Ranking Arsenal’s last eight PL games from easy to potential bottle job | OneFootball

They can’t bottle it from here, right?

Arsenal are top of the league with eight games to go and, barring a couple of capitulations, on course to win the Premier League title. Their seven-point lead over Manchester City looks pretty comfortable, until you remember City have a game in hand and they still have to play each other.

And what if Arsenal slip up in any of their other games? It’s not like it hasn’t happened before…

With City being the only other team in the current top six they still have to play, the fixtures look favourable for a first Arsenal title in over 20 years. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some potential banana skins left.

We take a look at Arsenal’s remaining eight games and rank them from piece of p*** to potential banana skin.

8) Arsenal v Burnley (May 17)

It could all be decided by the time Arsenal’s last home game of the season against Burnley in May rolls around. If they win all their remaining games, Mikel Arteta’s side could be enjoying their first fixture as champions.

There’s also a decent chance Burnley could be gone by then in their fight against relegation, taking some of their minimal threat away.

Arsenal won 2-0 in the reverse fixture and Arteta has only ever lost once to Burnley – and that was more than five years ago.

7) Crystal Palace v Arsenal (May 24)

If it’s not wrapped up by (or after) the Burnley game, that means it’s going down to the wire and the last game of the season.

For Arsenal, an away clash with Crystal Palace is last on their fixture list. They’re another opponent that has triumphed over Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal only once, back in 2022, but their past few meetings have all been close.

Arsenal needed a penalty shootout to knock Palace out of the EFL Cup earlier this season after only beating them by a single goal in their previous league game. And a draw between the two sides last April was Arsenal’s last result before Liverpool were crowned champions a few days later.

Anything can happen when the pressure’s on by the final day of the season, but Arsenal may well be over the line by then anyway.

6) Arsenal v Everton (March 14)

Next up in Arsenal’s immediate future in the league will be a home clash with Everton.

Arteta’s record against his former club is actually quite balanced, with six wins, two draws and four losses. But those four losses all came within his first six clashes with the Toffees, the last coming in February 2023.

Everton will go into the game on a two-match winning run. In fact, they haven’t lost on the road since before Christmas.

Another complication for Arsenal is that the game falls between the two legs of their Champions League round-of-16 clash with Bayer Leverkusen. On paper, they have the squad depth to cope, but it could affect their energy levels.

A Viktor Gyokeres penalty was all that separated Arsenal and Everton earlier in the season and it could be another close game, but one the Gunners will be favourites to win nonetheless.

5) Arsenal v Bournemouth (April 11)

Should Arsenal make it through in the Champions League, their quarter-final games will fall either side of their game against Bournemouth in April.

In their last meeting in January, it was Bournemouth who took the lead, although Arsenal turned it around to win 3-2.

But last season Bournemouth did the double over Arsenal. And this season, Andoni Iraola’s side haven’t lost since they fell in the reverse fixture.

Arteta’s record is strong, last season aside, against Bournemouth. But the Cherries have taken points off plenty of teams above them this season, including draws with Manchester United, Aston Villa and Chelsea and a win over Liverpool. They aren’t to be taken too lightly.

4) Arsenal v Fulham (May 2)

Although Arsenal have only lost once to Fulham on Arteta’s watch, it’s been three years since this fixture has been decided by more than one goal.

Fulham will have little to play for by the time of their clash in May, but it might still present some significant hurdles for Arsenal.

Their penultimate home game of the season will fall between Champions League semi-final legs, if they’ve made it that far in Europe – in which case it’s easy to see how they could get distracted.

3) Arsenal v Newcastle United (April 25)

Newcastle have got the better of Arsenal five times in Arteta’s managerial career and gave them a scare back in September, when it took an 84th-minute equaliser from Mikel Merino and a 96th-minute winner from Gabriel Magalhaes to take all three points back to north London.

The season has fizzled out for Newcastle, although they are still capable of getting a good result on their day and can cause problems for Arsenal if they turn up.

2) West Ham United v Arsenal (May 9)

If Arsenal win their next five games, including against City – presuming the challengers otherwise keep pace – they could go out of reach with a win over West Ham.

But getting that win might not be straightforward, given their opponents are slap bang in a relegation battle. Far more so than Burnley, West Ham’s chances of fighting for survival are credible.

It could set up a tense battle at the London Stadium, although Arsenal have scored heavily there on their past couple of visits.

1) Manchester City v Arsenal (April 19)

Now this is where things are really going to get interesting. City are the only genuine rivals to Arsenal for the title and also happen to be the side Arteta has lost to the most (eight times) in his managerial career.

But at least the balance has been getting a lot more even in recent years; Arsenal’s last defeat to City was back in April 2023.

But City’s margin for error now is so small that this will be the kind of crunch match they just can’t afford to lose. The pressure will be on massively at the Etihad Stadium in what will be the defining game of the title race.