Arsenal’s campaign has recently come to and end following an emphatic 5-0 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers on the final day. Sadly after the 38 games, Arsenal finished second to Manchester City, after leading the race for the Premier League title for the majority of the season.
Mikel Arteta’s side finished six points off the title in the end, with draws to Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton ending up being where the Gunners handed the advantage to Manchester City in the title race.
After 38 tense matches and a season of dreams despite no trophies to show for it, Arsenal finished  with 28 wins, 6 draws and 6 defeats in the Premier League.
The now.arsenal writers came together to form their end-of-season predictions after the 20-game mark and here is a look back at how we go on…
If you want to see our half-way predictions before reading the rest of the article, CLICK HERE.
Question 1: What is Arsenal’s biggest fixture after the halfway point of the season?
Seven of the writers went with the games against Manchester City which looking back now was the correct answer. It’s extremely difficult to win the league if you lose both games to your title rivals. It’s a six point swing each game so if Arsenal managed to win one of them matches against Manchester City then the title race could have looked very different.
In both games Manchester City were just too good for Arsenal, winning 3-1 at the Emirates and 4-1 at the Etihad, it ended up paying dividends for the Gunners.
Harvey Cole decided to go with Newcastle away, which was a hard game on paper but Arsenal comfortably won this fixture 2-0.
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Question 2: How will Trossard, Kiwior, and Jorginho impact the rest of the season?
All in all the January signings did their jobs with Leandro Trossard getting 10 assists, Jorginho scoring a last-minute goal against Aston Villa and Jakub Kiwior helping to cover for the injured William Saliba towards the end of the season.
Everyone at the now.arsenal team agreed that all three signings will play a part and make a difference and I think that’s exactly what they’ve done. Without the three signings, our squad depth would’ve been poor for the rest of the season and we may have ended slipping up even more.
Question 3: Biggest concern for the Gunners?
Arsenal’s biggest problem towards the end of the season was injuries and that’s what everyone said was their biggest concern halfway through the season. We all saw it coming…
Another point made by Erik Riemersma was that Manchester City would find form and overtake us. In the end, all the concerns brought up did end up coming back to bite the Gunners with injuries to Zinchenko, Saliba and others costing Arsenal in the title run-in.
Arsenal’s main priority this summer is to improve their quality in depth in order to make sure the same doesn’t happen next season, where the Gunners aim to fight for the Premier League title again.
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Question 4: Who will be Arsenal’s player of the season?
Bukayo Saka was the winner of this prestigious award for me, after playing his best football so far for the Gunners. The 21-year-old scored 14 goals and recorded 11 assists in 38 appearances this season. Bukayo Saka took it up a level this season, creating a good on-pitch relationship with Martin Odegaard on the right-hand side.
Bukayo Saka scored goals at vital times for Arsenal, most notably against Manchester United at the Emirates, Leeds United away and Tottenham Hotspur in their own back yard.
Most of the now.arsenal team said halfway through that Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is the deserved winner of Arsenal’s player of the season and you’d can’t really argue with that following the outstanding season the Norwegian had for the Gunners.
Bukayo Saka or Martin Odegaard were the two answers four months and the two correct answers as we look back now.
Question 5: Where will Arsenal finish? Would it be a failure if Arsenal didn’t win the title?
Looking back at it now with Arsenal not winning the Premier League, it most definitely hasn’t been a failure. It’s disappointing considering the position the Gunners were in, however with Champions League football back at the Emirates next season, the 2022/23 has most definitely not been a failure.
Next season if Arsenal play their cards right and make the right signings in the summer, then there’s no reason why the 2023/24 campaign can’t be even better.
The now.arsenal team either said Arsenal would finish first, or that it’s  too early to judge yet. Everyone also agreed that not finishing first wouldn’t be a failure and to this day I still don’t think of the 22/23 season as an unsuccessful one.
Five very important questions have now been answered, Arsenal finished second with their heads held high. So for next season, where do you think Arsenal will finish and how far do you see the Gunners going in the Champions league?
Thanks to Kelvin Kipyegon, Erik Riemersma, Harvey Cole, Rion Pereira, Faris Ibrahimpasic, Joseph Bond, Dragam Grgic, Brook Thomason and now.arsenal himself.
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