Sports
Why Arsenal may win the title
Their ability to win against small teams
Since their early season loss to Aston Villa, Arsenal has not lost to any of the smaller clubs in the premier league. It has gotten to the extent that such clubs have begun to fear Arsenal, as for the first time in a decade the fear factor is back with the club.
They are solid at the back; In the past few years, when you would put the Arsenal defence on pressure it would crack but this season they have adapted to be a rock solid bunch. This was evidenced in the games against Newcastle and Aston Villa when they were pressed but never broken. .
Wenger’s side has already shown over festive holiday that they are a more resilient bunch now, with thier determined defensive display helping them to beat Newcastle, and it was a similar story against Aston Villa and Fulham .
Along with Chelsea and Everton, Arsenal have the defensive record in the Premier League this season after conceding only 19 goals in 23 games. And they have managed to keep 10 clean sheets highlighting how good they have been defensively.
That is not what was expected after Arsenal opening day defeat at the Emirates at the hands of Aston Villa.
But Per Metesacker and Laurent Koscielny have formed a very effective partnership and it is coming to two years now since Arsenal has lost a game where both of them have played the full 90 minutes. Metesacker is not the quickest but he reads the game so well and he is also not afraid to put his head in where it hurts.
They are strong in the goal keeping department;
Wojciech Szcz?sny last season was a bit young and naive. He used to concede silly goals to an extent that Wenger dropped him from being the number one goal keeper and gave the job to ?ukasz Fabia?sk which led to transfer speculations that he was to leave the club in the summer . But the young Polish has put all that behind him and matured into goal stopping machine.
Plenty of class in the midfield;
Arsenal has a lot of class in the middle of the field to the extent that even when their first team players get an injury, their replacements come in and also excel. Aaron Ramsey is injured yet Wilshire has stepped up his game to the extent no one notices the absence of the Wales international; Flamini fills Arteta’s shoes perfectly, Gnabry is playing well in the absence of Walcott and the return of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has increased the competition in that area.
Whatever strategy you chose, Arsenal can adapt and find gaps for their passing triangles when they have the ball and stop you from playing when they don’t.
Even though Theo Walcott is out for the rest of the season, the midfield remains Arsenal’s strongest department in terms of quality, versatility and depth. Many still believe though that they still need to sign a world class striker in order to be solid in their hope of winning this season Premier League.
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