Why Arsenal should be confident of clinching a top four spot this season

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The Premier League season may only be two games old but there are early signs that Arsenal should be confident of clinching a place in the top four this year.

Unai Emery missed out on Champions League qualification by the narrowest of margins last season after we finished just one point behind Tottenham in fifth following a catastrophic collapse during our final few matches.

To add insult to injury, we then capitulated during the second half of our Europa League final with Chelsea, losing 4-1, meaning Arsenal had blown another chance to get back among Europe’s elite. It was his first season in charge so Emery was given a certain amount of leniency by the fans but the boss can have no excuses if we fail to finish in the top four and get back in the Champions League this campaign.

The board have backed Emery in the transfer market after securing arguably our best transfer window in 15 years with the club agreeing shrewd deals and making out tight budget go far to sign six exciting players. Left-back Kieran Tierney and winger Nicolas Pepe arrived in big-money deals to strengthen two areas we badly needed to address while the arrival of Dani Ceballos on loan from Real Madrid could prove to be a master-stroke from the club.

David Luiz was snapped-up on deadline day to bring in experience to the centre of our defence following the exit of Laurent Koscielny while even youngster Gabriel Martinelli could have an impact despite the teenager being brought in as a star for the future. Arsenal beat off competition from several clubs to sign highly-rated defender William Saliba and while he won’t arrive until next summer, his acquisition is another example of the clubs excellent business in the transfer market.

So Emery now has a well balanced squad more than capable of finishing at least fourth this season so it’s no surprise that most online casino sites and bookmakers have Arsenal priced as the 10/11 fourth favourites to finish in the top four.  Obviously Man City and Liverpool are the odds-on favourites to finish in the top two and Tottenham are currently 2/5 to clinch a top four place which means the bookies expect Man Utd [11/10] and Chelsea [9/4] to miss out.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chelsea endure a tough campaign as they replaced Maurizio Sarri with the inexperienced Frank Lampard, they’ve lost their best player in Eden Hazard to Real Madrid and are now relying on youth due to their transfer ban this summer. It will be extremely tough for Lampard to guide them to a top four finish in his first season so I think they’ll do well to finish sixth. To put it another way, I’d rather use my money at a free spins no deposit casino than put it on Chelsea to finish in the top four.

United are stronger than last year as they spent £130m strengthening their defence so Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire will make a big difference for them. However, they sold Romelu Lukaku and didn’t replace him so the pressure is on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to make Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial regular goal-scorers. Their midfield also looks light on quality and I think this will prove to be the difference come May.

Arsenal have a better squad than Chelsea and United and I’d also argue we’ll give Tottenham a real battle for third this season. They’ve improved their midfield but are still hugely reliant on Harry Kane so there no reason Arsenal shouldn’t push them all the way and close the gap on the top two. If our key signings settle quickly, I think this could turn out to be an excellent season at the Emirates.

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