Arsenal’s 5-1 thrashing of Everton on Saturday was a part of what was a fantastic weekend for the Gunners.
In their attempt to put together a late season run to qualify for next season’s Champions League, we closed the gap on the top four from eight to five places.
Chelsea were humiliated art Watford on Monday night, going down 4-1 at Vicarage Road off the back of a 3-0 thrashing at home by Bournemouth a week ago.
The day before Liverpool and Tottenham played out a 2-2 draw at Anfield, leaving just two points between the top clubs who are third and fifth respectively.
After the disappointing loss of Alexis Sanchez we have started to hit form – thrashing Crystal Palace 4-1 in our previous home game before this past weekend.
Everton were under siege from kickoff and we were 2-0 within 20 minutes thanks to an Aaron Ramsey brace. The Welshman would complete his hat-trick in the second half but not before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored on his debut.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was marking his debut since joining from Manchester United and did so with a trio of assists. He’d only recorded six assists in 39 Premier League games under Jose Mourinho.
Though it’s too early to judge, there were certainly promising signs for our attacking unit which also included Mesut Ozil, that they could close in on the top four and qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Aubameyang scored 98 goals in 144 Bundesliga appearances for Borussia Dortmund and his pace and finishing certainly has the potential to make him a success in England. Likewise, Mkhitaryan previously succeeded with Dortmund as both a playmaker and goalscorer.
If Arsene Wenger can get the best out of the Armenian then we are in for an exciting final dozen games of the season. However, bookmakers Betfair aren’t on our side as their football betting odds have us at 5/1 to finish in the top top four.
One thing we’ll need to sort out to make that happen between now and the end of the season will be our away form. We’ve been dreadful on the road so far this season – picking up just 13 points from 13 away games. Tottenham, above us in the take, have taken 21 on their travels this season, whilst Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool have all picked up 24 points away from home.
Our form at the Emirates is the only thing keeping us up there right now. We’ve still got to go Tottenham, Brighton, Leicester, Newcastle, Manchester United and Huddersfield before the season is out. Could we get four wins from those fixtures?
Betfair have produced the graphic below looking at each of the 20 teams and stadiums in the 2017-18 Premier League season: