Former Celtic and Blackburn striker, Chris Sutton, believes that Arsenal’s title hopes are well and truly dead after their 1-1 draw away to Southampton on Sunday afternoon.
Arsenal put in another uninspiring display against the Saints this weekend, leaving fans infuriated, and Sutton reckons that Arsene Wenger’s men can kiss their Premier League title hopes goodbye as a result.
“Scoring late you’d say it is a good point at that stage but before the game in context Arsenal would have looked at this and thought it was a must-win game,” said the pundit.
“Their title hopes have absolutely gone and it’s a fight for the top four now.”
"Their title hopes have gone, it's a fight for the top four…"@chris_sutton73 passes verdict on Arsenal after their 1-1 draw at Southampton. pic.twitter.com/qVW3NGafdO
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) December 10, 2017
I’m not sure many people actually thought Arsenal had any title hopes to begin with given our shambolic start to the season but, as Sutton says, if there were any they’re definitely gone now.
Not only was it disappointing to drop two points at St. Mary’s but the performance from almost all of Wenger’s men was really disheartening. Alexis Sanchez decided not to show up until the final 20 minutes of the game when Olivier Giroud was brought on and he assisted the Frenchman’s 88th-minute equaliser; Granit Xhaka was stagnant, and Per Mertesacker is well past his best.
Arsenal are renowned for being quick on the break and, with Hector Bellerin in the side, you’d assume we still should be. However, against Mauricio Pellegrino’s men we looked distinctly sluggish in spite of our 67% possession.
The Gunners are still fifth in the table and, just as Sutton says, our main aim has to be to finish in the top four now.