A nightmare end to the season for Arsenal could see them finish the Premier League just outside of fourth position regardless of the result when they host Everton on Saturday.
Just over a week ago the Gunners had a golden opportunity to make sure of a fourth-place finish in the Premier League (and a coveted Champions League berth) when they took on Tottenham Hotspur.
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Prior to that clash, a surge from Arsenal had enabled Mikel Arteta’s team to move four points clear of Tottenham. Yet, in a dramatic turn of events, the Gunners have since suffered back-to-back defeats against Spurs and 12th-placed Newcastle.
“Newcastle were 10 times better than us and the performance was nowhere near what we need to play in the Champions League,” under-fire Arteta commented after the most recent loss. “We weren’t at the races.”
Those two disappointing results for Arsenal have enabled Tottenham to leapfrog into fourth place, two points ahead of their North London rivals. To make matters worse for Arteta and Co., Spurs will be expected to claim a comfortable win over bottom-placed Norwich on Sunday.
Unless, there is some minor miracle, Arsenal will be left to rue what could have been, while there will be a real sense of disappointment as they prepare to face Everton now that they’re no longer in control of their own fate.
As it is, the Gunners have lost their last three Premier League games against Everton, although they are notably unbeaten in their final league game in each of the last 16 seasons (W14; D2).
Arteta will face a big task to ensure his team retains some belief that anything could be possible on the final day of the season, and he will be desperately hoping for another inspirational performance from youngster Martin Odegaard, who has created more chances in the Premier League than any other Arsenal player this season (72).
This is the third time Arsenal and Everton have met on the final day of a Premier League season, with the Gunners winning the previous two: 4-3 in 2001-02 and 3-1 in 2016-17.
Ultimately, the Gunners should be expected to come away with victory once again, but it’s likely to be too little, too late, in terms of securing their highest Premier League finish (at least fourth) since the 2015-16 campaign.