As Arsenal supporters, we're all experiencing an unwanted sense of déjà vu. Start the season really fast, picking up impressive results and cranking the hope-o-meter up to the max. You can't beat the vibes of being an Arsenal fan in autumn! After results start to slow down, it all falls apart in April and leads to heartbreak in May. Well, the days top of the table statistics do not make for good reading.
Arsenal have been top of the Premier League table ever since they beat West Ham on 4 October, given that Liverpool lost at Stamford Bridge that evening. As noted by Ed Aarons of the Guardian, that streak will come to an end assuming Manchester City beat Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday night.
Man City keeps doing what Arsenal can't
This will mean, since the Gunners most-recently won the title in 2004, they have spent 973 days at the Premier League summit. During the same time frame, the Citizens have been top for 1,200 days, but have eight titles to show for it, closing in on a ninth it may seem.
Tuesday night is Arsenal's 200th successive day top of the table, taking their total to 539 sleeps under Mikel Arteta in first place, as documented by Opta. This is, by some distance, the most of any manager to never win the Premier League, 200 days more than Kevin Keegan who infamously almost won the league with Newcastle in 1995/96, relinquishing a 12 point advantage to Man United.
So, how do Arteta's Arsenal change this narrative? Well, the only way to do so is to deliver silverware. Last month's EFL Cup Final was the perfect opportunity to end the six-year trophy draught, but the Gunners froze on the big occasions, clearly second best against Man City at Wembley.
Despite the fact it feels as though the whole world is collapsing in on itself from an Arsenal perspective, there is still so much to play for. The Gunners have reached just the fourth Champions League semi-final of their entire history, favourites with many to overcome Atlético Madrid at get to Budapest; the first leg at the Metropolitano is coming up next Wednesday.
Meantime, should both Arsenal and Man City win all of their remaining Premier League games, the pair would finish level on 85 points. Thus, the Gunners must focus on winning their final five fixtures and hope for a Sky Blues slip-up along the way. A raucous atmosphere is required when Newcastle visit North London on Saturday evening, because this title race is still on.
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