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Where can we finish 2026? part 2 No hugs for Arteta if we finally do it Fixtures: Bournemouth (a) Liverpool (h) Forest (a) Man Utd (h) Leeds (a) 1-1 Sunderland (h) Brentford (a) Spuds (a) Chelsea (h) Brighton (a) And so we finished the halfway point on 45 points. And I can humbly say that is what I predicted last time here. Of course, I didn’t predict the right results but I did reckon that 45 points would be where we are now. I also believed that that would put us at least 4 points in front and we are 5 but City do have a match in hand against Sunderland. If Sunderland produce their magic against them as they did us, they might get a draw and I would get that right as well. Dave Hardy was more optimistic than me and he went for 48 points and did well, getting to within 3 points of the final figure. We made these predictions quite some time ago and had no idea what injuries or problems we would face. We both did well. Football prediction is notoriously tricky and we are both ready now with our next ten. But first let’s take a look at some possible scenarios. Our maximum to the end of the season is 57 points. Add that to 45 and we have 102 points and a record haul. Newsflash – that will not happen. But I did postulate last time that 89 points is the target this year and I will stick by that for now. That means we need 44 from our remaining matches and can drop 13. Is that possible? I think so. We have been sticky with the top teams so far and probably need to improve there. We do have Liverpool, Man Utd, and Chelsea at home over the next ten and the Spuds away so we are well capable of taking maximum or close to that from those. The lower clubs all look beatable but we always seem to come up against banana skins. Truly, we must put them away and pull away from City and the chasing pack. Will 89 points be enough? It wasn't then If City beat Sunderland they can get 100 points and that will be good enough, for sure. To get to my target of 89 points, they can then drop 11 and that is tough but we all know they are capable of that. We could beat them in our match and they could still get more points than us. If they lose against Sunderland they can only afford to drop 8 points in their remaining matches. Villa, at the moment, to reach 89 points can only drop 7. Tougher again. If Liverpool win all they can get to 92. I truly believe they will come nowhere near the 89 target. No other team can make 89 even by winning all. It looks, even at this early stage, that only Arsenal, City and Villa are in the hunt. Of course my target of 89 points could be wrong but I don’t believe it will be out by much. A repeat of 45 points for us gives us 90 points and I am confident that will bag us the title. And probably somewhat less than that. City do not seem the indestructible force of the past but they are on a strong run and could push us really hard. We do need to win and keep winning. Winning is the only currency Arteta can trade in to the end of the season. I have a feeling Villa might fall away a little leaving Arsenal and City to fight it out. History, and maybe even logic, suggests that City should be favourites from this position. Do not fool yourselves Gooners, even if Sunderland produce a miracle, City are going to be dangerous. And so to the fixtures and once again Dave Hardy in blue puts his wisdom on the line as we try to help you make a fortune from our next matches: Bournemouth away and Andoni Iraola, Arteta’s good mate, provides us with a stiff first test for 2026. So far they have only lost one at home with 4 wins and 4 draws. An indifferent start to their season means they will be desperate to come out of the 2026 traps with a win and a good performance. We allow them that good performance but the ghost of George Graham prevails and it is one-nil to the Arsenal. The first game of 2026, sends us to the south coast of England. Last season Bournemouth did the double on us, so I think it’s time for a bit of revenge. Given the fact that they’ll most likely lose their star player Antoine Semenyo before the match, I think that it’ll be a routine away win for the Gunners. 1-3 and 48 points each. No smiles for Iraola if the loses Liverpool at home and we usually struggle against them. They will play everyone at the back, Slot might try and slot himself and his coaching staff in there if nobody notices, and hope for a breakaway. The danger is that we will allow those breakaways as we press forward. I will be happy with 2-1 and revenge. Liverpool is starting to gain momentum and fine form, but the lack of Alex Isak and possibly Mo Salah will be key in this game. Also, we have quite the positive record against them at home in the last couple of years (2 wins and 1 draw) so I think it will be another Arteta masterclass to solidify the lead on top. Dave is a bit more optimistic than me and goes 2-0 leaving us 51 points each. Next, Forest away and their home form has been poor. We must be ruthless in these matches and 3-0 is