much needed victory but a lot of effort was required to get there against an awkward Villa side.

Ultimately it was ex-Arsenal keeper that made the difference. He was booked for constant time wasting and the ref added on 6 minutes as a result. In that time he headed Arsenal into the lead after Jorginho crashed the ball onto the Villa crossbar. Then the World cup winning keeper was left stranded upfield following a Villa corner allowing Martinelli to walk it into the net.

He had it coming. Not just the timewasting, not just the negative comments about Arsenal when he left, but his awful behaviour when winning the World Cup. I think karma can call it quits now!

Who thought City would drop points yesterday,? Forest are on a good run but I was expecting a comfortable win for Guardiola. Not getting that 2nd goal really cost them and the title race has taken another little twist

[dom]

Another Midlands away win, this time at Leicester.

The attack misfired yesterday with a few of Arsenal's attackers not quite on their game.  The defence was outstanding though with Ramsdale not having to make a single save.  Saliba and Gabriel have formed an outstanding partnership in central defence and full backs White and Zinchenko (captained yesterday due to the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine) are both highly gifted and intelligent players.

Martinelli (one of those not at their best) settled matters expertly after being beautifully set up by Trossard.  Both of the January acquisitions, the Belgian and Jorginho have settled very quickly and well. Both were excellent yesterday. 

Arsenal may not win the league but the journey is a very enjoyable one.

Leicester's xG yesterday was recorded as 0.01, I think the lowest recorded by a Premier league team this season.

[dom]

Missed the game yesterday as ee were in Belfast attending the Neighbours farewell celebration concert (don't ask!)

Plenty of furtive glances at the mobile screen indicated that a 4 0 win was being achieved. Couldn't ask for more from the game in hand over City. 13 matches to go, 5 points clear.

[dom]

Was looking like a poor result today. A goal down after 15 seconds and then a second from Bournemouth's only corner.

Ridiculous stats today. Arsenal had 81% possession and approaching 80 touches in the Bournemouth box. Bournemouth had 7 in the Arsenal area. You have to argue that Bournemouth were incredibly efficient scoring 2 goals from their 4 shots. Arsenal needed 31 to score their 3 goals.

I always believed that City's strength in depth would tell in the end to decide the title. But if a player like Nelson, on as a second half sub, can get an assist and a 97th minute winner maybe the difference in quality isn't as big as I thought it was.

Reckon that afternoon has taken 5 years off my life!

[dom]

Nice to win a game comfortably without troubling the heart! Thanks Fulham! They weren't quite on their game and Arsenal took full advantage.

11 games to go. I had a little look at the remaining fixtures, a little optimistically I think following today's game. Draws at Liverpool and Newcastle and a loss to City would be 7 points dropped. City would need an almost perfect record to beat that.

Injuries and sendings off/suspensions can derail but Arsenal have put themselves in a fantastic position

[dom]

A potentially costly Europa League exit to Sporting Lisbon last night. We'll see how much of a toll extra time and penalties has taken with the quick turnaround to Palace on Sunday.

Injuries sustained to Tomiyasu and Saliba will hopefully not be too serious.

[dom]

Tomiyasu out for the season and Sali ba's injury has to be carefully managed, whatever that means.

He wasn't in the squad for the home match against Leeds, but I'm hoping he's able to start at Anfield next weekend. Holding against Salah is a scary thought.

The Leeds game was comfortable enough in the end. They weren't at their strongest but still made the first half hour or so relatively uncomfortable. Jesus scored a pen from our first shot on target. The players relaxed after that and the result was never in doubt.

City looked ominously good yesterday so its looking like Arsenal will need to get pretty close to 94 points (City's total if they win all of their 10 remaining ganes)

[dom]

Missed most of the game today but based on the last 20 minutes, Arsenal were lucky to come home with the point. Could be a very valuable one come the end of the season. Thank you Aaron Ramsdale!

[Slim]

Well you could say Arsenal rescued a point tonight, but against the bottom of the table club that was surely a must-win.

[dom]

3 points from 3 matches is not league winning form.

It's still been a fantastic season. Champions league virtually secured with 7 matches to go and nailed on for 2nd place. Not many would have predicted that at the start of the season, certainly not me. Even though on current form its looking increasingly unlikely, any sort of a result against City will keep Arsenal in the hunt.

The fat lady is maybe warming up but she still hasn't sung yet!

[dom]

Big game tonight.  Looking at the form of both teams and I'm not too optimistic about getting a result.  The loss of Saliba and to a lesser extent Tomiyasu has really affected the defence and make us very leaky.  It also means the team has a less stable platform from which to build attacks.

This is the real difference between City and Arsenal.  Put our first 11 against theirs and the difference in quality is minimal.  Once either team starts to draw on its reserves City are well ahead,  almost unaffected with having to replace any number of their nominal first 11.  This is where City will in all likelihood win the league.

Hope I'm wrong but its looking like a City win tonight and the league virtually sealed for them. Who knows though.  I'm hoping at least that Arsenal show that they are worthy opponents and prove that they merit their league position this season

[Slim]

I think a City win is the most likely outcome but it could be a cautious and cagey affair.. both sides might take a draw right now but neither can afford the other to get three points out of the encounter.

[Matt2112]

Whatever happens, as a neutral I hope it goes down to the last game of the season, but I fear after the reverse fixture at the Emirates that City have a significant psychological advantage which will be decisive tonight and hence on the run in.

[dom]

City just too good. Completely smothered Arsenal and they just couldn't compete. I would have been happy enough with 3 1 but Arsenal just had to let bloody Haaland score!