Arsenal are blowing the title - Mikel Arteta must find answers in his biggest week | OneFootball

Familiar April woes curse the Gunners with statement needed in season-defining Manchester City showdown

The messages aimed Arsenal's way came in the stands and on the pitch.

The mood in the away end on Sunday at Stamford Bridge was buoyant, Manchester City fans celebrating a 3-0 win in a manner that suggested they feel the title will be theirs.

"Are you watching Arsenal?” was loudly chanted. The television cameras then panned to one supporter drinking from an Arsenal-branded bottle. The inference was not particularly subtle.

Most painful, though, was the statement being made by the City players. Chelsea were swatted aside and City now sit just six points behind Arsenal.

That feels the most likely outcome now. City have won 29 of their last 33 Premier League matches in April. It is statistically Pep Guardiola's best month as City boss and his side has not been beaten in the month in the league for five years.

By stark contrast, April is by far Mikel Arteta's worst month with a win percentage of just 42 per cent. Guardiola is at just under 80 per cent.

That partly explains the boos that greeted the full-time whistle on Saturday after Arsenal's defeat by Bournemouth. This is all painfully familiar.

In the 2020-21 season, Arsenal won one of four in April. A year later, Arsenal fell to three defeats in a row that month against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton. They missed out on the top four by two points.

The 2022-23 campaign brought the rule of three again, this time a trio of draws. Two-goal leads were surrendered against Liverpool and West Ham, and then a chaotic 3-3 draw with Southampton followed.

Spring slump: Arsenal have a woeful record in the month of April across recent seasons

Action Images via Reuters

Arsenal were then thrashed 4-1 by City at the end of April, making it six points from five matches in the month. The title was lost.

The Gunners were superb in the second half of the 2023-24 season, losing just one league match. It came, unsurprisingly, in April. That defeat by Aston Villa was the seventh-to-last game of the campaign, just as the Bournemouth match was on Saturday.

Last season, April brought draws with Everton, Brentford and Crystal Palace for Arsenal. The fact that nine points from five matches was one of the club's better efforts in recent years tells its own story.

Arteta, then, is not learning. How to manage a squad and how to contend with the pressure are among the demands at this stage of the season and the Arsenal manager has not risen to them.

The list of problems facing Arteta is a lengthy one, at the worst possible time. It is easy to put the recent run of three defeats in four matches all down to nerves, but that would be too simplistic.

This squad is at breaking point. Jurrien Timber completed 90 minutes almost every match earlier in this season and now has not played for a month.

Martin Zubimendi, in his first season in England, has been asked to play more Premier League minutes than any other Arsenal player. Declan Rice's nickname is "The Horse" - an exhausted Zubimendi looks like he needs pulling up.

The tactical concerns are present, too. Arsenal look devoid of confidence trying to play out from the back and have not done so successfully for weeks.

The Gunners continue to take huge risks in their own box, attempting the kind of intricate passes that turn an already edgy crowd riotous.

Yet at the other end, when faced with a well-organised defence, Arsenal recycle the ball as though hamstrung by the fear of losing it.

There are also the emotional challenges that intensify when April comes around. In their first title challenge three years ago, Arsenal were all emotion. The seasons since have brought a move more towards a robotic, clinical approach.

On Saturday, though, the dial was turned back. Arteta demanded that fans "bring your lunch, bring your dinner". Emails were sent to supporters calling for noise, to rise to the occasion. Montages were made.

Is that necessary for a match at home to Bournemouth when the team are nine points clear?

These are the types of fixtures that champions normally tick off with minimal fuss. It is easy to imagine City in previous seasons picking up a 2-0 win in second gear without exerting any extra emotional energy.

Victory over Manchester City would be as big a statement as Arsenal have made in decades

Instead, Arsenal built it up like a cup final and wilted. The technical quality let them down, as did the tactics, the legs and the minds.

Arteta looked shell-shocked in his post-match press conference and the players have looked just as scrambled in recent weeks. This is not a side with the air of champions.

The Spaniard has tried all the messages in recent weeks. The rallying cry. The call for perspective. The point to what his side have done this season. The point to what they still can do.

None have worked but Arsenal have another - and perhaps their last - chance to salvage the situation.

Sunday's trip to the Etihad Stadium is season-defining. It had the potential to be effectively a coronation but instead it is a stage where a counter-punch must be landed.

Victory over City would be as big a statement as Arsenal have made in decades and would leave them primed to win the title.

However, the evidence of this current run means confidence in that outcome is slim. So too when tapping into the memories of what April has so often resulted in, both for Arsenal and for City.