the least we should give them. The City Ground is one of those places where the fans feel like the 12th player. Historically, Sean Dyche has been a tough opponent for Arteta, so I’ll go for the good old 1 nil to the Arsenal here. We both say 3 wins in a row so 54 points for me and Dave. Manchester United at home is a fixture I love. They seem to raise their game against us and we were lucky enough in the first game at Old Trafford. I see a nervy game in which we come out 2/1. By the time of this fixture, Manchester United will most likely have their players from AFCON back in the squad, which will be a huge boost to them. We’ve won the first derby of the season, even though the game quality was not ideal. Here I expect another tough battle, and bragging rights to Arsenal. As usual Dave is more optimistic than me and goes for 3-1. 4 wins in a row now and 57 points each. Dirty Leeds up next away and they have been much better at home than away. We destoyed them last time and they will remember that. Dominic Calvert Lewin has been on fire recently and this may be where we slip up. 1-1. And they are proud of it As it is very easy to predict only wins, we do have to drop points somewhere during the season. Leeds have hit a bit of form in the recent games, and their front man Calvert-Lewin has been bagging them goals. Since Leeds have been back in the PL, Arsenal has managed to drop points against them only once back in 2020 in a goalless draw. If their relegation struggles continue, I fully expect a tough battle and the points to be shared. Strangely we both pick the exact same for this match as Dave goes 1-1. And now both on 58 points. Sunderland at home next and we will desperately want to teach them a lesson for the last drawn match. I think we will. The Black Cats go home crying after a 3-0 defeat. A Black Cat day for the Arsenal That 94th minute equaliser at the Stadium of Light was such a pain that I’ve been waiting for this game ever since to see a complete domination and a routine win for the culture. Of course, it all depends on if Sunderland are still in the top 10 before this game, but even if they are, I don’t expect any trouble and another 3 points toward the title. He must be reading my mind because he also goes 3-0 and now 61 points each. Brentford away and their home form has been very good. They will fight like crazy for every ball and they could frustrate us. David Raya might be happy with another clean sheet but not anyone else in Arsenal. 0-0 Another tough away game, as Brentford play very good at home. As this will be a midweek match, I expect another hard battle with Keith Andrews’s side who will take the lead through some shenanigans, but the mighty Arsenal will find a way to turn it around and snatch all the points. 1-2 and for the first time Dave and I diverge. 62 points for Gus and 64 for Dave. The Spuds away and their home form has been poor, very poor. I think their players and supporters struggle with Frank’s defensive commands at home and want to try and play football. We take advantage and win 0-2. The NLD is probably the only fixture that is super hard to predict, especially almost two months in advance. While we had the privilege to watch the Ebe Eze show at the Emirates in November, I think that this will be another game where we will drop precious points to a hard-fought draw. Myself and Dave diverge again on this one as he goes for a draw 1-1 but our points total converge once more with 65 points each. Play Eze and the job is done Chelsea at home next and it all depends what Chelsea turn up. I feel we can run this one routinely with 2-0 as they struggle with confidence. If we somehow don’t draw them in the FA Cup (or the later stages of the Champions League), this will be our fourth game against Chelsea for the season, given the two semi-finals in the Carabao. They gave us a tough battle at the Bridge, and I expect nothing less from Maresca once again. To be fair for me this result will depend on the outcome from the semis in the Carabao. I do think that we’ll be able to be victorious on both fronts. 2-1. Now 68 points each. Brighton finally away and we have both been very optimistic. Since I started sharing the predictions I don’t think I have ever been more optimistic than my co-predictor but this time I am as I feel that this is a team that Arteta and the players now desperately want to beat for humiliations in the past and I go 1-2. The AMEX Stadium, like the City Ground is one those stadiums where the fans help a lot. Brighton have a bit of a rollercoaster of a season but given the fact that this is another midweek game, I expect a hard battle from the Seagulls and the points to be shared. 1-1. So finally I have 71 points and Dave 69. If either scenario comes to pass, then I believe we will have opened up a large gap on the chasing pack. Yes, City could still be notching up wins for fun and could even be ahead but I doubt it. Maybe this is our year. I really hope so as I have obviously been infected with the optimism bug.

