Arsenal might not wish to help Tottenham Hotspur stay in the Premier League but relegating West Ham after two-year-old chants would be a welcome alternative prize
Arsenal enjoyed a brilliant weekend as they put three goals past Fulham to put a six-point gap between themselves and Manchester City. At least until Pep Guardiola’s side travels to Everton on Monday evening.
The Gunners could win all three of their remaining games and still not win the league. Both they and City have the title in their hands, and it could come down to goal difference.
Next up for Arsenal, however, is West Ham United, who endured a horrible weekend. Not only did Leeds United all but confirm survival, but their main competitors, who they must come above to secure safety, Tottenham Hotspur, got a strong win at Aston Villa.
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Having lost 3-0 to Brentford, this plummeted the Irons into the bottom three. From an Arsenal perspective, whether supporters hope Spurs go down or stay up is genuinely a debate.
Some would love to see their bitterest of rivals drop into the second tier, while others say the North London Derby’s absence and near-guarantee of six points of late would be missed. Opta suggests that Spurs are just 20.73% likely to go down, while the Hammers are 76.77% likely.
This brings us to Sunday, when Arsenal will have played after both of City’s games away at Everton and at home to Brentford, and so theoretically the points could be level before kick-off in east London. Equally, Arsenal might yet be in their second UEFA Champions League final ever, so the mood will hopefully be buoyant.
There should be no greater motivation to beat your opponent than the chance of winning a Premier League title, and there isn’t. Regardless of the favour it would give Tottenham, it should not matter.
But, and there is a but. If Arsenal fans wanted any more motivation to enjoy a win over West Ham, they might wish to cast their minds back nearly two years.
On the final day of the 2023/24 season, Arsenal were at home to Everton and won. They had to win to keep their hopes of winning the league alive, but the damage had already been done; losing to Aston Villa weeks earlier gave City the points advantage.
City comfortably beat West Ham on the final day, and their fans celebrated with the trophy. But, in the aftermath, videos began to circulate of West Ham fans revelling in their own team’s defeat.
Chants of, “Are you watching, are you watching, are you watching, Declan Rice? Are you watching, Declan Rice?”
Or, “When Arsenal f***** it up!” And so on and so forth, you get the idea. In every meeting, it is almost guaranteed that "You should have signed for a big club" is also targeted at Rice.
So while sending Spurs down might’ve been fun, take heart Arsenal supporters, there is plenty of joy of perhaps relegating yet another London side who celebrate their own team being beaten.