A genuine 3-horse title race?

There were always going to be points dropped. So many predicted all three teams to end the season with near faultless finishes - that’s simply not how a title race works.

Maybe City can be near faultless but I think even they’ll drop points at some stage.
 
adexkola said:
This is why talk about great title races containing slips is just nonsense.

The quality of this title "race" is marginally better than the one when Leicester won it. It's like watching 3 drunk idiots stumble towards the finish line. Rather watch a race with 3 near-perfect thoroughbreds.
Click to expand...
I mean this is ridiculous. It has been a really good title race and could still be. As another poster mentioned, Arsenal have won 10 of their last 11 games and have been outstanding during that period. Liverpool have wavered since the United game but their form (certainly results-wise) has been excellent for a while.

There’s only two points separating the three so it’s not done and dusted yet, although you obviously have to fancy City given their history.
 
City will be like I Am Maximus and Pool and Arse start dropping off quickly.
 
Robbie Boy said:
Thing is, City have been so bland this season. Yet, there they are, top yet again.
Click to expand...
Let's be honest - is anyone really surprised? They have the best squad. That has been obvious from the start of the season.
 
With six rounds left, there is still only two points between 1st and 3rd. Today was a gut punch for both Arsenal and Liverpool, and my money would be on City, of course, but many act like everything is done and dusted.
 
GoonerGirly said:
Let's be honest - is anyone really surprised? They have the best squad. That has been obvious from the start of the season.
Click to expand...

Honestly, yeah I am a little surprised. I thought they looked well off it a few months back. I still don't think they're playing particularly great.
 
Robbie Boy said:
Honestly, yeah I am a little surprised. I thought they looked well off it a few months back. I still don't think they're playing particularly great.
Click to expand...
They have the best squad. Liverpool and Arsenal's squads don't come anywhere near. And they have the best manager. They are quite literally a machine with 115 Charges holding them up.
 
GoonerGirly said:
Let's be honest - is anyone really surprised? They have the best squad. That has been obvious from the start of the season.
Click to expand...
The best squad on paper but they’ve been without their best creative outlet for most of the season, and struggled when Rodri was out for a few weeks as well. I think if you take everything into consideration, Arsenal have been able to field their best XI more than any other competitors this season and the major losses you have taken were down to pure choking, like the back to back defeat to West Ham/Fulham and today, rather than any real fatigue or squad deficiencies.
 
Mike Smalling said:
With six rounds left, there is still only two points between 1st and 3rd. Today was a gut punch for both Arsenal and Liverpool, and my money would be on City, of course, but many act like everything is done and dusted.
Click to expand...
Looking at Liverpool’s form and Arsenal’s run in its hard to see how either will stop City
 
Mike Smalling said:
With six rounds left, there is still only two points between 1st and 3rd. Today was a gut punch for both Arsenal and Liverpool, and my money would be on City, of course, but many act like everything is done and dusted.
Click to expand...
Exactly. All the teams will drop more points yet. The one thing that really does my head is when the so called experts predict the results for the title run in, and not take into account the injuries, suspensions, form and pressure when assessing games in a few weeks.
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
The best squad on paper but they’ve been without their best creative outlet for most of the season, and struggled when Rodri was out for a few weeks as well. I think if you take everything into consideration, Arsenal have been able to field their best XI more than any other competitors this season and the major losses you have taken were down to pure choking, like the back to back defeat to West Ham/Fulham and today, rather than any real fatigue or squad deficiencies.
Click to expand...
I agree we have been relatively fortunate with injuries compared to others, but I would also argue that we have a weaker squad overall. The reason I think we "choke" is because we're quite clearly the least experienced team, and our manager is a baby compared to Pep and Klopp. Experience counts for a whole lot, and IMO we've learned from our mistakes from last season, but still have a way to go if we're going to better Pep.
 
Mike Smalling said:
With six rounds left, there is still only two points between 1st and 3rd. Today was a gut punch for both Arsenal and Liverpool, and my money would be on City, of course, but many act like everything is done and dusted.
Click to expand...

Exactly. The revelling in Liverpool "being out" of the race pre Arsenal game was very premature.
 
