Arsenal's Premier League title hopes remain alive, despite recent setbacks, and here's why.
The Gunners' resilience and determination in the face of adversity is a testament to their character. After a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City, Arsenal's players and fans alike were left feeling deflated. However, the team's response to this setback has been one of grit and determination, with midfielder Declan Rice famously telling captain Martin Ødegaard, 'It's not done.'
This sentiment was echoed by Mikel Arteta in his post-match press conference, where he stated that his players are 'more convinced' they can win the league after going so close to securing a positive result at the Etihad Stadium.
The fact that Arsenal went close against City, with shots hitting the post and headers over the crossbar, highlights the fine margins that can decide the outcome of a match. The question that irked Arteta and his players was why they didn't play like this when losing at home to Bournemouth last week.
The back-to-back league defeats against Bournemouth and City, preceded by a costly 2-2 draw at Wolves, have potentially ruined Arsenal's title hopes. However, there are positives to be drawn from the performance at the Etihad and enough reasons to justify Rice's assertion that the race for the title really is 'not done.'
Since the loss to Manchester United, Arsenal's league form had been on a par with City until losing to Bournemouth and Guardiola's team. Their longest winning run was four games -- the same as City's best sequence -- and both City and Arsenal have scored 20 goals in their last 10 league games.
So the winning machine built by Guardiola in years gone by, when City would surge to the title with a rampant run of victories, is not quite as formidable this time around. Even though they have lost two and drawn one of their last three league games, Arsenal are still top and will only surrender first place on goal difference if City win their game in hand away to relegation-threatened Burnley on Wednesday.
The onus is now on Arsenal to capitalize on the chance that they still have and outscore City during the run-in. Only three points and one goal separate the two sides after Sunday's result. Any win for City at Turf Moor would take them top by virtue of scoring more goals than the Gunners, so the hope for Arsenal will be that Guardiola's players don't win by an emphatic margin.
But if the goal difference gap is no more than three or four goals in City's favour after the Burnley game, Arsenal's remaining fixtures would tilt the odds towards the Premier League trophy heading to the Emirates rather than the Etihad next month.
All five of Arsenal's remaining league games are in London -- three home fixtures against Newcastle, Fulham and Burnley and away games at West Ham and Crystal Palace. Meanwhile, City must travel to Everton and Bournemouth as well as host Brentford, Palace and Aston Villa at the Etihad.
All of Arsenal's remaining games are against teams in the bottom half of the table, while four of City's fixtures are against sides still chasing European qualification in the top half, so the schedule facing Guardiola's players is much tougher.
With both sides chasing the title, it is not unrealistic to assume that they will each win all five of their remaining games, but Arsenal's fixture list would appear to yield a greater opportunity to score goals.
It may even all come down to which team records the biggest win against Burnley, who have the worst defensive record in the league this season, having conceded 67 goals in 33 games to date.
So, for all those Arsenal supporters now believing the title has gone and that there will be an inevitable City procession to glory, don't wave the white flag just yet. The task is simple: five more wins and plenty of goals.
