To start with, Arsenal are currently going through a drought which has gone unnoticed. Yes and Its a drought of high-scoring victories. Last season Gunners registered victories with scoreline of 7-3, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1, 5-2, 5-1, 5-2. That was a total of 7 times that they have gunned 5+ goals in a match.
And whats the story now ??? They are yet to score 5 goals in a match in this ongoing season. The best result they had was 4-0 against lower league team Coventry City. Other than that, they only have 4-1 victories against Sunderland and Norwich city to strengthen their case. This fact does not speak about the true potential of their renowned attacking play style. With the players like Santi, Ozil, Wilshere, Red-hot Ramsey, Rosicky, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott in attacking role, it only gets unbelievable to believe it. Even after considering Injury concerns, Arsenal always had a lot of attacking wealth to score 5+ goals in a match. But well, when it got started and when will it end ???
It started during the last season itself (and it can end any moment if they start playing in 5th gear more often). After the gunners were beaten in their North London Derby at White Hart Lane, their defense underwent transformation which also witnessed the start of Mertesacker-Koscielny partnership. They compromised on their attacking play and got more defensive which also resulted in 'The Gunners Goal Machine' to transform into 'Result Generating Machine'. The transformation helped them to reduced the gap between North London rivals and eventually over-leaping them to finish fourth and qualify for UEFA Champions League. Their progress continued and they made a flying start to their current campaign which saw them at the top of the league for most part till early February.
And now this 'Result Generating Machine' has suffered a dip in form. They have only won 3 matches out of previous 8 in all competitions. They have been knocked off from the top spot by Chelsea and are currently placed third on the table. Their UCL hopes of qualifying for QFs have taken a blow by losing 2-0 at home. If they want to sustain their challenge, then they need to bring their act together and win their next 3 matches.
Their first game is a Home tie against Everton in FA Cup and predicting a victory is tough on current form but knowing Arsenal very well, it is almost certain that they will win this game and progress to SFs.
We'll have a preview of the game, till then have good time.
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