GoonerGirly said:
They have the best squad. Liverpool and Arsenal's squads don't come anywhere near. And they have the best manager. They are quite literally a machine with 115 Charges holding them up.
Click to expand...

You asked was I shocked? Yes, I felt they looked off it a few months back.

I agree with the above. They're two separate things.
 
GoonerGirly said:
They have the best squad. Liverpool and Arsenal's squads don't come anywhere near. And they have the best manager. They are quite literally a machine with 115 Charges holding them up.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's true. But I think Arsenal with another good window in the summer could run them close next year as well. Liverpool will probably struggle quite a bit without Klopp. But this year is hardly over yet. Many games left and apart from Arsenal no team have managed to win more than six games on the bounce.

Arsenal and Llverpool have both done a great job challenging City despite not being able to spend as much as in the transfer market. The two teams that could have done so, Chelsea and United, are unfortunately badly mismanaged which obviously is bad for the league.
 
Robbie Boy said:
You asked was, I shocked? Yes, felt they looked off it a few months back.

I agree with the above. They're two separate things.
Click to expand...
City always look "off it" early in the season but do just enough to keep pace. Then go on an insane run the last couple of months. Again, they have a superior squad to everyone else, it's not even close.
 
CoopersDream said:
Yeah, that's true. But I think Arsenal with another good window in the summer could run them close next year as well. Liverpool will probably struggle quite a bit without Klopp. But this year is hardly over yet. Many games left and apart from Arsenal no team have managed to win more than six games on the bounce.

Arsenal and Llverpool have both done a great job challenging City despite not being able to spend as much as in the transfer market. The two teams that could have done so, Chelsea and United, are unfortunately badly mismanaged which obviously is bad for the league.
Click to expand...
The season isn't over yet but it feels like we've all seen this before. I don't see anyone catching City now they are ahead.

As for next season, I have faith that Arteta will continue to progress us. Liverpool is a question mark with their manager. United and Chelsea have bigger issues than just the squad/manager and who knows how that will go.
 
From this point I think City will do their thing and win all the remaining matches
 
erikcred said:
You can't just name some teams and say these would be difficult for Arsenal. Have you been watching Arsenal this season? They just thrashed Liverpool at home and shut out City away after beating them at home earlier this season.

I'm sure they're trembling at home games against Villa, Chelsea and Bournemouth and travelling to Wolves. And we have zero incentive to put a spanner in Arsenal's season, so we'll probably play for a painless 0-2. The NLD is the only banana skin they have. And even there, I'd back Arteta to get the job done.
Click to expand...
erikcred said:
Nope. There's a third option -- the same difficulty.

I'm saying that Arsenal's fixtures except for NLD should see them comfortably winning all. Same for City except the visit to Spurs.

Spurs will go all out to kill off Arsenal's chances and they've often been a bogey team for City. So I don't think either team has it more difficult than the other.
Click to expand...
erikcred said:
No it wouldn't shock me to hear that. But since that Fulham loss, they've dropped 2 points in 11 games and that's against City away. Out of those 11, they've scored 3 or more goals in 7 games. They've the best attack and defence plus incredible momentum right now.
Click to expand...
ThatsGreat said:
How many teams outside of the top 3 have Arsenal dropped points to after the winter break?
Click to expand...
How's your evening gentlemen?
 
GoonerGirly said:
City always look "off it" early in the season but do just enough to keep pace. Then go on an insane run the last couple of months. Again, they have a superior squad to everyone else, it's not even close.
Click to expand...

Again, I've agreed with your assertions regarding their squad etc. You asked me, for my opinion, regarding whether I was shocked that they now look like winning it again. The answer is yes (obviously with the terminology "shocked" being hyperbolic in this particular instance).

Again, I'm well aware they "usually" do this. However, I felt they looked pretty dodgy a-few months ago, and maybe the desire had dropped slightly, coming off the back of a treble winning season. At the time, Liverpool were jamming their way through games with the assistance of the FA and it all looked like faith that the FA would indeed reward Klopp with a PL trophy in his farewell season. Yourselves were also smashing all the minnows week-in-week-out. City, for me, didn't look 'at it' whatsoever.

