Assessing Arsenal’s Top Four Hopes – Rival Analysis

Chelsea

Chelsea blew us all away with one of the best transfer windows of world history, and their recent resurgence at the hands of long-time Arsenal target Hakim Ziyech has been heartbreaking to say the least. They’ve scored the most goals in the league this season, at 20 – Arsenal have nine, for reference – and despite Frank Lampard’s continued insistence that Mason Mount is the second coming of David Beckham, continue to dominate.

They currently sit fifth in the table, but arguably should be first. They deserved to win against Man Utd and Southampton, although they also deserved to lose to West Brom. It all evens out for the Blues, who are primed to continue their upward rampage.

Chelsea are our Boxing Day fixture, and the match will be a hotly contested one, especially considering a certain FA Cup this August. If the earful I got from Chelsea fans is anything to go off, Frank Lampard’s men will be looking for revenge. It’s at the Emirates, which at this point means bupkis, but it’ll be nice to see a win. Our away game at Stamford Bridge is our third match of May, meaning a win there could be pivotal to a top four charge.

Chelsea are a side to watch this season. They won’t finish ahead of City or Liverpool, but they’ll make it a fight.

Predicted Finish: 3rd.

Spurs

Every word after this paragraph is being etched into my hand by Dolores Umbridge’s ‘special’ quill. That’s how much this hurts. I really hate Spurs.

That being said, I don’t think we’re going to get to celebrate St. Totteringham’s Day this year, unless we find some magic by the name of Dominik Szoboszlai, Houssem Aouar, or Jack Grealish this January that allows us to play Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang through the middle, finally.

Jose Mourinho’s Spurs look really strong. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg has reinvented himself as a pure No. 6, their midfield is clicking for the first time in years, and Harry Kane and Heung-min Son have a combined 25 goal contributions over eight games. While they’re seriously outperforming their xG, at an unsustainable rate, they still have Gareth Bale and Steven Bergwijn to pick up the scraps. Scary stuff in north London.

Their only loss was on the opening day to Everton, and they’re grinding out results in a Mourinho-like fashion – in other words, 1-0 wins with the occasional five goal thriller thrown in the mix. And in a very un-Spursy fashion, they’re staying healthy. You hate to see it.

But they are Spurs, don’t forget. They’ll finish fourth, but a long way off the top three, due to some late bottling, and probably aided by Harry Kane’s ankle ligaments being built of balsa wood.

Predicted Finish: 4th.