Arsenal will be needing somewhat of a miracle if they want to keep Manchester City from winning the title following three straight matches in which the Gunners have dropped points, says Jamie Carragher. On Friday Arsenal needed to come back twice against Southampton to salvage a 3-3 draw in the Premier League. City now hold the upper hand as the Citizens are three points behind in the league with two games in hand.
Former Liverpool captain Carragher isn’t too sure if Arsenal will be able to keep in fighting Man City until the end of the season. “Whether the point makes that much difference to Arsenal, I’m not quite sure,” Carragher said on Sky Sports. They’ve probably got to go to Man City and get three points if they want to go on and win the league.”
“It is still in Arsenal’s hands, and we keep saying it, and it just shows you how far ahead they were.They’ve dropped six points in the last three games, and it is still in their hands. They did have a really sizeable lead, but they are going to have to do something miraculous now between now and the end of the season.”
“But we’ve seen them go on runs before, certainly on the back of losing to Man City at Emirates Stadium. That was a big disappointment, but they went on to win the next seven games. They’ve got six games to go now, and they will have to go and do something special between now and the end of the season to win it.”
“The way the game went against Southampton was exactly what Arsenal didn’t want. There were mistakes, it was emotional, and the game was end-to-end. They just wanted to win the game and 2-0 or 3-0 against Southampton, who are bottom of the league. Most people expected them to do that but when you go a goal down after 30 seconds it becomes a game they didn’t want.”
Carragher dismissed the suggestion that the match in Manchester will be a do-or-die fixture for Arsenal. “Of course, Arsenal will go there and want to win the game and they will try to win the game,” he said. “If they do draw the game, what is Mikel Arteta going to say at the end of the game? Man City will still have tough games. They have got to go away to Brighton and to Everton, they will not be easy games.”
“Of course, Arsenal have other tough games but what I don’t think Arsenal should do is, if that game is in the balance with 20 minutes to go, they shouldn’t do something stupid in terms of thinking they have to win the game. They want to win the game, but don’t lose it. If they lose the game, it is over, it’s finished. A draw is not the end of the world going to Man City. You have to keep it going as long as it can possibly go.”
