It’s the question on every Arsenal fan’s lips, and no doubt on the players and staff’s minds too: can the Gunners hold their nerve and make it to the Champions’ League knockout stages?
The state of play
At this very moment, things are looking good. Arsenal are sitting pretty at the top of a Group F which is anything but lacking in quality. On 9 points, we currently beat Napoli into second thanks to our goal difference of +3, compared to their total of just +1, whilst German powerhouse Borussia Dortmund lie third on six points after going down 1-0 to our boys in red and white. Meanwhile, whipping boys Marseille have yet to break their duck, on zero points four matches into the tournament. Sacre bleu…
This state of play puts us within touching distance of the Champions’ League 2014 group stages – just one win from the two remaining matches would surely do the trick. With only an out-of-their-depth Marseille and a manageable Napoli left to play, it’s hard to see how we could fail to qualify, provided we can replicate our peerless Premier League form. If we take down Marseille in our next clash (we’re odds on at 3/10 to do so), then whatever the result in the game between Napoli and Borussia Dortmund, there’ll be no catching us.
Can we win it?
It’s still early days to be talking about silverware, but it’s impossible not to start asking the even bigger question of just how far Arsenal can go in this tournament if we get through the group stages as expected. Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp reckons we can go the distance – if we avoid drawing Bayern Munich early in the knockout stages – and many of us seem to agree, with a significant 32 per cent of respondents to a recent Sky Sports poll predicting a semi-final appearance for the Gunners.
We’re dark horses alright, but we’re slowly creeping up towards the shorter odds of the Champions’ League contenders for outright victory. Our recent Premier League setback at Man U was a knock to our confidence, but on the basis of the great potential we’ve shown throughout the lion’s share of the season, you could do worse than place a bet on us to win outright the next time you’re playing online roulette or betting on the gee gees.
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