Well, who would have thought that? Only a few weeks back it looked a tall order for Arsenal to finish in the top four. A leaky defence and dodgy away form seemed too big a hurdle for my old club. As for overhauling Tottenham, it appeared practically impossible.
And now here we stand at the start of April with Arsenal needing a win over Newcastle to move two points ahead of their north London rivals. In doing so, the Gunners would also leapfrog Manchester United to ease into third place.
As damaging as the past month or so has proved for Spurs, this period has seen Arsenal produce some impressive stuff. The derby draw at Wembley and home win over United showed some promising fruits of Unai Emery’s labour.
Emery’s mission, of course, is not simply to finish above Spurs, even though that achievement would go down a storm amongst Arsenal fans concerned with the power shift over recent years. No, it’s about re-establishing the club as a feared force both in the Premier League and Champions League. It has been quite a while since you could honestly say Arsenal ranked in that category.
All attention focuses on tonight’s visit of a Newcastle side still not mathematically safe from the threat of relegation. Every game for Rafa Benitez is a vital one, given his tug of war with owner Mike Ashley, whose idea of ambition does not entirely match that of the Spaniard’s. That said, more than £20m was recently invested in Miguel Almiron, a lively forward taken from the MLS who is slowly getting to grips with the hike in standards. Factor in the form of centre-forward Salomon Rondon and the improved output from Ayoze Perez and you have a team deserving respect.
For Emery, meanwhile, the task is to pick up the momentum generated before the international break. If he can manage that, the home side should be too strong. Looking forward, the situation is more exciting than previously imagined.
