Match Preview: Arsenal vs. West Brom – Premier League 04.05.2014

By the time kick-off rolls around on Sunday, we may very well have already qualified for the Champions League. We need just three points from our remaining two matches to exceed Everton’s potential haul, and should they lose to title-chasing Man City on Saturday fourth is ours. There’s still a faint glimmer that we could climb as high as third, but as this depends in part on Man City losing, we may as well set our sights on finishing fourth.

First step, then, is to take care of our own business and let other chips elsewhere fall where they may. We earned St. Totteringham’s Day last matchday, and I’d rather we earn fourth as well, rather than have it gifted to us through an Everton loss. I don’t think West Brom will make it easy for us to do that, though, as they have held us to two draws already—one in the league cup—at a time when we were otherwise playing quite well. On top of this, they are still fighting to stave off relegation. With three matches left for them, they’re only four points above the drop-zone. Whereas we might look to the match with something of a blasé attitude, West Brom are looking scrappy, having won three and drawn two from their last ten, and are playing with a different spirit since Pepe Mel took over in January.

The form we’re in lately though suggests that there may be little that the Baggies can do to slow us. We’ve reeled off four consecutive wins, something we haven’t done since January, and rather than seeing the wounded stumble and fall, we’re looking to reinforcements arriving. The returns of Ramsey and Özil, of course, have added creativity and verve to a side that was looked jaded, weary, and bereft. Since their returns, we’ve bagged nine goals in three matches, all wins, and have scored inside the first half-hour in our last two. Elsewhere, Podolski has found the kind of form to make him Player of the Month for April, and we’re seeing the kind of flowing, attacking football that sent us to the top of the Prem for most of the season. Knowing that a win would sew up fourth place (if it hasn’t fallen in our laps already) should offer plenty of motivation, especially contrasted against the Baggies’ suspicion that their best chance for the points they need may lie elsewhere.

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