Where can we finish 2026, part 1? If we win the title it will feel nearly as good as the one above Next 10 Fixtures Burnley (a) Sunderland (a) Tottenham (h) Chelsea (a) Brentford (h) Aston Villa (a) Wolves (h) Everton (a) Brighton (h) Aston Villa (h) A Big Hi to Dave Hardy This time for the series I have a new guest author in Dave Hardy who will be taking a stronger hand as he will not just be predicting but offering his thoughts and arguments as we try to see a clear way into the future and where Arsenal can finish. So, we have a loss to Liverpool and a draw against Man City in nine matches so far, as “Where can we finish?” appears, later than usual. We have 22 points out of 27. Extrapolating that to the end of the season gives us 88 points plus 2 more matches to garner points. The highest total of the past 5 seasons was Man City’s 93 in 2022 so we would need 5 points from those 2 to match that, obviously you can’t get 5 so it would have to be six and 94. We need 89 points? But what is the likely target? I am going to suggest 89 points which is the midway point of the past 5 seasons which was 84, 91, 89, 93 and 86. It could well be less as I feel there are a lot of teams out there capable of garnering points. All teams will park the bus against us? It would mean dropping 20 points out of the maximum of 109 left. We will predict ten matches this time, then another ten and a final 9. That means we can drop 7 in the first ten, then another 7, then 6 in the final nine. Failure to keep up that level means we have to win more as the season goes on, giving us more pressure. Of course beating that target gives us more scope as the season goes on. And, as all other teams have dropped more, they have to garner extra just to keep up. The Derbies will be crucial Using the first nine as a template we would have 4 losses and 4 draws plus the two spare matches where we would only need one draw to get to 89. That would be 5 losses and 5 draws. Considering there are 12 London derbies and virtual derbies against Man City, Liverpool and Man Utd there are a total of 18. We have already dropped 5 against City and Liverpool, with beating Man Utd, West Ham, Fulham and Palace so 13 points out of 6 matches giving us an average of 2.1666 per game. That would give us 39 points from 18 games meaning we will have dropped 15 points from these games alone so we can only drop 10 from the remaining 20. Those matches could be key. Gathering any extra from them will help. Derbies can be a bit volatile We cannot afford the historical losses of points to the lower teams which have plagued us before. Also November and December have been traditional months where we drop points. I hope that doesn’t happen this time but the plus side is that it often happened with injuries to key players and we do have strong cover this time. But a Champions League spot should be easier I will quickly mention CL spots but we should be comfortable here. The final teams to qualify over the past 5 years were Newcastle 66, Villa 68, Newcastle 71, Spuds 71, and Chelsea 67. Those figures are easily within our grasp and it would be possibly career ending for Arteta if we scrape in last. We would have to lose and draw a lot of matches. The question is, as of now, is there anyone going to shoot out of the pack and put us under pressure for the title? If we continue on our current form the answer is no as they all have to make up ground. Maybe we will win all? And so to the matches – Burnley away and this year the promoted teams are looking better. Maybe none will go down. Burnley had a very tough start playing all the big teams and predictably losing but they gave a resurgent Villa a hard game away and have won their last 2. They do not look like a relegation team but make no mistake, if we drop such points we will be in trouble. Liverpool didn’t until they were safe and we mustn’t. Burnley have only failed to score twice this season and I predict a nervy game. I am going to go 1-2 to us as they scramble a goal first and defend for their lives. If this guy puts on his scoring boots life will be easier Dave - We start this series of 10 Premier League games away at Turf Moor to face Burnley. Historically, Arsenal have done well in that stadium ever since Burnley got promoted to the top flight for the first time in the 2009-10 season. Our latest visit there resulted in a 5:0 victory back in February 2024. Even though Scott Parker has done a tremendous job with the Clarets, I think that we will walk away with the 3 points from Turf Moor. 25 points after 10 games would be a very nice total as Dave Hardy also sees a win at 1-3. And who else next but Sunderland away, already looking safe with highest placed relegated Leicester on 25 points last time? 17 points in the bag and the fans dreaming of Europe. I have Sunderland friends but we must not do them any favours. I think they will battle for everything and it will take us to the second half to break them down but eventually 2-0. A long time since we met them in the league Dave - It took the Black Cats about 8 years to finally return to Premier League, which means that we haven’t been at the Stadium of Light since 2016. Our record in that venue has not always been brilliant, but nevertheless we’ve won 5 out of the last 6 trips there. Regis Le Bris’s side is quite interesting to watch this season, and they won’t give up without a fight. 