I would have taken a point before the Villa game. I’m pretty sure Arsene would have as well, and as the game panned out, to be fair to Villa, it’s what we deserved. Hitting the woodwork twice, always leaves you thinking “if only!”, but considering the absolute sitter missed by Downing, a point seems a good one.

But only after Sunday’s showdown with Manure will we know the real value of that point. Victory against Shrek & Co and Wednesday night’s point will seem highly valuable. Defeat and it will seem like a terrible waste of two points.

This run of games has got all the bean counters at it. Everyone has a theory behind what would be the best string of results against Manure, Chelski and Liverpool. Of course winning them all would be the ideal, but as we all know, at Arsenal, we like to do things the hard way. The most important thing over the next two Sunday afternoons is to avoid defeat. Simple as that.

If we don’t beat the poorest Liverpool side in many a year, then frankly we won’t deserve to win the title. Of course, if we do come through this testing period with 7-9 points and are top of the league, we will be crowned “champions” by the media and the silly arse pundits on Soccer Saturday. The reality is we have another painful looking trip to Stoke City coming soon, as well as games away against Birmingham City, Spuds, Blackburn Rovers, and tough home fixtures against Fulham, West Ham and Manchester City.

So even if we do survive this mini-run from hell in one piece and are still in touch at the top, we still have many more tests of steel and nerve to come.

I just pray we do not get too many more injuries. Now it seems we may have lost Vermaelen for Sunday and Eduardo too. I can honestly say I have never known such a bad season for injuries. The situation seems to have got gradually worse over the last three years. I have lost count of the number of month plus injuries we have suffered, many of which are caused by those stupid pointless friendly international breaks.

Still, time for Sol to earn his wages!