I certainly didn't think anything would change in a weekend where all of the three teams had winnable home games. Villa was obviously the most difficult, but I still expected a 97th minute Rice winner or something of that ilk.
 
Last edited:
GoonerGirly said:
City always look "off it" early in the season but do just enough to keep pace. Then go on an insane run the last couple of months. Again, they have a superior squad to everyone else, it's not even close.
Click to expand...

Its mostly Pep that is the difference, he is just an insanely consistent league manager.
 
Mike Smalling said:
With six rounds left, there is still only two points between 1st and 3rd. Today was a gut punch for both Arsenal and Liverpool, and my money would be on City, of course, but many act like everything is done and dusted.
Click to expand...
The problem is, City are often considered favourites even when they're trailing (as we seen when they were 3rd and 3 points behind just a week ago). We've seen them 6/7/8 points behind Liverpool/Arsenal in previous years and come back to win the league.

So for City to be 2 points clear with 6 games to go, there's little to suggest they won't win it from here. They have the most proven track record of winning these races, most experience at dealing with the title race pressure, and the best players, and a points advantage.

We're basically relying on an unprecedented bottle job from City from this point when we've never seen them bottle these situations before.

I don't think it would be a stretch to say City win it 90% of the time from here. So it's certainly not over. But I'd be very surprised if they didn't win it.
 
erikcred said:
Thanks to Palace, it's been an excellent evening.
Click to expand...
Do you now accept these were wildly inaccurate predictions?

" Arsenal's fixtures except for NLD should see them comfortably winning all"
" I'm sure they're trembling at home games against Villa. The NLD is the only banana skin they have."
 
Dominos said:
Do you now accept these were wildly inaccurate predictions?

" Arsenal's fixtures except for NLD should see them comfortably winning all"
" I'm sure they're trembling at home games against Villa. The NLD is the only banana skin they have."
Click to expand...
Yes, I have been truly humbled.
 
Dominos said:
The problem is, City are often considered favourites even when they're trailing (as we seen when they were 3rd and 3 points behind just a week ago). We've seen them 6/7/8 points behind Liverpool/Arsenal in previous years and come back to win the league.

So for City to be 2 points clear with 6 games to go, there's little to suggest they won't win it from here. They have the most proven track record of winning these races, most experience at dealing with the title race pressure, and the best players, and a points advantage.

We're basically relying on an unprecedented bottle job from City from this point when we've never seen them bottle these situations before.

I don't think it would be a stretch to say City win it 90% of the time from here. So it's certainly not over. But I'd be very surprised if they didn't win it.
Click to expand...
They have lost a lot of that experience though with Gundogan and Mahrez leaving and the robot is malfunctioning currently. They're favorites but you just don't know if they'll see it through this season as well. If either of Liverpool or Arsenal win all their games (rather unlikely), I think they'll win it.
 
Klopper76 said:
It's so weird when you see Skrtel come into the shot.

Fair play though, that's very well done.
Click to expand...

Yeah they should have edited Van Dijk’s face in there. Would have been perfect.
 
Last time we knocked them out, i recall they crushed remaining teams in the league in response.

Bad news for Arsenal and Liverpool.
 
Only league games now left for Arsenal (and Liverpool if they go out tomorrow). City got Fa Cup semis at the weekend + league.

Wonder if Klopp puts 2nd string at Atalanta tomorrow to keep his main players fresh for the league. It's surely extremely difficult to turn around 3-0 at away ground and would take lot of energy off them.
 
Liverpool got the start they wanted, and yet they didn't do much after.

Technically they are in a title race, but they look spent, really can't see them keeping up.
 
All three now out of Europe.

I do hope for an exciting title race (and personally I hope Arsenal do it) but I can see it probably being one of those boring collapses from Liverpool and Arsenal who look tired and City will probably win it by six points or so :boring:.
 
Unfortunately I can see Arsenal now dropping points. Their next 3 games are at Wolves, vs Chelsea and at Spurs, don't think any of those 3 games is a given win atm, even though they should be beating Wolves and Chelsea and a month ago would comfortably. Them going to Spurs away will surely be great atmosphere with the rivalry and Tottenham competing for 4th place with Villa.
 
PL now the highest/sole priority for all of them. This should be intense to the end.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.