Arsenal Legend: Pivotal Week Will Define Gunners’ Campaign

Arsenal legend Ray Parlour says a pivotal week is approaching…

Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour believes the race for the top-four isn’t over yet despite the Gunners’ blip in form which has seen Spurs leapfrog them in fourth place, The Evening Standard reports.

Back-to-back losses in the Premier League, for the first time since December, have seen Antonio Conte’s men go three points clear in the race for the Champions League.

However, with Arsenal having played a game less and the two sides set to meet next month, Parlour believes Mikel Arteta’s side’s chances will be shaped by the pivotal week on the horizon.

A trip to Southampton awaits the team on Saturday before three fixtures in succession against teams fighting for European qualification.

We travel to Stamford Bridge next week for that all-important ‘game in hand’ as we look to reproduce our heroics there last season.

Then, Manchester United visit the Emirates Stadium with just three points separating us at the moment before Arteta takes the team to the London Stadium to take on West Ham United.

“It’s been a bad week for Arsenal and being an Arsenal fan – but look, they’ve got a chance. Look at the table, they’ve got a game in hand,” Parlour was quoted as saying.

“Whether they’re good enough, I don’t know, we’ll see what happens. They’ve got Chelsea coming up, some big, big games.

“I think that week where they’ve got Chelsea, Man United and West Ham, they’ve got to probably get seven points out of those games probably, to give them a chance. Whether that’s going to happen, we’ll wait and see.”

One would imagine that, at some points, Spurs will drop points too – but the question is whether or not we’re in a position to take advantage.