28 points with Dave also going 2-0. The constant this season may well be that we don’t have many big wins as home or away teams will pack their defence. 5-0 against Leeds and 3-0 against Forest are standouts and we may not have many. Next home against Tottenham, and our first derby of this tranche, who are still looking inconsistent under Thomas Frank, but have had some strong results and are 3rd at time of writing. I hope it’s not just my heart talking but I would be happy with the fans singing our favourite song after scoring early and hanging on to it with George Graham in attendance. 1-0 to the Arsenal and 31 points. Dave Hardy for a far more entertaining match. Would Thomas Frank allow that? I am not sure. Dave - Ah, the good old Spursy and the NLD. That fixture is always tough to predict, especially after the international break, but at least they didn’t schedule it for a 12:30 kick-off on Saturday. Thomas Frank is a tremendous manager and has built his side well. The fact that we managed to snatch Eze from their hands might increase the pressure in this fixture, but I expect for us to end up victorious with 3-2 31 points Chelsea away, another derby, and despite our pretty good record against them recently we could well drop points here. November blues hit us and they beat us 2-0. The team to face us at the Bridge Dave -There used to be days when visiting the Bridge only meant that we would be hammered and walk away empty handed. However, our last loss there is dating back to August 2018, and since then the Blues only managed to beat us twice more at the Emirates. I think that our streak will continue but you can’t win them all, so a draw here seems fair enough. 31 points for me. Here Dave Hardy goes for a draw 1-1 so 32 points. Brentford at the Emirates and once more a derby. They are a doggedly tough team to beat. They have Keith Andrews in charge, an Irish favourite, but I would again love to hear the George Graham song being sung at the end. I won’t even say the name this time. No one nil to the Arsenal for Dave Hardy though as he sees 3-1. As Gus stated, Brentford are a bit of a dodgy team to play against, but after a major exodus in the summer and a manager change I think we will be able to do our job and secure another vital 3 points for the title bout. 34 points for me and 35 for Dave. Aston Villa at Villa Park should also be regarded as a derby as Unai Emery often pulls out a great performance against us. They are flying at the moment and I would not be surprised to see them top four at this point. 1-1 and Emi Martinez plays a cracker. Dave -The December calendar is full of hefty fixtures and a trip to Villa Park is not an easy one. Villa have been on the rise for the last couple of years and even managed to stop us from winning the League in 2023-24 (even though we know it was the consecutive losses to West Ham and Fulham which did the major damage). Unai Emery always tries to prove himself against Arsenal, and I expect the same thing again. 35 points and 36 points for Dave as he predicts 2-2. With a bit of luck Wolves give us a breather at the Emirates next and we fire in 4. It is hard to know who will be the manager as Periera seems to be on the brink after being beaten at home by fellow strugglers Burnley. We don’t care who is in charge as the 4 clear goals give us 3 points. Dave is even more optimistic as he goes 5-0. Dave - This season Wolves are playing like they are already in the Championship. As I write this, they’re still the only team without a victory in the League and maybe they’ll still be like that when they visit the Emirates in mid-December. Of course, we all know that magic can happen there, but I expect a big dominant win. 38 and 39 points Everton next at their shiny new stadium which I am hoping to get to at some point. David Moyes will make it hard but I am hoping we can sing our song again right to the end. This might be our best year for it. That will make six times we will have sung it at the end and 41 points. Dave Hardy sees more goals at 1-2. Everton's new stadium really does look impressive Dave - Our last visit to the Goodison Park ended in a 1-1 draw. Historically Everton had periods when it was tough to beat them at home, so I expect our first visit to their new ground to be quite the same, but for us to walk out with the 3 points in the end. Nothing gives you a heart attack like a last-minute winner. 