Arsenal managed to stay top of the table after a comfortable 2-0 win over Premier league strugglers Crystal Palace on Saturday. The real test for the club will be coming in the next few weeks because they will be facing the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Borussia Dortmund in successive matches. Arsene Wenger has said that this run will probably determine the rest of the season for his club. Even though Arsenal have managed to stay top of the table, there has been criticism that they have not faced any of the real title challengers up until now.
This criticism will be put to bed when they take on Chelsea in the League cup, although Chelsea manager José Mourinho has said that he will field a weakened team for this encounter. In some of the big matches that Arsenal have played, they have come second best. This was most recently in the Champions league match against Borussia Dortmund when they lost 2-1 at home to the German club. On the positive side, they have managed to win matches against Napoli and Tottenham earlier in the season.
Wenger has said that his side cannot do much other than hope to win these matches. They do not come into the matches on a good run of form.
“It is people who do not believe that we have a chance, but the only thing we can do is win our games. The only thing which is important is every win makes you a bit stronger and strengthens the belief. We have difficult games coming up, and that will be a good test, but I am confident. Crystal Palace put a shift in, they were determined to fight very hard, we needed to be patient and we were,” said Wenger after the Crystal Palace win.