On Monday night, Tottenham Hotspur was provided a gift from Crystal Palace when The Eagles thumped Arsenal 3-0 at Selhurst Park Stadium. The result allowed Spurs to maintain their position in the top four as they hold the tiebreaker over Arsenal since they are tied with 54 points.
However, English football pundit Jamie Carragher insists that Arsenal must not panic despite the result. Furthermore, he stated that The Gunners have a good chance of finishing in the Champions League places ahead of their north London rival and Manchester United.
“It’s a bad night for Arsenal, the way they’ve lost, not just the three points,” Carragher said on Sky Sports (via Daily Mail). “But I think it’s very important that they don’t panic and there’s no hysteria.”
“They’re still in a really good position, a better position than Tottenham and Manchester United, and they’ve just won five away games on the bounce. So, you’re talking 15 out of 18 points away from home, they’d have taken that when the six games were there away from home.”
Carragher then compared Arsenal and Tottenham, adding that very little separates the two squads. However, the pundit went on to say that manager Mikel Arteta’s team might struggle to pick up points from their extra game against Chelsea.
“I think Tottenham have got the better fixtures; they’ve got Arsenal to come to their place as well,” Carragher added.
“Arsenal have got that game in hand, but you look at that game in hand; it’s actually Chelsea away. It will be difficult to see Arsenal picking up too much from that game. Maybe it is really level-pegging.”
Meanwhile, former Manchester striker Wayne Rooney also provided his thoughts on the top-four race, and Arsenal’s slip-up could prove costly and is now leaning toward Spurs finishing in the Champions League spot.
“I think it’s Arsenal or Tottenham, between the two of them. I look at Manchester United’s form of late – I don’t think they’re going to challenge for it,” Rooney said. “Tottenham have got the experience in the squad; I give them the upper hand.”