Arsenal: Season to be defined over next three games

How are your nerves? Two months on from the conclusion of the competition’s group stage phase in December, Arsenal were back in Europa League action on Thursday night for their round of 32 tie with Benfica, playing out a frustrating 1-1 draw with the Portuguese giants that leaves our prospects of attaining European football for next season hanging in the balance.

Domestic struggles have increased our need for a triumphant continental adventure this term, and Mikel Arteta proved as much by selecting a strong, unchanged side from last week’s win against Leeds for the Roman showdown. However, the failure to capitalise on a number of fantastic opportunities means it is all to play for in the return fixture, and that is just one of three upcoming games that may well have a defining impact on our turbulent campaign.

The first game of this daunting run is pencilled in for Sunday, as Arsenal play host to Pep Guardiola’s runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City. Last season’s dethroned champions have won their last 17 games in all competitions and have not tasted defeat since losing to Sp*rs in November.

Meanwhile, to make matters worse, key players such as Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero are set to feature this weekend having recovered from lengthy injury lay-offs, while the in-form Ilkay Gundogan is also fit to return. Of course. The return of City’s superstars, coupled with their on-pitch success of late, makes it hard to see anything other than another home defeat for Arsenal, and such an outcome would further hamper our ambitions for a top seven league finish.

Arsenal’s next three games could play a big role in defining the season 

Following on from that, the second game of this tough sequence will see us travel to Athens for our second-leg ‘home’ match against Benfica, with a cruel twist of fate meaning it will take place at Olympiacos’ Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium. Permutations for this one are relatively straightforward, with a win or goalless draw securing progression and a defeat eliminating us from the competition, while the prospect of extra-time and a dreaded penalty shootout can’t be ruled out.

Finally, on February 28th, Arsenal will complete their fourth game in 11 days when they make the trip to the east Midlands to take on high-flying Leicester City. Taking place less than 72 hours after the Athens outing, the possibility of tired and (hopefully not) dispirited bodies may result in an extension of our terrible recent record away to the Foxes – where we have not won in the league since 2015- and a defeat may effectively condemn the Gunners’ to their first season without European football since 1995-96.

While this makes for a bit of a depressing read, the good news is that Arsenal can still play a big role in shaping their own destiny. Arteta has turned us into a more formidable unit this campaign, underlined by our status as the league’s joint third-best defence, and results have improved drastically since the turn of the year, with the club sitting third in the form table since Christmas.

This is a huge week in the boss’s managerial career, let’s hope it doesn’t turn into a Greek tragedy.