Rarely does a regular season Premier League game warrant pay-per-view attention.
But that’s what Arsenal’s clash against Manchester City on Thursday morning demands.
Watch the world’s best footballers every week with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. LIVE coverage from Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Carabao Cup, EFL & SPFL. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
It is a contest which could very well decide the Premier League title, despite both sides having plenty of games left to play.
The Gunners will make the trip to the Etihad on the back of three consecutive draws, all of which felt like defeats knowing the implications of such a result.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was forced to watch his troops blow a two-goal lead not once but twice before helping his side overcome a 3-1 deficit to last-placed Southampton to draw 3-3.
It’s now left the gap between Arsenal and City to just five points, with the latter having two games in hand.
Some may subscribe to the school of thought that although City has the advantage in games in hand, they are still behind on the ladder and therefore it is advantage Arsenal.
But most supporters need no reminders of City’s ruthlessness.
Despite competing on three fronts, Pep Guardiola’s side have found a way to maintain form across the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
Meanwhile, Arsenal crashed out of the Europa League in a penalty shootout to Sporting and have since stumbled to a series of poor results in the Premier League.
So, how will this heavyweight slugfest play out on Thursday?
Could this Bamford miss bury Leeds? | 00:28
MORE COVERAGE
PL Wrap: Cult hero ends 185-day drought in major relegation twist; shock Euro charge continues
‘Words aren’t enough’: Spurs stars’ grovelling gesture for fans after six-goal humiliation
Great 70yr Aussie sporting mystery solved as family unearths long-lost football ‘Ashes’
THE DAMNING TREND BEHIND GUNNERS’ SLIP-UP
It’s been nothing short of a dream season for Arsenal fans and given they will almost certainly finish inside the top two, the team has obliterated all pre-season expectations.
But having been top of the table for just about the entire season to date, to relinquish its grip on the title would be the cruellest of blows, especially this late in the season.
Even after a wretched run, by a title challenger’s standards, of two losses and a draw — with one of those defeats coming against Manchester City — the Gunners went on to win seven games in a row.
However, one key difference between Arsenal’s form before and after the World Cup break hints at what’s gone wrong for Arteta’s side.
Before the World Cup, Arsenal conceded 11 goals from 14 games, an extremely impressive figure.
But since play resumed in late December, the Gunners have shipped 23 goals in 18 games with 10 of those coming in the past three games.
That alarming amount of goals conceded has coincided with the absence of French defender William Saliba, who went off with a back issue against Sporting and hasn’t been sighted since.
Arsenal are a weaker outfit without the Frenchman and that’s a fact.
With Saliba in the backline, Arsenal’s goal-against figure sits at a healthy 0.9.
In the five games he has not featured since his back injury, it balloons out to 1.8.
Rob Holding has come into the team to cover for Saliba’s absence, but his lack of pace has been worryingly exposed on numerous occasions.
It also creates a larger problem within the team’s structure that, according to former Gunners player Adrian Clarke, explains the recent struggles.
“When Saliba plays, Arsenal are able to squeeze up the pitch and keep the three units compact and high, because he’s got the speed to recover,” Clarke told The Athletic.
“If a team knocks one over the top, Saliba is invariably quick enough to get there.
“What’s happening now, I think, is that they’re setting the line a bit deeper to protect Holding, which is then making a bigger hole in the midfield.
“And as brilliant as (Thomas) Partey has been this season, he is struggling at the moment to carry that entire midfield on his own because the way that the team needs to protect Holding means the space around him (Partey) has been expanded.”
There’s also the question of whether Arsenal peaked perhaps a little too early in the run-in.
The Gunners were forced to dig deep with stoppage-time winners against Aston Villa and Bournemouth during their recent seven-game win streak.
But, as The Telegraph’s Oliver Brown wrote, those victories may have taken more gas from the tank than Arteta will care to admit.
“Ronnie O’Sullivan claims he cannot win a world championship in snooker unless he swats aside his early opponents with ease,” Brown wrote.
“Andy Murray wins two unforgettable five-setters in Melbourne but then discovers he has nothing more left to give.
“Arsenal seem to be fast approaching the same juncture. They have entertained everybody royally for eight months, but they are running on fumes.”
WHY CITY’S ‘GLARING TRUTH’ HAS THEM READY TO EAT GUNNERS ‘ALIVE’
As for City, well, it appears they’ve got plenty of miles left in them.
After all, this is not their first rodeo when it comes to neck-and-neck title races.
During the 2018/19 season, City won their final 14 games in a row to squeak past Liverpool by a solitary point to win the league.
Even as recently as last season, Guardiola’s side only secured the title on the final day after coming back from 2-0 down against Villa to win 3-2 with all goals coming in the final 15 minutes.
But unlike the Gunners, City have not had to pull a rabbit out of the hat to secure victories.
Since losing two in four games at the start of the year against Manchester United and Spurs. Guardiola’s side have been on a tear and played their opponents off the park.
City have won eight games from nine, the exception being a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest.
In that stretch, City have scored 25 goals — an average of 2.7 a game — while only conceding seven.
It points to a team of cool, experienced heads when they need it most having walked this very path in regards to title challenges.
A certain goal machine by the name of Erling Haaland also helps, too.
Aside from the Norwegian’s freakish goalscoring ability, which has him on track to shatter the record for most goals scored in a season, Guardiola has shored up the defence and overseen marked individual improvements.
It paints a contrasting picture with the happenings at the Emirates, especially at this stage of the season.
And it’s why Brown feels that a “glaring truth” has been confirmed: City “are ready to eat them alive.”
“City have shown that these are the periods that sort the champions from the mere pretenders,” Brown wrote.
“Arsenal, sadly, are wilting when it matters most.”
Brown added: “It has taken longer than anybody imagined to arrive, but Arsenal are truly teetering now, lurching towards the finish line as inelegantly as any drunk struggling to catch the last Tube home from Holloway Road. This is not, to put it bluntly, championship pedigree.”
There exists the very real possibility Arsenal destroy everyone’s predictions for not just this contest, but the entire title race.
A win at the Etihad would undoubtedly provide a needed jolt to get them back on track after a serious wobble.
However, City, much like a lion stalking a wounded gazelle, seem inevitable.
With Haaland bearing his teeth in pursuit of every goalscoring record in the books and Jack Grealish starting to look like the £100m man he’s being paid to be, it’s hard to back against City.
But, similar to how Tyson Fury miraculously rose to his feet after being knocked down in his first fight against Deontay Wilder, Arsenal aren’t ready to lay down and accept a beating just yet.
