Going by Arsene Wenger's selection for the Saturday's game against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal seems to think their chances of getting to the Champions League Final and winning it is more realistic than winning the premier league title now. Emmanuel Adebayor was rested for a greater duration of the game which ended 1-1 after Peter Crouch found the back of the net to put Liverpool ahead and a Bretdner strike that could only rescue a point for the once table toppers.
Adebayor really must be in a good shape for the Gunners to get anything out of the Tuesday trip to Anfield else, I see no reason why an out-of-form Robin Van Persie should be paired with an inexperienced Theo Walcot against a crack team like Liverpool. With the 1-1 draw, Arsenal seems to have finally conceded the title to Manchester United.
It is really sad that the season seems to be crashing at these young Gunners at this time after a very impressive first half and will be a pity if they fail to capture at least a title.
But what are their chances of a title this season? Presently apart from Emmanuel Adebayor slowing down, the defense will be the major department of the team that could make or mar Arsenal's hope of a title this season. At the moment only Senderous and Clichy seem to have the right focus to help the team and apart from an occasional William Gallas goal scoring spells, nothing else is really inspiring about the Arsenal last four. Kolo Toure and Gallas have become a shadow of themselves having so much problem holding back opposing strikers especially in aerial balls and understanding each other. Their lack of coordination has seen Arsenal concede some very bad goals resulting in 6 draws, a lose and just one win in the last 8 premier league games. With Bacary Sagna set to be out for another 2 weeks and Djouru still out the manager will have to continue with this four and to me this is where the problem lies.
For Arsenal to move to the next stage of this Champions League and further brighten a title hope, they need to at least score a goal at Anfield without conceding any. My doubt is not in whether they will score but whether they can avoid conceding a goal. They seem to have forgotten how not to concede.