41 and 42 points Brighton at home and they have been a bogey team for us in recent times. Every time they make it hard for us and the Christmas effect hits us as we score very late on for 3-2. Dave Hardy sees it easier at 2-0. Dave - The Christmas fixtures are always unpredictable as you don’t know which team might be in the spirit of giving. Both of our games against the Seagulls last season were full of shenanigans by the refs, with questionable red cards, penalties, etc. Fabian Huerzeler also is a guy who is not hard to hate, even though he’s still only 32 years old. I expect us to have a comfortable 2-0 win which will see us still top of the League. 44 and 45 points And then Villa once more and Martinez does it again at the Emirates. He has a cracker and another Christmas style game with lots of chances means Emery grabs a point off us again with another 1-1. Dave Hardy sees Emery as being more generous at 3-1. We need to teach Unai Emery a lesson Dave - Not even a full month after the visit to Villa Park, they’ll come to the Emirates. Our last two home games against Villa have not been so great, so if there is a team that has something to play for, it’s Arsenal. I think that we’ll finish the year on a strong note and secure a good win, to increase our lead at the top. We diverge further as I now give 45 points and Dave 48 points and well on our way to the target of 89 points. Both scenarios are optimistic. However, there are only 3 derbies in these games but put that against Brighton and Villa taking points off us recently. We all know what Arsenal need – win and keep winning. I believe even my less positive predictions will leave us more than 4 points clear and the path to the title will be clearer. If Dave or me are correct, we could be up to 10 points clear after 19 matches. Somehow, I still fear the blip that the winter normally gives us. But up the Arsenal and our youngsters and guys hungry to come in!

The FA, UEFA and FIFA got it right? If I could paraphrase Jeremy Bentham, (the 19th century philosopher) it would be that be that the more teams that achieve a happy outcome, then the better football is for all. And this season has epitomized that. In years to come, pub quizzes will ask what had Crystal Palace, Newcastle United and the Spuds got in common in 2025, it would be that they all won major trophies after a long wait. So have the footballing gods of the FA, UEFA and FIFA got it right at last? Have they listened to the spirit of the great utilitarian philosophers of the 19th century and finally created a system that gives a chance to the many instead of the same boring old teams whipping up all the happiness? Did the ghost of Jeremy Bentham permeate the football gods? But is the real question whether or not the teams, their owners, staff and fans are actually happy? Are Liverpool’s fans happy or are they worried about their bad results at the end of the season, possibly particularly being second best to PSG over the 2 legs of the Champions League? Or the Spuds having an abysmal season but pulling a beautiful pearl out of their final oyster after a year of eating rotten ones? Only the above mentioned stakeholders can answer that but I can tell you as an Arsenal supporter that even when we were winning things there was always grumblings and discontent no matter what we achieved. Should Arsenal be happy? Let’s look at Arsenal. We finished second with 74 points as opposed to 89 and 84 in the previous seasons. So we should be unhappy, yes? But we did much better in the Champions League reaching the semi-finals with some great results along the way ,as opposed to the quarter-finals the year before that and the previous year getting knocked out in the Europa League round 16. Progress each year. So we should be happy, yes? We were knocked out in the 3rd round of the FA Cup this season and last with being beaten by Man City in the 4th round the previous year. So we should be unhappy with no progress, yes? But we got to the semi-final of the League Cup this season, being beaten by eventual winners, the happy Geordies as opposed to reaching the 4th round last season and the 3rd round the season before that. So we should be happy, yes? Was a fight between Edu and Arteta the reason we couldn't sign a striker? We had good progress in 2 competitions and sort of similar results in the 2 others over the past 3 seasons so maybe overall we should have a level of happiness. We have not gone backwards but probably slightly forward this season, particularly coupled with the amount of injuries we sustained and the unique sendings off we have had, not seen before or since. If the argument is that a manager and staff can coax better performances out of their players than seems likely then they can be happy that they have done their best with the resources we have. Jose Mourinho, one of the most