Road to nowhere - Arsenal slip up away from home once again as bogey side Bolton dent top four chances

The north London side are yet to win in 2012, having lost their first three matches and drawn their fourth since the turn of the year in what is an alarming set of circumstances for a team that expected qualification for Europe’s most coveted competition as a given.

Losses against Fulham, Swansea City and Manchester United have dented their chances of moving up the ranks to a top-four finish, but their away record cannot be ignored as the catalyst for the Gunners’ current plight, having won just four of their 12 matches on their travels and losing six in the process.

Arsenal’s away stats should be a clear warning sign of how bad their floundering season could amount to, the numbers showing that the Gunners would sit in 10th place on par with Stoke City - a side known for struggling away from home in comparison to in front of their own fans - if the league was based solely on results on the road, with just 14 points from 12 games.

THE BIG SIX AWAY FROM HOME
Team Man Utd Man City Chelsea Tottenham Liverpool Arsenal	Played 11 12 12 11 12 12	Points 26 21 20 20 19 14	Ranking 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 10th

Arsenal looked too hasty to try and get their goals against the Trotters, feeling that they needed to put the game beyond the hosts as quickly as humanly possible, but such an outlook saw them abandon the need to take their time and assess the options around them.

Too many times have the Gunners been guilty of trying to play up to their standards of slick, attractive football and score the perfect goal which is a system that in practice rarely comes to fruition as by now they should realise.

Sitting currently in seventh, Arsenal find themselves five points adrift of fourth placed Chelsea and the Reds’ ailing away record could easily make the difference between qualifying for the Champions League, Europa League or even failing to get a place in European competition for the first time since 1995 after finishing the season in 12th.

The rest of the big six all find themselves filling the top five positions in a table made up strictly of just away results this season and Arsene Wenger’s men would be currently five points off the nearest elite team, Liverpool, who would be fifth.

Old foes Manchester United would be storming away at the top with 26 points having lost just once on their travels, having taken eight victories from 11 games.

This confidence away from home obviously has its gleaming benefits, of which Arsenal are enjoying none of right now. The Gunners have not found themselves in a similar position since 1996, in a season where they eventually finished outside of the top-four in fifth and a comparable trajectory seems highly likely right now.

Arsenal face Blackburn Rovers at home this weekend and most would expect the fixture to offer some light relief from the strain the club are currently feeling and see them get their first win in 2012.

However, their record away cannot be overlooked and it is a treacherous path which looks likely to lead to a first season without Champions League football in 16 years.