By Richard Clarke
One massive week just gone. One to come.
Arsenal missed a huge opportunity in losing the Carling Cup Final to Birmingham last Sunday. But, thanks to a little help elsewhere, another major chance has presented itself this weekend.
The 5-0 victory over Leyton Orient in an FA Cup Fifth Round replay on Wednesday may have been welcome catharsis following that surprise defeat at Wembley. But the biggest fillip of the week had arrived the night before.
Chelsea’s comeback victory over Manchester United has put Arsenal back in control of their Premier League destiny once more.
Now, if they win their last 11 games the title will come to the Emirates. End of story.
Of course the same is true of the Old Trafford outfit and the clash between the two teams in May should be pivotal. But victory over Sunderland this weekend will leave Wenger’s side just a point off the leaders, who travel to arch-rivals Liverpool the following day missing a number of key players.
It is an opportunity, certainly. According to the manager, their best for three years. But, he argued at Friday’s press conference, they are still playing catch-up.
“The title is Man United’s to lose,” he said. “Even if you look at the bookmakers, it’s 8/13 for Man United and I think the other way around for us - 13/8.
“Mathematically it’s in our hands. But that does not mean that, if you look at the fixtures, that it’s ours to lose at the moment. We have difficult games.
“In fact I would say exactly the reverse: it’s ours to win more than ours to lose, because they are in a leading position. So it’s down to us and to our good behaviour to win it.
“To be honest I don’t count too much on them feeling the pressure. I count on my team more than on any weakness of Man United.
"You cannot say United's form has been poor - they have been dominant at home, and we should not expect any slip from them.”
Wenger may leave it as late as the morning warm-up before deciding if Laurent Koscielny has sufficiently recovered from his hamstring injury to face Sunderland. Aaron Ramsey is back from loan and Cardiff and in the squad. He was on the bench a couple of times in January but did not come on. The Welsh midfielder has not kicked a ball for the Arsenal first team since breaking his leg at Stoke just over a year ago.
Robin van Persie (knee) was a casualty of the Carling Cup Final last weekend while Theo Walcott (ankle) is a couple of weeks away.
Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) and Alex Song (knee) both miss out this weekend but could be back for Barcelona on Tuesday. The manager is classing them both as ‘doubts’, with the former more likely to play than the latter.
After the trip to Spain, there is Manchester United the following Saturday in the FA Cup Quarter-Final.
Clearly there are ‘massive weeks’ and then there are ‘massive weeks’.
But after this one, Arsenal could be on the shoulders of the Premier League leaders, in the last eight of the Champions League and the last four in the FA Cup having vanquished their biggest rivals.
Or it could be a straight uphill fight for the title.
Or anything in between.
The point is that, despite last Sunday, Arsenal’s season is still ahead of them.
To illustrate, Wenger was asked when he side were in as strong a position in the League.
“When we drew at Birmingham [in 2008],” he replied.
That was a game remembered for, in varying degrees, Eduardo, Martin Taylor, William Gallas, Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Adebayor, Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott.
Birmingham’s injury-time equaliser that day ushered along a decline that had already started a couple of weeks earlier by being knocked out of the FA Cup at Old Trafford and would end with a Champions League exit at Liverpool in mid-April.
You sense and you hope Arsenal are stronger all-round this time. They suffered a massive jolt last Sunday and Orient were perhaps not good enough to test the extent of their recovery.
Who knows, having lost their last four in the League, Sunderland might not either. After all manager Steve Bruce has been to Emirates Stadium six times and lost each time.
But the Wearsiders scraped their way to a last-gasp 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light earlier this season. A similar result on Saturday would be a body blow almost as big as the one felt around Wembley on Sunday.
“We were a bit unlucky as well that day,” remembered Wenger. “We played one minute over the added time and we got Song sent off on the day so we were down to ten men.
“But it was a difficult game and that shows Sunderland can be a danger for anybody because they are a good side. If you look at their team, the quality of players they have in their team, it’s not a surprise that they took a point from us. And, on Saturday, we want the points.
Still, right now, Arsenal’s fixtures are not just about Arsenal. For some they are also about comparisons with Manchester United. Wenger knows he can afford to take that perspective.
“I don’t think [Arsenal beating Sunderland] will change the attitude of Man United or of Liverpool on Sunday,” he said, summing up. “It is a big game for both anyway.
“People come to conclusions about ‘if we beat Sunderland’ so let’s beat Sunderland first. We have our own fate in our hands, mathematically. We want to win our games. We are on a good run, on a very strong run, if you look at our recent performances in the Premier League.
“So let’s just keep it going.”
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