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Arsenal’s record goalscorer on Tuesday night foretold the fixtures that may make or break his old club’s push for a first league title since 2004.
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry believes Mikel Arteta’s men have what it takes to win the Premier League title for the first time since the Gunners’ Invincibles 2003-04 campaign.
The retired centre-forward, working as a pundit on CBS’ Champions League programme, said Arsenal have a chance if they succeed on the road.
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What Thierry Henry said about Arsenal
Henry admitted his surprise at Arsenal’s dominant 6-0 win at West Ham United, ending the Hammers’ three-month undefeated run at the London Stadium in all competitions, spanning 10 games. The 46-year-old considers Arsenal’s final five away games vital if Arteta’s third-placed team are to end a 20-year wait for a Premier League crown.
“Well, when you are third, you don’t feel comfortable, the only thing I will say, I wasn’t so much surprised about the result against Burnley – not having a go at Burnley, I was more surprised with the win at West Ham, especially the way they played,” said the Arsenal legend on CBS. “They knocked us out in the Carabao Cup, they beat us at home, so I thought that was going to be a very difficult game and we went and won there 6-0 and you beat Burnley 5-0.
“The games away from home, the last five games away from home, will decide the title for us at Arsenal.”
Henry mentioned how observers wrongly diagnosed Arsenal’s previous goalscoring problems, insisting the forwards just needed better execution of chances, underscored by the Gunners scoring 21 times in their last five Premier League matches.
“Where I’m kind of happy, I mentioned it before, the front three not scoring enough goals, and people jumped straight away on the bandwagon of saying they need a striker,” asserted the Arsenal record goalscorer. “They needed to finish their opportunities, because they have so many opportunities, and I can show you games where they have way easier chances than the ones they scored recently.
“But they didn’t put the ball into the back of the net, and when we are in a situation when we create chances and put the ball in the back of the net, even playing without Gabriel Jesus, we can be very difficult to beat.”
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Which teams do Arsenal face in their final five away Premier League games?
Arsenal, who have played 25 Premier League fixtures, still have to visit six opponents in the title run-in, with a trip to relegation-threatened Sheffield United on March 4 as their next road game.
Subsequently, Henry’s former side tussle with Manchester City at the end of March, before trips to Brighton and Hove Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers on April 6 and 20, respectively. Following those fixtures are the North London Derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to close out April, with Arteta's troops to travel to Manchester United on May 11 for their final away game of the 2023-24 season at Old Trafford.
Arsenal face European exertions this week, in which they battle Porto at Estadio do Dragao on Wednesday night in the Champions League.
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