Stan Collymore has said that it would be nothing short of a complete ‘catastrophe’ if Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League this season.
The Gunners have an eight-point cushion at the top of the Premier League table.
But Manchester City can shorten the deficit to five by winning away to Chelsea this evening.
Arsenal boast an 11-point cushion to fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, meaning that Mikel Arteta’s side absolutely get back into the top four this season.
The North Londoners haven’t finished in the Premier League’s top four since coming runner-up to Leicester City in 2016.
Collymore told Caught Offside: “We’re not just talking about Arsenal upsetting the usual top four suspects, obviously, it’d be a catastrophe if they didn’t finish inside the top four now, but there could be two or three other teams that should and don’t qualify for the Champions League.”
Collymore is right and even the most pessimistic of Arsenal supporter surely can’t imagine going from being bonafide Premier League challengers, to finishing outside the top four.
Then again, anything is possible.
Arteta is already missing Gabriel Jesus, something they have coped relatively well with so far, but more injuries and the Spanish manager might find points are harder to come by, relative to their rivals.
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