Gunners facing anxious wait
Arsenal fans need to face the stark reality that their feint title hopes could be left hanging by a thread if league-leaders Leicester City manage to increase the gap between the two clubs to 11 points come Monday night. The Gunners have an FA Cup quarter-final tie to negotiate but the other 3 sides, who remain realistically involved in the title race – Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and the aforementioned Foxes, are all in Premier League action.
Spurs will expect to get back on the winning trail and put that Dortmund horror show behind them, when they travel to Villa Park to face the hapless hosts. Manchester City can put another nail in the Canaries coffin by collecting all 3 points from their visit to Carrow Road while Leicester City welcome manager-less Newcastle United in the Monday Night Football. All 3 sides have been installed as strong favourites by the bookmakers and cannot afford any slip-ups at this crucial stage of the season.
Elsewhere, Stoke City and Southampton are both eyeing ‘Top 10’ finishes while Bournemouth and Swansea City might be more than happy to settle for a point a piece as they look to secure their Premier League status for at least another season.
Optimistic Arsenal supporters might be willing to take a chance on any one of the goalkeepers facing the Big 3 this weekend, in a bid to keep their title dreams alive, factoring in that if they do manage to pull off an unlikely result, the shot-stopper in question is likely to be busy enough to pick up plenty of fantasy points from saves made in the process. Daily fantasy football operator FantasyBet have put up a weekend freeroll, covering the 5 matches, in which the winning entry will earn a ticket to next weekend’s Triple Grand contest. Newcastle stopper Rob Elliot has been priced up at £4M – could he be a Toon hero and put a dent in Claudio Ranieri’s title plans?