Arsenal have had a rough few seasons in recent years. The Gunners finished 8th in 2019-20 and 2020-21, quite the slide from the top-four and top-five positions the team had been consistently achieving for years.

It’s an even further fall from grace when you consider that the club had been one of the most dominant teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s, winning the Premier League in 1997-98, 2001-02, and 2003-04, as well as achieving a Double in two of those three seasons.

Of course, that’s not to say Arsenal have suffered a complete drought of silverware; the club have won the FA Cup four times in the last eight years, most recently in 2020, projecting them to the top of the list of the most successful teams in the tournament’s history.

Most Gunners fans will agree that things haven’t been going great since the height of the Wenger era. When he joined the club in 1996, things looked very different to today. He led wholesale change, both on and off the pitch, signing key players like Patrick Vieira, Marc Overmars, and Emmanuel Petit, as well as championing the importance of nutrition among his squad.

However, towards the end of his tenure, Arsenal’s performance was slipping, and he departed a year before his contract was due to expire. Unai Emery and Freddie Ljungberg were unable to step into the Frenchman’s shoes, so former Gunners winger Mikel Arteta was appointed to the top position.

During his time, Arsenal haven’t played in the UEFA Champions League once, and haven’t even earned a spot in the newly-introduced third-tier Europa Conference League for the 2021-22 season.

However, many fans and pundits are sensing that the tide might be about to turn for the club.

After a strong run of games that included a 1-0 victory against Watford, a 2-0 win away at Leicester, and a dominant performance against Aston Villa, bookmakers have begun to look more favourably on the Gunners’ chances of securing a place in the Champions League next season. In Betway’s outright soccer betting markets, Arsenal have odds of 4.00 to finish in the top four, ahead of both Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City.

But can this momentum be maintained?

Why Are European Competitions Important?

For quite some time, pundits have been reeling off lists of areas where Arsenal have to improve. Among these is a need for more talent but this costs money and, as we all know, that doesn’t grow on trees.

Participation in European football is a huge boon to big clubs as the prize money alone is enough to buy some decent players.

Each club that qualifies for the 2021-22 Champions League will receive €15.64 million, with a further €2.8 million per group-stage win and €930,000 for each group-stage draw. Making it through to the last 16 nets you €9.6 million, the quarter-finals gets you another €10.6 million, reaching the semis generates a further €12.5 million. The runner up in the final bags €15.5 million, while the winner makes €20 million.

This doesn’t include the €300 million of TV money that will be shared among all the clubs in the competition, the “coefficient-based payments” that can be up to €36.38 million, nor the extra ticket sales from the games.

Typically, the winner of the Europa League earns less than one that doesn’t make it out of the Group Stages of the Champions League.

Therefore, a top-four position is critical for Arsenal if the club want to generate the resources necessary to mount a challenge for silverware.

Within Reach

There are certainly plenty of people that think a top-four finish is an achievable goal for the Gunners. Back in May, Perry Groves seemed pretty confident of this thanks to the club’s strong end to last season and the fact that being without European games this year will give Arteta and his players more time to prepare for league games.

Former Gunner Paul Merson is also feeling chipper about his past club’s prospects.

With Manchester United having a less-than-ideal start to the season, despite re-signing their former number 7, the prospects are also looking a bit easier for Arsenal.

There’s also the prospect that Wenger could be making a return to the club, though in what capacity is not yet known.

While nothing is a done deal yet, things are looking far more positive for the Gunners than some may believe them to be.