decorated managers ever, claims that Man Utd’s second place season he achieved was his best ever as a manager, testament to the belief that getting the best out of the players you have is the ultimate test of a manager. That means Arteta and his staff can be happy. Are they? I doubt it. But I don’t know for sure. There is no way of predicting such a series of outcomes and we were left without crucial players all season. It may well have been a better conclusion, given the circumstances, than could have been expected and a large credit should be given to the backroom team for being competitive in 3 of the main trophies. Fans are never happy I think it is fair to say that Arsenal’s fans are not happy. City’s collapse should have been our opportunity, and big teams stuttering in the Champions League meant we lost one of our best opportunities to win my most coveted trophy. Not buying a striker is the familiar refrain and it has resonance, for sure, but Jesus, our only recognized striker, was out for most of the season, Kai Havertz, his replacement, was also injured for many games, as was Bukayo Saka, possibly our best player, and Gabriel Martinelli also lost quite a few games. Coupled with our main supplier of assists, Martin Odegaard, missing a huge chunk of the season meant we were short of the possibility of scoring goals, the hardest thing to do in football, yet we still managed 69, the 3rd highest in the league. That is a good achievement under the circumstances. I emphasise that this is with the players we had on the pitch, not phantom ones we could have bought. Man Utd are surely miserable but one win would have made them happy? Salah had 29 in the league, Diaz 13 and Gakpo 10, by contrast, in their 86 goals, whereas none of our boys managed 10. Man City had 72 goals with 22 of them coming from Haaland who had an up and down season. It is fair to say that the management team got good outcomes with what they had to work with. It’s all Edu’s fault? The loss of Edu may well have played a part in why we could not nab a striker. Something was going on behind the scenes for sure. Possibly a disagreement between Edu and Arteta over who to sign that would gel with Arsenal? The story never leaked as to what went wrong with the relationship but I feel it is a good bet that that was the reason no striker was signed in January. One pearl in a rotten season for Tottenham made all the difference I feel we should be happy. Such a combination of events rarely happen often. Some good new players in from outside and the academy plus a normal season regarding injuries and I feel we have the players and the hunger to succeed. Happiness is on the way, folks, you read it here first. Most teams should be happy? I do want to finish with the main point we had at the start. If we disregard the 3 relegated teams who surely could not be happy, and throw the once mighty Manchester United in there as well, who else deserves to be unhappy? Not many, I posit. The Spuds managed an unlikely end to a disastrous season and they are celebrating. Chelsea are back among the elite. They do look happy Aston Villa are disappointed but this was their first attempt at the Champions League, a long way from their success in the European Cup over 40 years ago. They could not cope with fighting on two hard fronts and lost some points along the way. Bad luck on their last game cost them and even that was by a tiny fraction because of goal difference. I think they deserve to be more happy because they showed they don’t need much improvement to stay up there amongst the best. The old order has changed? Forest, Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth all had their highest Premier League points totals, Everton jumped up the table and while West Ham are disappointed, they did finish midtable and can have some optimism for next season. And by the way, the Champions League win will go to a team outside the usual suspects, although Inter do have a Champions League pedigree, meaning that possibly we will have a new winner and both teams surely regard it as a good achievement to have got there. Will PSG be among the ones who grabbed a new trophy? In short, a lot of happiness for the maximum amount of teams have been achieved. So many fans have had their lives enhanced by the buzz around their team and perhaps the FA, UEFA and FIFA can take solace that an element of utilitarianism has surfaced. Football has become fairer. Or has it, really? Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea are the top four. And maybe this season with all the lesser teams becoming happy is just an anomaly, like Arsenal’s run of injuries and weird refereeing decisions, and everything reverts to the rich next season? We can only hope Arsenal becomes that giant next season, the one who conquers all on behalf of the super-rich. Will that make us happy? I will ask Jeremy Bentham.

