This is not a situation Arsenal ever thought it would be in, on a couple of fronts.
The Premier League title in their sights this season and desperately needing to win it to end a drought they never saw coming.
A five-point lead at the top of the table with six games to go, before taking on second-placed Manchester City tomorrow morning, is not a permutation even the most-ambitious Gunners fan dreamed was possible at the start of the campaign.
It wasn’t long ago that the majority of them were calling for Mikel Arteta’s head.
However, the Arsenal hierarchy stayed patient, ignored the noise and have been rewarded.
Despite the position they find themselves in now, failing to clinch the title would hardly be seen as a failure. Far from it.
They are well ahead of schedule with an enterprising young manager and a burgeoning squad, and at the least they’ll be back in the Champions League after a far-too-long absence of six seasons.
However, at the same time, the ruthless Premier League title race doesn’t care too much for projects anymore.
There are too many competitors and too many rival resources.
Opportunities like the one afforded to Arsenal right now must be taken, because you don’t know when you’ll have that chance again.
And Arsenal themselves are the perfect example of that.
While they can hardly believe the lofty heights they find themselves in on the table at this point of the season, similarly they must be struggling to fathom that their last title win was 19 years ago.
Title thirst becomes a drought in a hurry
Life comes at you fast, especially in the biggest football league in the world.
Arsenal were the Premier League trendsetters once upon a time.
They found a little known Frenchman in Arsene Wenger in the late 90s to manage the club, they changed the culture in English football dressing rooms and they won three titles in seven seasons.
They were ahead of the game with signings such as Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira, spotting talents that few others had the vision for.
However, take your eye off that ball for a moment and eventually the challengers catch up, be it through footballing acumen or crazy investment and, before you know it, the wait for success that you never deemed an issue stretches out.
Liverpool went through it for 30 seasons before eventually snapping a drought in 2020.
Once all-conquering Manchester United are now at 10 years since their last league triumph, believe it or not.
The main reason for that is the other team across town in Manchester and, through no surprise to anyone, Arsenal’s threat to the Premier League crown.
The rich get richer
City have won it six times since being acquired by the uber-rich of the United Arab Emirates and four times in the past five seasons.
And, while their wait for a European Cup continues, the notion of them becoming any more powerful seemed fanciful.
Then they went and signed the biggest centre-forward phenomenon the game has seen in some time in Erling Haaland.
He has already equalled the Premier League scoring record for a 38-game season, held by Mo Salah, with 32, and there are still eight games left to play in the season.
The 22-year-old Norwegian beast is at the point of a side that, as per usual, is firing on all fronts at this stage of the season.
A deep squad — the envy of most others, that affords for constant rotations throughout the campaign — helps.
No-one knows which of Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez or Phil Foden will start in attacking midfield in any particular game but, by this stage of the season, it doesn’t really matter.
They are fresh and well-rested, mentally and physically. Perfectly conditioned for a run at a third title in a row.
What does the form say?
City haven’t lost in 16 games.
Arsenal in contrast, are stuttering. They’ve drawn their last three matches, the last of which was against bottom-of-the-table Southampton.
The starting XI has remained largely intact and that can take its toll in the latter stages of the draining Premier League marathon, especially with the pressure of Pep Guardiola’s City hot on your heels.
However, there is no more time for slip-ups.
