5 things that have gone wrong with Arsenal's season

#4 They’ve had poor results in the big games

Liverpool hammered Arsenal 4-0 earlier in the season

It has become painfully clear in 2017/18 that there’s a gulf in class in the Premier League between the so-called “big six” – that being Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal – and the rest of the teams in the competition.

While all of the Premier League’s teams are capable of beating anyone on their best day, this gulf means that the results from games within the big six are more important than ever. At the very top of the league, it could well be the case that these games are the ones that decide where the title goes or who gets that all-important Champions League spot.

In these games, then, it’s clear from the results thus far that Arsenal are falling way short. Against their fellow big six teams, they’ve won just one game – the home fixture against Tottenham. They’ve picked up two draws with Chelsea – 2-2 at home and 0-0 away, and also drew 3-3 with Liverpool at the Emirates in one of the most exciting games this season.

But they’ve also lost to Liverpool away and to both Manchester City and United, and all three losses were damning – 4-0 against Liverpool and 3-1 in both the City and United games. Basically, Arsenal looked badly outclassed.

Picking up six points from seven games against the top six isn’t a good return at all, and if you throw in a handful of other poor results against the lower teams – losses to Watford and Stoke, and draws with Southampton and West Bromwich Albion – it all points to one conclusion – Arsenal just aren’t good enough to make the Champions League spots and they’re arguably the weakest side in the top six. It’s a pretty damning verdict on Arsene Wenger just one season after slipping from the top table in European football.