How is it April? Still, the fact remains that we are into the home stretch for Arsenal’s domestic and European campaigns. With the men back from the last international break of the season and the women steaming toward the finish line of the season, let’s check in with where things stand for each and what the important dates are in the run-in. Three Trophies Still Possible for the Men The biggest, but certainly not best, thing that happened on the men’s team front since last time I posted was that the League Cup Final happened. It, uh, did not go well. Arsenal dominated the first 20 minutes or so of the match and had a few presentable chances but couldn’t convert. After that, City were the better team and deserved the win. City’s first goal was something of a fluke with cup competition goalkeeper Kepa letting a high ball slip through his fingers to be tapped in by Nico O’Reilly who was in the right place at the right time. Did Kepa have to stretch to reach a high ball? Yes, but it certainly wasn’t so high that he should have struggled to control it and let the danger pass. It would be easy to blame the loss on that mistake but the rest of the match could definitely have been worse than City scoring a second goal. Arsenal mounted next to no attack and really seemed to miss having one of Odegaard or Eze as partner to Declan Rice in the center of midfield. Kai Havertz has never looked comfortable at Arsenal when asked to be a creative force in midfield. He has been best as a change of pace center forward or in the role currently being played by Declan Rice where he is a runner, secondary creator, and can make late runs for shots at the edge of the box. Unfortunately, due to injuries to Eze and Odegaard and Ethan Nwaneri being out on loan, Arteta’s choices were limited. If it had been me, I would have thought about moving Saka into the Odegaard/Eze spot with Madueke on the right and one of Martinelli or Trossard on the left. They got there eventually but it wasn’t until O’Reilly scored his second in the 65th minute. It is never great to lose a final. If you’re there, you might as well win it. That said, the goals for the season are higher than that. With the Premier League, the Champions League, and the FA Cup still available for the taking and Arsenal the favorite or joint favorite in all three, there are bigger fish to fry. If they are successful in some or all of those endeavors no one will remember that they lost the League Cup Final. If that loss was an indicator that they are again going to fall agonizingly short of the finish line, well, the League Cup loss won’t be the thing we mourn but it might be seen as an early warning sign that we should have taken more seriously when it happened. Injuries The big question as we look forward to the run-in is how healthy the team will be coming down the stretch. The international break so a load of high profile Arsenal players not participate for their countries in friendlies with injuries sighted as the reason. We know that Noni Madueke came out of England’s first friendly of the break with a leg brace on as a “precaution”. Saka and Rice didn’t even go to camp at first and then, after Madueke came off injured in the first match, they were withdrawn. Also withdrawn with various statements related to injury/treatment were Saliba, Gabrielle, Zubamendi, Hincapie, Trossard, Timber, and Odegaard. Now, if all of those players are actually injured, Arsenal are screwed as that is most of the starting eleven and some key reserves along with Mikel Merino who we know will be missing through through April at least. The good news is that Odegaard, Rice, Saka, Zubamendi, Saliba, and Gabriel at least are more their international managers wanting to give them a rest knowing that it is more important for them to be rested for the run-in and not completely burnt out heading into the World Cup. What’s Next? The injury situation is where Arsenal’s good fortune in their cup competitions will help them. The next two matches on their agenda are Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup this Saturday and Sporting Lisbon in midweek. Both matches are on the road but Arsenal should be favored even if they don’t have access to their entire first choice eleven. A line-up of Raya, Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel, Califiore, Zubamendi, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, and Gyokeres against Sporting with a few reserves like Norgaard, Havertz, or Dowman sprinkled in against Southampton should get the job done while a few of the others who actually sustained injuries are given a little extra time to recover. The big matches will come mid-month when the Premier League resumes with Bournemouth at the Emirates and a trip to Manchester City on either side of the home leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Lisbon. The Women Are Technically Still Alive in Three Competitions Like the men, the Arsenal women are alive in the FA Cup, the WSL, and the Champions League. The only difference is that the WSL title is pretty close to out of reach. The FA Cup and the Champions League are still very much on the table. The second half of the WSL season has gone much better for Arsenal than the first half did. They haven’t dropped points in the league since the nil-nil draw with Manchester United on January 10th. Dropped points against the Red Devils (two nil-nil draws), Tottenham (nil-nil in November), and a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa in September are what held them back along with Manchester City setting a pace that allowed no faltering. Going one win and one loss against City and Chelsea is reasonable. Even dropping points in at least one match with United is reasonable. The dropped points against Spurs, who are better this season but shouldn’t be at Arsenal’s level, and Villa, who are just mediocre couldn’t happen this season if the Gunners expected to be in the WSL race until the end. Where will they finish? They currently sit 3rd, 11 points behind City and 2 points behind Chelsea, with two matches in hand (both of which they should win given the opposition). The top three finishers qualify for next season’s Champions League so even if they are highly unlikely to win the title, they should easily achieve their secondary goal from the league of staying in Europe’s biggest competition. The Cups Even with the league trophy not likely to be coming their way, the FA Cup and the Champions League are still very much available to be had. There isn’t a great deal to say about the FA Cup yet. The quarterfinals are coming up this weekend with Arsenal given the relatively easy draw of Brighton and Hove Albion. Chelsea against Tottenham, Manchester City against Birmingham City, and Liverpool against Charlton Athletic make up the other three quarterfinal match-ups with City, Arsenal, and Chelsea heavily favored to move on. All three will be hoping to draw the winner of Liverpool and Charlton in the semi-final. The Champions League will present a little more of a challenge at the next hurdle. Arsenal finished off Chelsea 3-2 on aggregate despite losing the return leg 1-0. Next up is Lyon who beat Arsenal 2-1 in the group stage in September. I can’t say I have followed Lyon closely this season but over time they have been one of the best women’s sides in the world and they beat Arsenal 2-1 in the group stages in September. Arsenal are certainly playing better now than they were in September but there won’t be anything easy about repeating their Champions League title. If they can clear the Lyon hurdle in the semi-finals, they will face the winner of the other semi-final between Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Bayern also beat Arsenal by a goal (3-2) in the group stages so they won’t be a pushover. Barcelona and the Gunners haven’t reprised their Champions League final yet this season but Barca are coming off a 12-2 aggregate drubbing of Spanish rivals Real Madrid in the quarterfinals and are generally thought to be the best women’s side in the world. Down the Stretch What a great time to be an Arsenal supporter! Both the men’s and women’s sides are competing on multiple fronts and it would be shocking if they didn’t come away with more silverware to add to the Champions League and Club World Cup titles the women have secured in the past year. The next two months won’t be easy on the blood pressure and may require some hard decisions between work obligations and watching mid-week afternoon matches but what a blast it will be.

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