Arsenal finally have title momentum with them - here’s why their next 11 games are now key | OneFootball

Man City win must be the start of a long winning run before title showdown with Liverpool at Anfield in May

Manchester City’s players would have heard it all; the Emirates in its most potent voice all season, the stadium DJ in the most mischievous of full-time moods and the music still booming from the home dressing room and its celebrations as they slumped onto the bus for what must’ve been one of the quieter return journeys north.

For Arsenal, this was an afternoon almost unbelievably neat in its perfection, capped with goals from academy graduates, an under-fire striker and a cathartic giddiness that a long-time tormentor could be put away with such aplomb.

And among the quieter products of Arsenal’s noisiest victory for some time, note, too, that they are now unbeaten in 14 Premier League matches, their longest such streak since Mikel Arteta took charge.

Arsenal are now unbeaten in 14 Premier League matches, their longest such streak since Mikel Arteta ook charge.

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If that is feels surprising then perhaps it is because that run has been littered with draws that felt like defeats, with leads surrendered against Brighton, Aston Villa and Chelsea, and a goalless draw at an Everton side yet to be lifted by David Moyes.

There have been too many missed opportunities, failures to capitalise on dropped Liverpool points, and too many niggling setbacks that have dominated the narrative, from cup defeats, to injuries, to more run-ins with referees.

And so, despite not having lost a league game in fully three months now, seldom has it felt like Arsenal have had any serious momentum behind them - perhaps until now.

Dubai beckons, for a mid-season break that has become almost mythical in its powers of revitalisation.

First, there is a chance - albeit a slim one - to book a Carabao Cup Final place with a turnaround at Newcastle that would perhaps do even more for belief than Sunday’s City win.

While the lack of January additions and, in particular, the lack of a clinical edge up top remain the chief obstacles to success this term, there is a sense that elsewhere things are starting to come back together, having fallen below old standards in the first half of the campaign.

The back-four looks settled for the first time in months, thanks largely to Myles Lewis-Skelly’s emergence.

There is a sense that things are starting to come together for Arsenal as they bid to hunt down leaders Liverpool

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The first-choice midfield from last season has been reformed and rebalanced, with Declan Rice back to his best after a prolonged slow start to the campaign and Thomas Partey less often needed at full-back.

Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, while not pulling up trees, appear to have emerged from the depths of their respective slumps, while Ethan Nwaneri looks a genuine alternative now.

With each passing week, Bukayo Saka gets closer to a return.

If there is to be any chance of hauling in Liverpool, then this must prove the moment the chase really began.

Arsenal need one of the kind of epic runs City have tended to produce rounding the turn, the kind that makes the leaders uneasy, the hunter on their heels and refusing to go away.

They managed it last season, winning 16 and drawing once, against City, in their final 18 games and still it wasn’t enough.

Of course, something similar might not be this time either.

But there are 14 games to go this season and all focus must be on the 11 the Gunners play between now and going to Anfield in early May.

Such is Liverpool’s lead that it is difficult to see how Arteta might get his hands on the trophy without winning on Merseyside; they must make sure they go there within striking range.