Their 3-3 draw with Southampton on Friday night saw Arsenal’s hopes of being crowned the 2022\/23 Premier League champions taking a serious dent despite the Premier League title race still being in their hands technically, albeit just barely.<\/p>\n
Mikel Arteta and his Gunners have been on the wrong side of two-goal leads being overturned, but despite salvaging a point after trailing 3-1 going into the 90th minute, the reaction from the likes of Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus told its own story when the final whistle blew.<\/p>\n
Reality is staring Arsenal in the face that they have just missed out on\u00a0a great opportunity to take advantage of Manchester City not caught in Premier League action this weekend by opening up a seven-point lead at the top of the table, which would in no small measure place increased pressure on Pep Guardiola and his valiant side when the two teams meet at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong>Now, when the Gunners beat Crystal Palace 4-1 last month, The target to be crowned champions had earlier been 25 points in addition to a significant swing in the goal difference column in their favor. Which would have worked out to be eight wins and a draw from the final 10 Premier League fixtures, in an ideal setting.<\/p>\n However, the reality now presents a different scenario now since the win over Leeds United after the international break have dipped significantly even if Arsenal haven’t actually lost a single game. Realistically those 2-2 draws against Liverpool and West Ham United when leading 2-0 and the six-goal thriller at home to Southampton may prove costly to the Gunners come May 28.<\/p>\n Guardiola’s side can reach a total 94 of points were they to win every single one of their remaining eight fixtures and welcoming the Gunners to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday means this scenario will see them lift the Premier League trophy for the third season in a row.<\/p>\n That being the scenario, both sides do have a hand on the trophy as, with six games remaining for the current league leaders, their maximum points total is 93 but for the Gunners to reach that they have to beat Man City and remain perfect all the way up to the final day of the season against Wolves.<\/p>\n Obviously the game at the Etihad is not the title decider as the north London side are guaranteed to end the night on top of the table, but the dynamics will change if Arteta\u2019s Gunners manage to secure a victory over City in the Premier League for the first time since December 2015.<\/p>\n Defeat for City would mean the Cityzens reaching 91 points while a draw means they can reach 92 points. Conversely, if Arsenal avoid defeat in Manchester then the new target to be crowned Premier League champions becomes 92 or 93 points, depending on the outcome between the top two.<\/p>\n This equates to six wins from their remaining fixtures\u00a0to hit 93 points in the best-case scenario. But the keynote is that if the Gunners lose or draw on Wednesday they will surrender the advantage to City who will cut the gap to two or three points having played two games fewer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"