Arsenal vs Watford: One type of pressure is better than the other

Arsenal have the weight of the Champions League bearing down on them as they face Watford, and this is one situation where applying pressure actually matters.

Arsenal fans are right to be nervous as all hell going into this match against Watford. Everton. That’s all you need to say as justification. If Everton could make us look that feeble, and Watford is conceivably better, then what now?

But while this pressure is pushing down on the Gunners already, I’d like to talk about it a bit more, and see if I can’t make the pressure feel even more intolerable. Because, you know, why not.

As it stands, the Gunners are in sixth place. If they win, they will jump into fourth place and remain just a point behind the Spurs. That is where they need to be. Because anywhere else puts them at a serious risk of not being able to be the team applying the pressure anymore.

Manchester United will sit behind us, should the result go kindly, and they still have to face Manchester City and Chelsea (although both at Old Trafford). It’s highly unlikely they will take six points out of that. I would chalk them up for, at max, four points.

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That means that if we take six points from corresponding matches against teams that aren’t in the top six, we will still have one fumbled result as a cushion to stay in the top four. Which is nice.

Chelsea, meanwhile, will be in a similar boat, and they still have to face United, as mentioned. Plus, Arsenal will already have a game in hand which will allow them to bypass Chelsea on goal differential even if Watford goes sour and, if Chelsea flub one match, allows us a similar luxury, should we need it.

Technically, that’s all we have to think about. Tottenham don’t matter. While I’d love to finish ahead of them, and they still have a match against City to give us that chance, our goal is top four. They live to finish above us, we live for bigger things.

The thing is, if we win this match against Watford, it’s the difference between us being able to put the pressure on other teams, and us feeling the pressure put on us. It’s been awhile since we’ve been in the former position, and I, for one, am ready to know what it feels like again.