After a surprise defeat to Southampton - a team competing for promotion in the Championship - Arsenal is forced to quickly regain focus on two important arenas: the Champions League and the Premier League.
The Gunners" will travel to Lisbon to face Sporting CP in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, with the goal of creating an advantage before returning to their home ground Emirates.
Coach Mikel Arteta's team will also return to the Premier League this weekend, for the first time since March 14, when hosting Bournemouth at the Emirates. Arsenal is still holding the leading position in the championship race, although Manchester City is closely following after the victory in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
In theory, Arsenal only needs to add 15 points - equivalent to 5 consecutive wins - to be crowned. The North London team currently has 70 points after 31 matches, while Man City is ranked second with 61 points but has played one match less.
This means The Gunners can finish the season with 91 points if they win all remaining matches, while Man City's maximum is 85 points. A major turning point could come in the direct confrontation at the Etihad on April 19 - a match that is decisive for the race's situation.
Even if they lose, Arsenal still maintains a certain advantage when the gap may be 6 points, even though Man City still has one match to play. However, psychological and motivational factors will certainly be affected, especially in the context of the recent performance of the two teams being opposite.
Conversely, if they win at the Etihad, Arsenal can completely win early on May 9 when playing away against West Ham. To realize this scenario, they need to overcome Newcastle and Fulham at home, thereby maintaining a maximum winning streak before the decisive match.
In case the two teams draw, Arsenal can still get closer to the championship if they continue to beat Burnley and previous matches. Although Man City still has a postponed match with Crystal Palace at the end of the season, they still have to face many difficult away games such as against Chelsea, Everton and Bournemouth, and the match against Aston Villa in the final round.
Meanwhile, Arsenal's remaining schedule is considered more favorable, as they will host Burnley - a team likely to be relegated - before closing the season with a away match against Crystal Palace.
According to data from Opta, Arsenal's championship chances are currently up to 97.42%.
Instead of panicking, find out why it happened and find a solution. There will always be a question mark and that's it. You have to live every moment fully, have to dedicate yourself every day.
Let's objectively look at the difficulty of what we have gone through so far. Then, feel that pain, feel that emotion and use it to become better and more progressive" - Arteta said before the match against Sporting.
