Chris Towers
All Arsenal need to do is what Spurs did. How hard can it be? Tottenham claimed a 3-1 win when they visited the Hawthorns way back in October. On Sunday, we’re tasked simply with matching that three-point haul against West Brom to secure a third-place finish, and Champions League football next season.
While we’re going for that, some 103 miles to the south-east Spurs face Fulham at White Hart Lane. If they were to suffer the same fate that we did in our fixture at home to the Cottagers, where Thomas Vermaelen’s header earned only a 1-1 draw, then Arsenal would be afforded a little breathing-space in their mission in the Black Country.
Arsenal and Spurs have matched each other’s results in 19 of the 34 corresponding fixtures they’ve each played this season. They both won at Norwich, drew at home to Wolves and lost at QPR. Yet they haven’t quite matched each other toe-for-toe, and for those 19 matching results, there have been 15 fixtures this season in which Arsenal’s fortunes have contrasted – for better or for worse – with their rivals.
Should Spurs finish fourth, they’ll look back sorely at the likes of their home draw with Stoke – a game where Arsenal strolled to three points (after the introduction of van Persie, of course). And they’ll be cursing the way the Gunners claimed stoppage-time wins away at Sunderland, Aston Villa and Liverpool – grounds where they had to settle for less. Similarly, if we slip a spot in the table on Sunday afternoon, we’ll look at the way we crumbled against Swansea, at a stadium in which Spurs earned what they could yet end up toasting as a valuable point gained. Arsène Wenger may sit down in his London Colney office in a few weeks to write up his season assessments, flick on Euro 2012, see Luka Modric in action for Croatia, and be reminded of the way Spurs took Bolton apart at the Reebok – and wonder why his side couldn’t do the same.
Like a Wojciech Szczesny goal-kick, there’s little obvious pattern to the way in which the disparities in results have dotted all over, and they occasionally pop up in places you wouldn’t expect. Arsenal have celebrated three wins in blockbuster matches at Anfield, Stamford Bridge and Man City at home, while Spurs settled for just two points from those same games. Meanwhile, the Gunners shipped points in what should be winnable games, like Wigan at home and Fulham away, where Spurs enjoyed far greater success.
At times, there have been valid contributing factors that have affected the inconsistency in results. The Gunners happened to catch a Wigan side on the cusp of their bold, recurring end-of-season wave, and went down at Craven Cottage when two games in three days had brought about tired legs. If scheduling takes its toll, it’s fair that Tottenham fans might take issue with the fact that their last Saturday 3 o’clock kick-off of the season came on 14 January.
We’ve each traded wins against each other, of course – Spurs took the spoils at White Hart Lane in October, while the meeting at the Emirates in February was absolutely key to this race, whatever the result proved to be. Tottenham were a way ahead at the time, but it was just the kind of game for which the term ‘six-pointer’ was invented. Our 5-2 win set the sprint for third alight and, however things go, it would certainly be the game I’d vote as ‘game of the season’ when the Gooner poll goes live (if that category exists – which I’m not sure it does).
So to the final weekend. Given our lofty positions of third and fourth, it’s a little surprising that Arsenal and Spurs have claimed just three home and away ‘doubles’ each this season – Arsenal over Villa, Everton and Sunderland, Spurs over Blackburn, Bolton and Wigan. Both sides will be desperate to claim a fourth and final double on Sunday, against West Brom and Fulham respectively. If that happens, then the race would have been pushed to the limit.
It’s been a wild, restless, frantic season that, after a horrible start, has seen us forced to scrap and snap for every point in a mad scramble for a top-four (then, a top-three) finish. Our momentum has slowed as we’ve approached the finish line, and after 39 weeks of top-flight action, it’s all boiled down to this. One point is the gap between Arsenal and Spurs. A week from now, the fortunes of one side will be dependent on a game over which they have no control. For the team that finishes fourth, the Champions League final between Bayern and Chelsea will be crucial to their task of keeping their best players and their prospects, both for this summer and in the coming season. The team that finishes third can sit back and enjoy the show, stress-free.
Let’s hope the Gunners are the latter. All they need to do is what Spurs did at the Hawthorns. How hard can it be?
