WE’RE DONE
In the buildup to Arsenal’s trip to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, with his side trailing Liverpool by 11 points, Mikel Arteta was repeatedly prodded with metaphorical sticks by interrogators hoping he would publicly concede that what passed for the title race was over. It was no great surprise that he refused to do so, even if what passed for the title race was clearly over. “Mathematically, it’s possible,” he said of Arsenal’s Hollywood-actor-on-Ozempic slim chances of reeling in Liverpool … and that was before his team fell two further points behind Arne Slot’s side in the title race after failing to beat Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
While the good news for the Spaniard is that it remains mathematically possible for Arsenal to win the title, it is becoming increasingly improbable with each passing match. Working on what currently looks an entirely misguided presumption that Arsenal will throw caution to the wind, stick a free-scoring Gunnersaurus up front and win all their remaining games, Liverpool can still win the title with three games to spare. As luck would have it, the first of those three dead rubbers would be against – you’ve guessed it – Arsenal, whose players would at least get to applaud the new champions out on to the Anfield sward and experience first hand what it feels like to play in a stadium packed to the rafters with delirious fans whose team has just won the Premier League title. Arteta might be better advised to look down rather than up mind, as even a thicko like Football Daily can tell that on current form, the possibility of his side failing to qualify for next season’s Bigger Cup is far greater than that of them catching Liverpool, whose manager also wisely refused to acknowledge the title race is over as a meaningful contest.
“I don’t know because I don’t think that way,” said Slot, following his side’s fairly tranquil home victory over an Alexander Isak-less Newcastle side who haven’t won at Anfield since the Jurassic era. “I think about Paris Saint-Germain already,” he added, quickly changing the subject to the first leg of next week’s Bigger Cup game against a team who also enjoy a 13-point lead at the top of their table in a competition many English pundits have been known to sniffily dismiss as an uncompetitive Farmers’ League. Meanwhile in another maligned and nearby championship, runaway leaders Celtic also lead their nearest rivals by 13 points, in a state of affairs that is bound to prompt horrified speculation in some quarters that the so-called Best League In The World™ is actually becoming no more competitive than the Scottish Premiership.
LIVERPOOL SACK MANAGER!
… but it’s not Arne.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Rob Smyth from 8pm GMT for hot Premier League minute-by-minute coverage of West Ham 3-1 Leicester City.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If I have one message to our president, it’s lay off the ridiculous rhetoric about Canada being the 51st state. As an American, I’m ashamed of the arrogance and disregard that we’ve shown one of our historically oldest, strongest and most loyal allies” – Jesse Marsch digs out USA USA USA president Donald Trump over recent comments about the nation of his current employers. Roll on the Concacaf Nations League finals next month and a possible match-up.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
I too would like to jump on the Tottenham Hotspur nomenclature bandwagon (Football Daily letters passim) and insist that all future mentions of Grafarvogur’s finest include their full name – Ungmennafelagio Fjolnir – as they list towards a mid-table or potential playoff spot in the Icelandic second tier. The first league game, against Knattspyrnudeild Keflavík, is not until 2 May. So, plenty of time for your scribes to prepare” – David Scott.
Alongside Dan Davis’ excellent list of happenings in response to your ‘Beyond wars, what story from the 20th century was bigger than the sinking of the Titanic?’ (yesterday’s Football Daily letters), I’d like to add Micah Richards” – Roger Warner.
Send letters to [email protected]. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … David Scott, who gets some Football Weekly merch. We’ll be in touch. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
The Football Weekly Extra podcast is here for you.
-
This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version,just visit this page and follow the instructions.
Source: theguardian.com
