Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has maintained his stance that Arsenal will not finish in the Premier League top four this season.
The centre-back, who won seven major trophies with the Gunners, is standing by his belief that Manchester United will take the final Champions League spot.
Can Arsenal finish in the top four? Four key things to know…
- Arsenal are currently in fourth spot, two points ahead of Manchester United and three ahead of Chelsea.
- Arsenal will not face any of the top six sides in their final eight matches.
- The Gunners are undefeated in five league games, having scored 12 goals during that run.
- Former defender Keown is backing Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham and Manchester United to finish above the Gunners.
Arsenal are coming off the back of a superb victory over Manchester United at the weekend and are now unbeaten in six Premier League games. The run has seen the Gunners take 16 points from the last available 18, leaving them in the driving seat for a top-four finish.
Despite this excellent run, three-time title winning defender, Keown, does not see his former club finishing in the top four.
“On August 6, a week before the start of this season, I predicted this top four (Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United) and I’m standing by it,” he said in the Daily Mail.
“Pochettino is too good a manager to let Spurs slip and United’s re-emergence under [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer has been stunning to watch.”
Subscribe to Squawka’s Youtube channel here.
Even though Solskjaer has turned United around, he was unable to mastermind a victory over Arsenal at the Emirates at the weekend with the home side walking away with an impressive 2-0 victory.
Given that Emery’s side had only kept one clean sheet in their previous six top-flight games prior to beating United, that result against their rivals was even more notable.
Not only will Arsenal be able to take confidence from the win but they also have a run-in that does not pit them against any other top six side, with only an away trip to Wolves looking particularly tricky.
Do Arsenal have the best run-in?
If Arsenal don’t finish in the top four, it will be hard to take given their favourable final eight games and although we often hear the phrase ‘there are no easy games in the Premier League’, there are definitely some that are harder than others.
Arsenal face Wolves away next and travel to Burnley on the final day but do not have to face any of the top six in their final eight games.
READ MORE: Nightmare for Man Utd, easy street for Arsenal? Ranking the Big Six Premier League run-ins
Below is a list of the current top six and their matches they still have to face against each other:
Manchester City: Manchester United (a), Tottenham (h)
Liverpool: Tottenham (h), Chelsea (h)
Tottenham: Liverpool (a), Manchester City (a)
Arsenal: None
Manchester United: Manchester City (h), Chelsea (h)
Chelsea: Liverpool (a), Manchester United (a)
Arsenal will certainly feel they have the best chance of sealing a place in the top four, despite Keown’s reservations.
The post How Solskjaer’s “stunning” Man Utd will see Arsenal fail this season – Martin Keown appeared first on Squawka News.
From Squawka News https://ift.tt/2VYqEL3
No comments:
Post a Comment