‘Arsenal will drop too many points to make top four’ – Champions League out of reach, says Winterburn

Arsenal will drop too many points to secure a top-four finish in 2020-21, says Nigel Winterburn, with Mikel Arteta being warned that his side will once again be left playing catch-up in the Premier League.

The Gunners have already slipped into the bottom half of the table this season. Nine points have been taken from a possible 18 in six games so far, with inconsistency proving to be an all too familiar problem for the Emirates Stadium team.

Time is still on Arsenal’s side, with few sides yet to hit their stride, but momentum needs to be established if Champions League qualification is to be chased down.

Winterburn fears that the Gunners will be unable to string together the results required to compete with the elite, with another campaign of frustration seemingly on the cards in north London.

The former Arsenal full-back told FreeSuperTips: “The first 10 games always give a good idea of where Arsenal will finish. They would like to go into the last few games of the season having a chance to be in the top four.

“Losing three of their first six games is not ideal and other teams are looking far better at this moment in time, with Arsenal already having to play catch-up.

“This is the strangest season I can remember for a long time; the league is so congested and there isn’t a dominant team so far.

“We will know halfway through the season where Arsenal will likely end up, but as a fan I do hope that come the end of the season they have a real chance of finishing in the top four. However, on current form and the way the team is playing, I don’t see that happening and we will drop too many points and the better teams will pull away from the rest.” 

Arsenal opened the season with back-to-back wins in the Premier League, and four consecutive triumphs across all competitions, but have failed to replicate those efforts since.

A 1-0 defeat to Leicester was suffered in their last domestic outing, before easing past Dundalk in the Europa League, and Arteta will be desperate to see his side find a spark when they travel to Old Trafford on Sunday for a meeting with Manchester United.