Their hopes of a quadruple might have been shattered by a disappointing League Cup final defeat to Man City at Wembley a few days ago, but Arsenal are still very much alive in the other competitions, and April could make or break their season. It’s been a very promising campaign so far for the Gunners, but could all come to nothing if results don’t go their way in the next few weeks.
FA Cup
The Gunners will start their month with a trip to St.Mary’s for their FA Cup last eight tie against Southampton. Saints currently play in the Championship, and on paper, it’s a fixture you’d back the North Londoners to win.
One of Man City and Liverpool will be eliminated in the quarters as they’ve drawn each other in the last eight. Chelsea are in a bit of a free-fall at this moment, and West Ham and Leeds are the other tier 1 sides left in the competition, which augurs pretty well for the Gunners’ chances in this competition.
UCL
The FA Cup game will be followed by a trip to Portugal to take on Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. The Gunners will have home advantage for the return leg, and have never lost an European game against Portuguese opposition. No Portuguese side has advanced beyond the last-eight of the competition in its current avatar either.
The draw, as you can see, actually sets things up quite nicely for Mikel Arteta’s men. They avoid the big hitters until the final, unlike poor Liverpool, who play defending champions PSG in the quarters and will then potentially have to deal with one of Real Madrid or Bayern in the last four.
On paper, with the squad they have and the form they’re in, the Gunners should be able to make it to Budapest for the final. At this stage of the competition, they’re probably the equivalent of a dark horse at TwinSpires, so as to speak, and are very capable of going all the way.
If Arsenal do advance from the tie against Sporting, they will also play the first leg of the semi-final against one of Barca or Atleti towards the end of April.
Premier League
It’s probably Arsenal’s strongest chance of silverware at this stage, with a nine-point lead over City after 31 rounds of fixtures. However Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand against Palace and then also have to host Arsenal, which means that lead could become as little as three points. City have already been eliminated from Europe, and can therefore focus all their attention on the league.
There are other tricky fixtures left for the Gunners- Eddie Howe’s Newcastle and his former team Bournemouth aren’t easy-beats by any stretch of imagination, and there are also three London derby opponents in the form of Fulham, West Ham and Palace to contend with.