Arsenal squander their chance at worst possible time

All the chances existed for Arsenal against Crystal Palace on Monday night, and yet none were executed properly. It was a nightmare sort of evening for the Gunners, who lost not only the match in question, but lost it 3-0, lost Kieren Tierney for the rest of the season, and Thomas Partey had to leave the match towards its end.

Worse still, Tottenham had a very positive result against Newcastle, and so are in fourth place ahead of Arsenal on goal difference, albeit having played an extra match at this time. Chelsea meanwhile, had a horrendous result, and so Arsenal could have both kept distance from Spurs while pressuring in a major way the top-three and Chelsea. This was not to happen.

With injuries mounting, lack of depth a reality, and the top four and even top three races tightening by the matchweek, the Gunners will need some young men to step up in a really serious way moving forward.

Nuno Tavares, who had an absolutely dreadful match that saw him subbed out at half-time, will have to be stronger when next he plays for the team – likely upon the weekend unless the boss makes some tactical changes to the shape and idea of the team. Albert Sambi Lokonga too will have to grow more quickly next to Granit Xhaka as he will fill in for Partey for what looks like being the remainder of the season.

Unforgiving Arsenal schedule might see Mohamed Elneny come to the rescue with tricky Premier League fixtures ahead

More pressure than ever will fall upon the young shoulders of such players as Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe. Alexandre Lacazette, who has done so well in getting his young teammates into the matches, will have to become a bit more selfish and look for goals more brazenly. This team will need to score more, and rely on clean sheets and stout defending less towards the end of this season.

What Cedric has done since Takehiro Tomiyasu went down with a persistent calf injury has been really impressive, especially considering how out of place he has previously looked at the Emirates at different periods of his tenure with Arsenal. He might now find himself on the right side of the back defensive line for longer than he first anticipated, however, as injuries at Arsenal are going to mean that players are making things work as best as they can. This could mean the reemployment of a back three.

Mohamed Elneny, who is counting down the days before a departure from north London, might have to give his club one more favor before he moves on to greener pastures, and the Gooners would be awfully thankful of him for taking pressure off of young Albert Sambi Lokonga in the process.

Arsenal will have a match against Brighton coming up next, and a date with Southampton after that, before the rest of the season becomes really rocky and difficult, just as injuries and the like ravage this team of course. In the final seven matches of the season, the Gunners will face Chelsea, Manchester United, West Ham United, Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle and Everton to finish the year off.

Having lost against Palace and Patrick Vieira, there are but nine matches remaining for Arsenal. Some of those are remarkably difficult, while others will be against desperate outfits who will need the three points as badly as the Gunners will. I think 20 to 24 points across the rest of the Premier League season will get this team into the Champions League next season, but it will be a matter of all hands on deck so to speak.

Yet this is possible. While some are doom and gloom regarding all of the recent negative innovations that are now in the team’s path, this team has shown its resiliency before and is tough. They will fight for what they want and even with injuries, they might just be strong enough to make it happen despite the setbacks that this team is working and pushing through.