How can Macclesfield losing to Brentford in the FA Cup deny Arsenal the Premier League title? Step this way, Gooners.<\/p>\n
\u2018PE teacher Sam Heathcote has received treatment for a knock but is good to carry on\u2019 is the sort of minute-by-minute update we\u2019re absolutely here for as football fans. A night of action against Premier League opposition followed by a morning of telling teenagers to shut the hell up and asking why they\u2019re wearing their school shoes to climb those mad ladders on the walls of the gym is the juxtaposition we\u2019re all after in the FA Cup.<\/p>\n
And the Macclesfield Town heroes offered up another opportunity to compare and contrast on Monday night, a very welcome one that we\u2019re almost as delighted to chew over as the short shrift Heathcote is set to continue to receive on Tuesday morning from the real teachers as he wonders around a field with a whistle, as they added a 427th reason why Arsenal won\u2019t win the Premier League title to the litany in the minds of the increasingly neurotic Gunners fans.<\/p>\n
Amid doubts over Mikel Arteta leading them in a final push, Championship striker Viktor Gyokeres\u2019 finishing, Bukayo Saka\u2019s downturn, previous bottlings and the Manchester City factor, it\u2019s an unspoken truth that despite \u2018North London Forever\u2019 and the ten minutes of atmosphere at the start of every game at the Emirates, if Arsenal fail to win the title this season it will be entirely the fans\u2019 fault.<\/p>\n
Football fandom is largely about worst case scenarios. It\u2019s why \u20182-0 is a dangerous lead\u2019 and 40 points is still \u2018the magic number\u2019 despite that being a points tally no team avoiding relegation has required for a couple of decades.<\/p>\n
Three consecutive second-placed finishes and no trophy since 2020 has turned the Gunners fanbase into a breeding ground for nerves. If Arsenal fail to score within the first half hour at the Emirates a home positive becomes a huge negative. The anxiety isn\u2019t just palpable, it\u2019s paralysing.<\/p>\n
And in their bid to find any means with which to sow further doubts between themselves over their team\u2019s ability to stay the course and claim a major gong, Brentford\u2019s struggles to put non-league Macclesfield away in the FA Cup four days after Arsenal escaped their clash with the Bees with a point can be the latest cause of introspection.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve had the exact same treatment as Arsenal had on Thursday night in terms of our game plan,\u201d Keith Andrews said ahead of the game, as he also fielded the exact same midfield three as the one which put Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze to the sword, striking what could be a crushing blow to the latter\u2019s World Cup chances.<\/p>\n