What a rush!

No this article is not about Legion of Doom (Wrestling fans anyone?). I am talking about the pressure from the Premier League which is unrelenting. Yesterday we started the game in third place. By the end of the game we were top of the log. During the first half of the season, my confidence was sky high and while it has not wavered, something has got to give. What is reassuring is the freedom the players are playing with that makes you realise they are handling the pressure quite well.

Looking at our two main challengers, three if you consider Liverpool to be title contenders, Chelsea are the ones I would be most scared of. Mourinho has won the Premier League before, he has resorted back to his old style of boring, boring Chelsea which is highly effective and his team look like they are starting to understand his tactics. Manchester City, while they have depth in their squad complete with a powerfully built, technically sound and fast first team will choke at some point due to their coach. Pellegrini is good and his players play a similar style to Wenger’s teams but there is just something that will make them choke.

So to Liverpool. They have the team spirit, are winning games and their coach is actually good but they have two weaknesses. One, they are over reliant on their attack.The new SAS are lethal but cut out supply to them and choke their midfield and they are done. It is easy to see why they have lost their games against their main rivals so easily. They also just do not have the squad to win them the title. Henderson, Allen, Sterling! Are these the names that are meant to strike fear in to opponents?

We need  to create some daylight between us and our nearest opponents and these next two weeks might just give us some breathing space. Chelsea play Man U this weekend at Stamford Bridge and Manchester City play Tottenham the weekend after at white Hart Lane. One of these guys will have to drop points. During this time we’ll play Fulham at home and Southampton away. Potential banana skins but still winnable.Then of course, Man City and Chelsea meet each other on February 3rd and by then we will be relaxed after winning Crystal Palace and watching our rivals drop more points.

Liverpool, if you insist, have two home games against Aston Villa and Everton. If Liverpool lose even the Merseyside derby, they will be 9 points behind Arsenal. Don’t write off Villa now that Benteke has started another goal scoring spree. Okay he just scored his first goal yesterday in eons but you never know. Its a good time to be a gunner!