Only two Premier League sides have won 10 games across all competitions this season; Arteta’s Arsenal and Guardiola’s Man City. Arsenal has started excellently and there is a belief and togetherness around the club now that hasn’t been seen since the glory days of the Invincibles under Arsene Wenger. They are top of the table and they deserve to be there. Most people think Arsenal’s position on the table is due to the fact that most top teams in the league are in transition (new managers or key players).
But their fans believe the club has invested wisely in getting really good players like Nuno Tavares, Martin Ødegard, and Ben White and are playing a good game currently. The majority of people think that Manchester City is the only thing between Arsenal and the English Premier League. But all Arsenal fans are pretty certain that the team will finish top 4 in the league this season.
We spoke to 5 diehard Arsenal fans and below are their views
Ibrahim Baruwa, Student, Ibadan Polytechnic
“People didn’t believe that Arsenal would win the last match against Liverpool because they are miles ahead of Arsenal…”
The problem with Arsenal started in 2019 when we got a new coach Mikel Arteta and in 2020 he continued using the players he met at the club. So in the summer of 2021 he made some signings like Albert Sambi Lokonga, Nuno Tavares, Martin Ødegard, and Ben White amongst others, these are young players, and he spent more on those players than any other team in the premier league.
All through last year, these newly bought players didn’t perform very well, but they are really in form now. Last season, we lost our first 3 games, we played against Man City, Chelsea, and Brentford and as time went on we bounced back.
Also Read: Premier League Managers of the Decade
We had some setbacks, some players had an injury that didn’t allow us to make the top 4 and we could not go to the Champions League.
People didn’t believe that Arsenal would win the last match against Liverpool because they are miles ahead of Arsenal, Liverpool is one of the best teams in the premier league right now.
We have some of the youngest players in the league as we speak. I don’t even have it in mind that we would win the league, but I am very sure we would finish up amongst the top 4. We can’t win because we are not up to Man City’s standard at the moment, they are miles ahead of us, they have the hottest striker, Erling Haaland right now, and their team is currently the best.
And the funniest thing is Arsenal is one injury away from being done for, for instance, the match with Manchester United that we lost was just because of a single player, Thomas Partey that was on injury and couldn’t play. They’ve not gotten a better replacement for him and we lost because of his absence and that was our only loss this season.
As a true Arsenal fan, I don’t think we can win this season. We are currently just regaining our grounds. We’ve not beaten Liverpool in a game for the past 5 years in the premier league.
Olukunle Olamilekan, Mechanical Engineer
“A lot of clubs have been winning against Arsenal in the past and Mikel Arteta is trying his best. I feel it is a 60/40 chance”.
Gunners for life! I am a true Arsenal fan and I have been supporting Arsenal since I was in secondary school, in the year 2014.
People thought Liverpool was going to beat Arsenal in this last match, having won at least eight of their first nine league matches in a top-flight campaign for the fourth time, after 2007-08, 2004-05, and 1947-48. The Gunners sit atop the table 9+ games into a season for the first time since December 10th, 2016 (15th game). Even during some of the past matches, Arsenal played well and the best result was a draw. Arsenal won just two matches. In the semifinals of the Carling Cup Liverpool won Arsenal 2-0, 0-0 at Anfield in 2021. That’s why people thought Liverpool was going to beat Arsenal, but we proved them wrong.
Also Read: Arsenal Star Mesut Ozil Building a Career in Finance after Joining VC Fund
A lot of clubs have been winning against Arsenal in the past and Mikel Arteta is trying his best. I feel it is a 60/40 chance. But the only problem I am having is Manchester City because they are a very good team. If we can win against them or they make a mistake, we will win the league.
I don’t think others have a chance, Manchester United for instance is just building a team, it takes time to build a team. When Liverpool signed Klopp it took them 3 years before they could go to the Champions League. Arsenal knows what they want and they will sign any player that suits the best position.
After money, Arsenal is the other thing I dedicate my life to. I think Arsenal is the best team and has the chance to utilize the victory so far and win the league.
Ayomide Oke, Artist
“Manchester City right now is the biggest contender to Arsenal”.
It’s crazy how people thought Liverpool was going to beat Arsenal. Because if you look at Liverpool’s form, they are not particularly playing well with the absence of Sedio Mané, it hit them more than it should have, they sold him to Bayern Munich.
Liverpool believed that this season they could count on a star player like Mohamed Salah but he’s been underperforming so far and now they are saying that Sedio Mané was more important than they thought, so it was a bad one for them.
Mikel Arteta is also doing very well coaching the team. Arsenal is flying high at the moment, they have been playing a very beautiful game and they have won all their matches apart from the one we drew against Manchester United and Liverpool has the direct opposite, they’ve been winning and losing.
Manchester City right now is the biggest contender to Arsenal. But if we can win our match against Man City I feel like we can win the league. Mancity is currently second on the table and whatever makes them win and get to the top of the table, one thing is certain, they are not coming back down.
Tijani Ibrahim, Accountant
“Even if Arsenal is going to win, Man City will most likely pull them down…”
Arsenal can’t win this season, because they don’t have the capacity. We don’t have the squad game to win the league yet. We lost a match because of Thomas Partey so we need that balance before we can think of winning this season.
I’m very sure by the time we get to the middle of the season, sometime in December, our team will have a problem. If Thomas Partey gets injured again, it will be a mess.
They just really need to get the right players and they currently have the youngest squad so it takes time to get that balance, and we need to sell those that are not performing well.
Even if Arsenal is going to win, Man City will most likely pull them down, they are the best team right now. Manchester City beat Manchester United, that’s to show you that they are very strong.
We are playing good football right now, but I don’t think we are there yet and we are not contenders for the league. Liverpool has a better chance than Arsenal, Arsenal’s aim is not to even win the league, but to be among the top 4 at the end of the season.
Okegwa Emmanuel, Computer Scientist
“It takes more than just having a run of good games for just 10 days, for Arsenal to win the league…”
The last time Arsenal won the league was in the 2003-04 season and in that space of a year a whole lot has happened. We have had a series of coaches. As an Arsenal fan, I wouldn’t advise anybody to stake his/her money on Arsenal winning the league, I could advise them to place a bet on Man City though.
Nothing is impossible, let’s wait until December and see how well we perform continuously, that would determine. The season would have gone far, looking at the numbers one would be able to tell what is possible and what’s not.
Also Read: Queen Elizabeth II: How Former Arsenal Star Emmanuel Eboue Made Her Majesty Laugh at Buckingham Palace
But at the moment, Arsenal is playing exceptionally well, the problem is how long they can hold on to it. Everyone on the table can win the league, it’s just a game of numbers.
It takes more than just having a run of good games for just 10 days, for Arsenal to win the league, they must comprehensively win and concede enough goals in the matches. The reason is that if we don’t get 2-3 wins consecutively, we are done for this season, we don’t have the squad yet, and some players might get injuries, if someone like Thomas Partey or Saka Tinubu gets injured, that’s it. They’re really no replacement, Mohamed Elneny can’t do anything or even replace Partey at that.
