Why Arsenal’s wobble may not even matter – despite ‘feeling pressure’

Arsenal are still four points clear at the top of the Premier League – but are things just starting to get a bit nervy for the Gunners?

Only eight days after spurning the chance to go nine points ahead of second-placed Manchester City, their lead has been cut dramatically following a goalless draw at Nottingham Forest and Sunday’s 3-2 defeat by Manchester United.

That first home loss of the season means the Gunners are now three without a win in the top flight.

“It’s pressure. The pressure was on Arsenal today,” former Manchester United captain Roy Keane said on Sky Sports.

“They’ll have seen the other results, they’re in a great position, they’ve got everything going for them… but it’s pressure.

“They’re feeling the pressure and it’s how they deal with it over the next month or two. That’s what’s cost them over the last few years.

“I can’t believe they don’t look like a confident team for where they are in the league. They’ve got to get back to basics and start embracing this challenge instead of being frightened of it.”

Top of the table and with everything in their hands, the Gunners have been here before. They have finished runners-up in each of the past three seasons.

Is this latest wobble a sign of things to come? Not necessarily.

Whatever happens next, there’s no denying Arsenal are having a hugely impressive season up to this point.

Top of the table, a 100% record in the Champions League, an advantage over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-finals and into the fourth round of the FA Cup. All four trophies remain on the table.

In terms of the Premier League, they are still overwhelming favourites to win the title, according to Opta.

They give the Gunners an 84.44% chance of holding on to top spot despite their recent run, with Manchester City in second just a 8.38% chance and Aston Villa on 7.09%.

Every other club in the Premier League has a less than 1% chance of winning the title.

A key factor behind that number could be the inconsistency of the chasing pack as much as Arsenal‘s dominance (until very recently, of course).

Despite losing one and drawing two of their past three fixtures, Arsenal still have the second-best points-per-game ratio across the past six rounds of games out of any of the top six teams.

Manchester United have the best.

Arsenal‘s run-in looks favourable too, with just two games left to play against the current top six. On paper, it’s the best out of any of the leading sides.

Big games left to play:

It also looks likely that this season will require the smallest points total to win the league for some time.

Since Arsenal last won the league 22 years ago, only Leicester in 2015-16 had fewer points after 23 games than the Gunners.

Arsenal‘s 50 points is some way short of the average (55) for a Premier League title winner at this point of the season.

In campaigns gone by a wobble like Arsenal‘s could be seen as hugely damaging. This season it seems far less likely to be the case.

Arteta said before the match that he wanted the crowd to “create more energy, more positiveness around the game” – but that was lacking as Arsenal chased a way back into the contest, with Emirates Stadium particularly nervy.

And there were some boos at the final whistle – although Arteta put those down to the “demands and expectation” that comes with challenging for the title.

“It’s part of the journey to winning,” he said. “If not, nobody will lose football matches.

“It’s how we react to that, and I am very convinced, because I know those players in the dressing them and how much we want it, that we’re going to react immediately.”

The Gunners boss did try to force a result with a quadruple change when his side were 2-1 down – but, despite getting back level, Matheus Cunha’s excellent late strike secured all three points for Manchester United.

“It doesn’t matter,” Arteta said when asked again about the reaction of the crowd. “We have to do more, so maybe that’s not enough. We have to do more, there’s nothing else. We have to do our very best.

“When you do that, you can rest in peace. Today we really certainly tried to do our very best, but we weren’t efficient enough against a team that is very well organised, and we got punished because of our own mistakes as well.”

With a top-two finish already secured in the Champions League and a final fixture against bottom-of-the-table Kairat to come on Wednesday, Arteta will have a chance to rotate his squad before their next league game – at Leeds on Saturday.

“I think Arsenal are still title favourites but it will be a concern for Arteta what’s happened in the last three games against Liverpool, [Nottingham] Forest and now Manchester United,” said ex-England captain Wayne Rooney, who is a pundit on Sunday’s Match of the Day.

“But I still think they’re probably slight favourites.”

One cause for concern will be the lack of a clear goalscorer in their side. None of their attackers are freely scoring at the moment, which is putting more of an emphasis on their threat from set-pieces.

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville thinks that it will be back to the drawing board for Arteta.

“An incredible, incredible match and a sobering day for Arsenal,” Neville said on Sky Sports.

“They’re going to have to regroup, reset and rethink. They’ve still got a four-point lead and there’s still a long way to go, but certainly there’ll be questions asked after that today.”