3 games and the anticipation. For the first time ever, I am going to 3 Arsenal games in 8 days, all at home. I have a few times gone to 2, when a European or other match coincided with a home match at the weekend either before or after. Midweek matches are easier to get tickets for as people can’t travel so easily. They become available on the ticket exchange. Will Arteta need one of these if we lose all three? These three are critical, though. Tottenham are the old beast that we love to beat. Aston Villa have been huge rivals in recent years and Dinamo Zagreb have popped up against us twice before in the Champions League. Liverpool’s extraordinary form means we must beat the Spuds and Villa to stay in with a chance of the Premier League and a win against Zagreb pretty much gives us a great chance of an automatic spot in the Champions League. Are we afraid of winning? So, I am travelling with one wish, 3 wins. Will it happen? We shall see. Are we better than those 3? Yes, we are. Does that mean we will automatically win? Of course not. But this is the life fans want, where we need to win all matches but are fearful that we won’t. Every defeat flattens our dreams and brings out the Arteta out brigade to complain about how useless he is and they also trot out their favourite player to blame. The haters always say how if Arteta stopped picking (insert your hated player here) we would win all matches. Arteta deliberately picks say, Havertz or Martinelli or Jesus or Trossard or Merino or Kiwior just so that Arsenal can lose. Did you know that Arteta plays Havertz to make sure we lose? There is a good chance that all of those might appear over these next 3 matches so we could lose all of them, by that logic. 3 defeats? Oh,no, Arteta out out out! We will see, but I suspect we will see most of those on the pitch at some stage over my 3 games. If we win them all, the strange thing is that those same fans will still not be happy , they will still blame Arteta for playing them and gambling with defeat. Playing experienced internationals such as these is a big risk, it seems. Even if they all score, they will say the same. Is Arteta a great in waiting? It is always a source of amusement to me how fickle fans are. Managers are rarely given a chance to see out the season despite the fact that it could all turn around quite quickly. I have instanced before how Alex Ferguson seemed to be on his way out until an FA cup win saved him and he got the chance to be the greatest manager ever in English football. Look at Guardiola’s recent bad run, unable to win even against much weaker teams. That would have been enough to get him dumped at Everton, Leicester, West Ham and other recent dismissals. Emery tries harder against us This is the background to my upcoming 3 games. 3 defeats or 3 draws will bring the knives out. I would advise Arteta to get a stab vest for his front and back, and his head and his legs if that happens. Beaten by the Spuds at the Emirates will be a hammer blow. Being sent home crying by Unai Emery will be a bomb exploding. And defeat by Zagreb? Wow! Leaving us open to a playoff to stay in the Champions League? He may need to build a nuclear bomb shelter under the Emirates. We need to be invincible now It is, like every 3 matches we will have between now and the end of the season (as long as we keep winning most of them) very critical that we win them all. Otherwise we go back to the way we were from the time of Wenger’s decline up to 3 seasons ago. We were hoping we could win matches but not really expecting to. We don't want to lose to him So, the Spuds? They are going through an awful phase in the league with one win and one draw from their last six. Relegation form and this match could be a tester for Ange Postecoglou. Daniel Levy must be about to blame the manager again at the Spuds so a loss and the Aussie could be gone. I badly want a win to set me up for these 3 games and another bad day for you, mate. Can we lose to Zagreb? Aston Villa? 3 wins, 2 losses and a draw from their last six and a mediocre season for them so far with 6 losses and five draws makes them vulnerable to us at our best. We are not at our best without Saka, though. He draws 2 defenders away, leaving space for the rest. Being the better team and home advantage should be enough to dispel the Emery effect, I hope. They seem to raise their game against us. But I am hopeful that we get the second crucial win of the trilogy. Maybe we can drop points here and still be ok? Dinamo Zagreb? Logic suggests that we might play a slightly weakened team for this one with some big players on the bench to rescue us. Even a draw would not be a disaster and, indeed, if we are to lose a match from these three, this is the one I would pick. The last match against Girona should still save us. They have only managed one win with no draws so far. Even 16 points may well be enough to avoid a playoff. A late birthday present It will be my birthday the day before so I would love a late present from it though. We would already have 16 points and may well have already qualified for the top 8 leaving us with a run out for the reserves for Girona. That would really suit us best. I will talk to fans and report the atmosphere Somehow I don’t think so. I plan on writing my next blog on the road for these games to give fans the chance to see what it is like to fly across and sample the big match atmosphere. I will report who I see, what their feelings are, and hopefully celebrate the 3 wins that will make for a great birthday present overall. Up the Gunners!