Arsenal Vs Leicester City: 5 things we learned – Positives despite disappointment

1. Champions League hopes over?

Mikel Arteta has routinely said that he still hopes his team can recover their Champions League position. It was always looking like a tough task in the circumstances and given the ground Arsenal needed to make up. Now, it seems almost impossible.

Chelsea moved ten points clear and need just one more win to assure their position above the Gunners. Leicester, too, need only one more win to all but secure their finish above Arsenal (their goal difference is +24 superior). And then Manchester United and Wolves both have a game in hand and can move eight and five points clear respectively.

Spurs, too, and Sheffield United, who play one another on Wednesday night, can move ahead of Arsenal with a victory. Sunday’s North London Derby does mean, however, that if Arsenal win all their remaining matches they are assured to finish above their rivals for the first time in four seasons.

The Champions League, then, now seems out of reach. And that leaves the club lurching in financial uncertainty. For all of the progress made on the pitch, is not the ideal start to the Arteta rebuild.