Arsenal did not just finish top of the table on Christmas, but they were top of the table on New Year’s Day as well.
This is seen as the most important statistic towards winning the league title. A 2-0 win over Bournemouth and a narrow win over Newcastle sees Arsenal establish a two-point lead in the table. Almost every player at Arsenal is excited at the prospect of winning the Premier League title for the first time in more than a decade. The belief has been expressed by winger Theo Walcott, who has been churning out impressive performances in recent weeks.
After missing out on the start of the campaign, the former Southampton winger has already played a major role by producing a man of the match performance in the 2-1 win over Manchester City. This turned out to be the only match in which he had scored in the last 10 games, but that does not worry Arsene Wenger as long as the team is getting results. The lead looks substantial considering that the real title challengers for Arsenal – Manchester City – are a further point behind. The win over Newcastle was scrappy at its best, but Walcott does not think too much. Laurent Koscielny scored the only goal of the game.
“The three points are crucial at this moment in time, especially when teams slip up as well. We’ve had a blip at times but it’s important that we got those hard-fought three points today. In previous seasons we would have lost that or drawn, so that’s a very good sign for 2016. It’s up for grabs but we have the strength in depth in this squad and I believe that we can push on this season and hopefully be successful,” said Walcott, who has made 14 league appearances this season.
