Strong possibility that Arsenal could finish outside the top four

Arsenal ended an inconsistent 2017 with a constroversial 1-1 at West
Brom in the last Premier League match of year just gone by.

That draw meant that Arsene Wenger's side have failed to win
back-to-back away Premier League match this season. They only have
just three away win all season. Which came against Crystal Palace,
Burnley and Everton.

Arsenal's away form this season mirrors the theme of the 2017 calender
year which was mired by bouts of inconsistencies. The club suffered
the most defeat in a calender year under Wenger's reign for the first
time.

Without the eight wins from 10 home games this season, which have help
birth a return of 38 points, the situation could be a lot worse than
it is now.

That 38 points is only good enough for fifth position at the moment,
with Liverpool in 4th place on 44 points having played a game more.
The other contender for the top four, Tottenham, are on 37 points,
having played a game or two less depending on the teams.

Now when the form of the other contenders are compared to Arsenal,
there is real likelihood that Arsenal could be in danger of finishing
outside the top four for a second season running.

Arsenal have just two wins from their last seven Premier League
matches. And from a possible 21 points, they have garnered a poor
return of 10 points, dropping aways 11 points in that time. And to
make matters worse for Wenger, those matches came against teams they
were expected to beat. The likes of West Ham, Southampton and West
Brom. Which all ended in draws.

It doesn't matter the team Arsenal are up against in the league, once
the match is outside the Emirates, the team has struggled to produce
consistently on the road this season. A return of just three wins from
eleven away matches is hugely poor return for a club the status of
Arsenal.

Besides, the inconsistent away form this season, the inability of the
team to produce any semblance of a fluent display this season on the
road is another characteristic of what has been another poor domestic
campaign for the Gunners.

If the race to finish in the top four was down to the traditional four
teams of the past, there would have been few concerns that Arsenal
wouldn't finish within that bracket at the end of the season. But with
the teams that fight for a top four finish now as strong as six,
Arsenal could potentially suffer the risk of sitting out for another
year. The position is effectively down to just three positions, as
Manchester City have effectively sealed qualification for the
Champions League next season.

After Wednesday's match against Chelsea, there would be just 16
Premier League matches left this season. What this means, is that If
Arsenal's away form doesn't improve, the club should start bracing
itself for another year without Champions League football.

There is no guarantee that the home form that has accounted for eight
wins from 10 games would continue, especially with games against
Chelsea and Manchester City still to come. They still have to visit
Old Trafford and Wembley to play Manchester United and Tottenham
respectively.

With the form Liverpool are in and having strengthened with the
signing of Virgil, there have only increased the possibility of
finishing the season with a flourish.

Arsenal have already played a direct rival for the top four race in
Liverpool twice, taking just one point from a possible six. They still
have to play Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United and Manchester
City, starting with the former. Taking point off their direct rival
would boost their chances of a top four finish, but it is the
performance against the less endowed teams that would determine
Arsenal's position at the end of the season, yet the evidence of that
so far as been very poor.

Liverpool agree £75m fee for Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk

Liverpool have reached an agreement with Southampton over the signing of defender, Virgil van Dijk both clubs have announced. The fee is thought to be £75m, which would trump the previous amount ever paid for a central defender.

The 26 year old was at the centre of a disagreement between both clubs in the summer which resulted in Liverpool being reported to the Premier League by Southampton for an illegal approach.

The transfer which is expected to be sealed on January 1st, continues a trend that have seen several players from Southampton move to Liverpool over the years.

Virgil van Dijk would be a quality addition to a Liverpool defence that is known more for their inability to defend than for their attacking talents which continues to deliver the goods.

With a part of the jigsaw now complete, those of Liverpool persuasion would be looking forward to an improvement on the club's other grey area which the goalkeeping position. Where the Merseyside's two major players between the stick have repeatedly failed to impress.

Arsenal v Liverpool Teams: Maitaland-Niles in for Kolasinac, Salah, Mane, Firmino & Coutinho starts

Arsenal are unchanged for the visit of Liverpool as they bid to go
over the Reds in the race for a top four finish. Arsene Wenger sticks
with the same team that defeated Newcastle United with Maitland-Niles
retaining his place at left back over Sead Kolasinac.

Liverpool have the attacking quartet of Coutinho, Salah, Firmino and
Mane in their line-up.

Full Teams

Arsenal:

Cech, Bellerin, Koscielny, Monreal, Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Wilshere,
Iwobi, Ozil, Alexis, Lacazette

Subs: Ospina, Mustafi, Coquelin, Elneny, Kolasinac, Welbeck, Walcott

Liverpool:

Mignolet, Gomez, Klavan, Lovren, Robertson, Henderson, Can, Coutinho,
Mane, Salah, Firmino.

Subs: Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain,
Wijnaldum, Milner, Solanke.

