‘League titles are won in the last eight games, but they are lost in the first eight.’
— Pep Guardiola, 2013
A man with six league titles as manager, Pep Guardiola knows a thing or two about how to win a championship and when the crunch times are. The quote above is from his biography, and tells the story of his first season at Bayern Munich. Given we are now eight games in to the 2015/16 Premier League season, it seems a good time to assess the start of the usual title contenders.
After contrasting fortunes midweek, Arsenal and Man Utd go head-to-head in what is probably the first genuine title clash between the two giants in a long time. There was once a time when Arsenal v Man Utd meant who was going to win the title, heck in 2002 we even won the title at Old Trafford. In more recent times competition from billionaire backed Chelsea and Man City, along with transition periods at both clubs, have reduced the importance of this fixture on the league table. But ask fans of either club, and they will tell you this is not a match to take lightly.
Lucky? Probably. Important? Definitely. A point at Old Trafford should be considered a good result. After the loss to Swansea, and with third still undecided it was just as important for us to stop a Man United win, as it was to earn ourselves a point. The stats below tell the story of our improved second half, but also a team that fell short against Man United, yet again.
statisticallyarsenal 