So much in football can be determined by the actions of others.
Sometimes you face a team at exactly the wrong time, an international break may arrive at an opportune moment, you may get a slice of luck with injuries, or outside events may simply alter the complexion of a match entirely. Even the scheduling of a fixture can change its likely outcome.
There is a great deal you can do to make sure you are in the best possible shape to win any match but there are also any numbers of things you can’t plan for or predict.
What an unexpected set of bonuses, then, have been served Arsenal over this last week or so. While our rivals for the European places have toiled and floundered, they have opened doors for an Arsenal side that looks poised to capitalise.
Back-to-back home defeats for Tottenham, a pair of draws for Manchester United, just two wins in five for West Ham…these are the kinds of runs that can decide seasons.
It will only become decisive, however, if Arsenal seize the opportunities handed to them.
To their credit, they held on for three points at Molineux last week – very much against the odds – but they must now follow that up with three points against Brentford.
It was obvious from the way the players reacted after the game that they knew how important their win was at Wolves and another three points at the Emirates later this week could be every bit as vital. It would open up the sort of daylight that can dispirit those around us and start to shift the narrative.
An open run at a Champions League place has been something far beyond us for a while and, for the most part, it hasn’t even been worth talking about as anything more than a vague ambition. This season, as things stand, that ambition could at last become a reality.
Of course, all three points are worth the same, whether it’s the opening week of the season or the final act, but moments matter and these next few weeks feel like they might just matter more than any others so far this season.
Two wins from our next two would mean, in effect, Arsenal clear in fourth place and Chelsea, currently in third, looking over their shoulders. Both of those things are within our power, first when we host Brentford and then when we welcome Wolves to north London. Six enormous points.
It won’t be ‘job done’ by any stretch of the imagination, but the significance of the gap over the teams around us, coupled with the reality of a spot in the top four, could and should serve us a marker for the rest of the campaign – at last something to hold on to.
The alternative, while not disastrous, would serve only as a shot in the arm for our rivals. Imagine the boost provided to the likes of United and Spurs if, instead of facing a six-point gap, they were faced with no gap at all. We’d be right pack in the pack and, crucially, so would they.
The risks and rewards are obvious. We can’t afford another Burnley-like result. We must come away from our next two matches with wins if we are serious about positioning this squad as a serious contender for a European place, perhaps even a Champions League place.
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