Chelsea v Southampton Teams: Morata on the bench, Moses starts

Alvaro Morata returns for Chelsea, but the Spain international starts
on the bench after his return from injury.

Chelsea

Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Bakayoko,
Alonso; Willian, Hazard, Pedro

Subs: Wilfredo Caballero, Antonio Ruediger, Cesc Fabregas, Danny
Drinkwater, Alvaro Morata, Davide Zappacosta, Michy Batshuayi

Southampton:

Forster, Cédric, Hoedt, Yoshida, Stephens, Bertrand, Romeu,
Ward-Prowse, Højbjerg, Redmond, Gabbiadini

Subs: Steven Davis, Charlie Austin, Dusan Tadic, Alex McCarthy, Virgil
van Dijk, Mario Lemina, Sofiane Boufal

Arsenal v Newcastle Utd Teams: Wilshere, Niles and Lacazette starts

Arsene Wenger makes just one change from the team that played out an
insipid draw with West Ham United on Wednesday. Alexandre Lacazette
starts in place of Oliver Giroud.

Full Teams

Arsenal:

Cech; Bellerín, Koscielny, Monreal, Maitland-Niles; Iwobi, Xhaka,
Wilshere; Özil, Alexis; Lacazette

Subs: Ospina, Chambers, Kolasinac, Coquelin, Elneny, Welbeck, Giroud

Newcastle Utd:

Joselu, Ayoze Perez, JacobMurphy,
Mikel Merino, Isaac Hayden, Christian Atsu, Javier Manquillo, Florian
Lejeune, Jamaal Lascelles, DeAndre Yedlin, Robert Elliot

Chelsea stood the best chance to challenge Manchester City but for a botched summer

The wheels of Chelsea's title defence started wobbling with the opening day defeat to Burnley. That defeat was a symptom of a bad summer which has become the hallmark of the club in recent times.

But with Antonio Conte at the helm, it's rare for Chelsea to follow up a disappointing result with another. Setbacks are always quickly addressed in the following fixture since the Italian took over. So it's little wonder that, that opening day defeat was followed by an efficient 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur at the Wembley Stadium.

As Manchester City continue to run away with the title with 16 wins from its opening 17 league matches, the chasing pack have struggled to stay in touch with the Etihad outfit. The Premier League Champions are 14 points behind the league leaders going into Week 18 of the Premier League.
While Chelsea have suffered further defeats to West Ham, Crystal Palace and the aforementioned Manchester City, Pep Guardiola's side are still undefeated.

Chelsea's summer business didn't summarily weaken the team in the real sense of the word. Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Antonio Rudiger were direct replacements for Diego Costa, Matic and John Terry.

Whether the new arrivals were improvements on the departures is a subjective matter especially as it relate to the former two. Where the club missed it was the number of players brought in. The depth of the squad was a question last season, but it wasn't obvious because of the lack of European football. But the foray into the Champions League this season has exposed the serious lack of depth at Antonio Conte's disposal.

The squad struggles to essentially put together two committed displays in a one week as reflected by the pattern of their league defeats this season.
The defeat to Manchester City came after the solid win over Atletico Madrid in Spain. While the defeat to West Ham came after the draw against Atletico at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have what could best be described as the next best thing after Manchester City's Pep Guardiola in Antonio Conte, but the way both clubs supported their managers in the last transfer window is a reflection of the priorities of the club.

While, Manchester City have a clear plan to rub shoulders with the top echelons of clubs in European football, the same cannot confidently be said of Chelsea. Whose reluctance to back their manager in the transfer market masks a trail that has continued to unfold after each title win. Little wonder that Chelsea's title defence like the last under Jose Mourinho has ended ingloriously.

It remains to be seen how Chelsea juggle the run in between now and the round of 16 meeting with Barcelona in February 2018 in the Champions League. But, one thing is clear, Chelsea are unlikely to suffer further set backs in the league with European football now on break until next year.

Chelsea's title challenge hasn't gone smoothly due to a poor summer. In time past, this could have been addressed in the January transfer window with enough room to make up the deficit. But Manchester City's steamroller has likely put paid to that in terms of it having an effect on a title challenge.

Ramsey and Mustafi out of West Ham tie

Aaron Ramsey and Mustafi have been ruled out of the West Ham tie slated for Wednesday. The former picked up a hamstring injury in the game against Southampton while the latter injured his tight in the defeat against Manchester United at the Emirates.

Arsene Wenger confirmed that Ramsey's injury is a small one. While Mustafi has started running, but he is not fully fit yet.

The Frenchuman would now have to decide between Jack Wilshere, and MO Elneny as possible replacement for Aaron Ramsey.

Arsenal lie fifth in the table with 29 points as they look to get back to winning ways against a resurgent West Ham United.