Arsenal is still firmly at the top of the Premier League standings until the 14th match week, collecting 33 points. The Gunners managed to win 2-1 over Wolves at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Meanwhile, Manchester City is still trailing in second place with 29 points remaining with one match to host Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium, Sunday.
If City manages to win over Spurs, then they will only collect a maximum of 32 points, still one point different from Arsenal. This means they cannot carry out a coup on the leaders of the Premier League standings. City’s match against Tottenham Hotspur is a Super Sunday match. This match is expected to be very tight even though hosts City still have the advantage to get points.
City must win over Spurs if they don’t want to be passed by Liverpool, who on the same day also play their 14th match. Juergen Klopp’s squad hosted Fulham at Anfield. Playing at Liverpool’s home ground, it is predicted that they will win over Fulham.
Therefore, if City draws with Spurs, it is clear that Liverpool will move into second place. Moreover, City lost the match, they lost 3 valuable points. Apart from that, in 4th position there is Aston Villa, which if they win over host Bournemouth, then Villa will be in third position moving City to 4th place.
From this picture, the match at the Etihad is a must win for Pep Guardiola’s squad. Looking at the squad they have, the capital to win over Tottenham is still an optimistic target.
However, that doesn’t mean Tottenham will easily give up in a match which for them is also very important to maintain their position in the standings. Tottenham is in 6th place with 26 points, the same as the number of points owned by Newcastle United, who have played their 14th match. For this reason, Tottenham must at least achieve a draw against hosts City to be able to shift Newcastle United in 5th position.
With a draw, Tottenham won one point to increase to 27 points, surpassing the Magpies who have 26 points. Week 14’s match in the Top Ten will determine the position of the competing teams, namely Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa. Apart from City facing Tottenham, week 14 also sees Aston Villa visiting Bournemouth and Liverpool hosting Fulham.
Meanwhile Arsenal are still comfortably untouched at the top after they narrowly won 2-1 over their guests Wolves at the Emirates Stadium, Saturday (2/12/23). Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard scored the winning goals for the Gunners. Bukayo Saka even managed to win Man of the Match thanks to his impressive game.
Saka’s quick goal after only 6 minutes of the game started from a quick one-two pass with Gabriel Jesus on the right splitting the Wolves defense. The Three Lions winger received Takehiro Tomiyasu’s pass calmly and after making a deflection, he put the ball into the far corner of the Wolves goal. This quick goal had a big impact on the performance of Mikel Arteta’s squad that night, making the players more enthusiastic.
They completely controlled the game and the second goal came courtesy of Martin Odegaard’s shot just 8 minutes later. The Wolves defenders were impressed when Oleksandr Zinchenko played a one-two with Gabriel Jesus. He then gave the ball back to Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard. His shot managed to beat Wolves goalkeeper, Jose Sa.
Arsenal led 2-0 until the first half ended. Wolves in the second half were only able to score one goal to reduce their deficit just 4 minutes before the match ended through Matheus Cunha’s creation. Arsenal’s defense was too strong for them to add another goal. The match that night belonged to hosts Arsenal with a 2-1 win and achieved the full 3 points.
The schedule for December 2023 is very busy, especially during the Boxing Day schedule which takes place one day after the Christmas celebration. To be precise, in Week 19, Arsenal will host West Ham United. This is a London derby match that Mikel Arteta’s squad should not take lightly.
Arsenal is still strong until the 14th week. For the time being, they cannot be moved by any team, including Manchester City, who will only get a maximum of 32 points if they win over Spurs in Week 14.
ASL
