We start off April by hosting Luton Town today at The Emirates in what will surely be a must-win game for both teams (Arsenal P.L. Title charge vs Luton Relegation battle). Luton are almost most definitely the underdogs in this fixture but taking into account that we needed a 90' winner from Declan Rice to grab all three points in the reverse fixture, the Hatters will surely be up for a fight.
Just take a good look at that fixture list. We have to play 8 games in 25 days, an average of a game in a little over every 3 days. Honestly, I believe that this period will test our players than any other period in the league as they are simply not used to this kind of fixture list. What makes this even more difficult is the quarter finals against Bayern Munich, our kryptonite in the Champions League.
However, this is not to say that we can't get through this month, there are very winnable games for Arteta's men; with Luton Town at home and Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineaux being the standouts. The remaining games will test the players' mental and physical strength as fatigue will definitely be a key factor this month and so, Arteta should really play his cards right when it comes to rotating and resting players.
The key highlight match will definitely be against Bayern Munich as these two teams have history in the Champions League with the German side coming out the better side. Remember the 10-2? Dark days those ones, dark days. However, it is important to note that these two teams are very different from when the last time faced each other in the crown jewel competition of European football.
In their most recent games, Dortmund managed to beat Bayern at the Allianz Arena for the first time in 10 years whereas Arsenal became the first team to prevent Manchester City from scoring at their home stadium, the Etihad, in a little over 1 and a half years. Basically, these two teams are on two different trajectories.
With all these in mind, here are my predictions for this month's games;
Luton Town (H) - Win
Brighton and Hove Albion (H) - Draw
Bayern Munich (H) - Win
Aston Villa (H) - Win {Arsenal players on revenge missions are different beasts}
Bayern Munich (A) - Loss {Arsenal to proceed on aggregate}
Wolves (A) - Win
Chelsea (H) - Win
Tottenham Hotspur (A) - Draw
14/18 points in the Premier League. Through to the UCL Semis on aggregate.
1% luck, 99% faith.
These views are the views of an all-time Arsenal fan. So yes, I am a bit too high on copium.
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