With four tough games ahead, can Arsenal get at least nine points this month?

WITH three wins and a draw in their last four games, in-form Arsenal will look to continue their fight for a Champions League spot this month.

The Gunners’ March fixtures commence this Sunday with a trip to relegation-threatened Watford, followed by two contrasting home games at the Emirates Stadium: one against a Leicester City side struggling for wins, and the other against Liverpool, who are looking to clinch the Premier League title.

The final game of the month will be a trip to the Midlands to face Aston Villa. So how will Mikel Arteta’s top-four chasers get on?

Watford

The last time Arsenal faced Watford it was a pretty heated fixture, which saw a disallowed goal by Bukayo Saka due to an offside, a missed penalty by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (remember him?) and a late sending off for Hornets’ midfielder Juraj Kucka.

The game ended in a 1-0 win to the Gunners thanks to Emile Smith Rowe’s brilliant strike from outside the box.

But it was a controversial match-winner from Watford’s point of view. Then boss Claudio Ranieri – since replaced by Roy Hodgson – believed, like many of the away fans, that Arsenal should have returned possession to Watford after they had put the ball out of play due to an injury to one of their players. Arsenal played on, and from the resulting throw-in the ball eventually landed at the feet of Smith Rowe, who settled the tie.

This incident will certainly spur Watford on to put up another tough fight against the Gunners this weekend at Vicarage Road, leading to another tough contest.

On paper anything other than a victory for the north Londoners will be deemed an upset.

Prediction: Watford 0 – 1 Arsenal

Leicester City

Much like Arsenal, the days of Premier League glory for the Foxes seem like such a long time ago.

They are currently in the bottom half of the table, and manager Brendan Rodgers simply can’t get the team to click at the moment.

However, Jamie Vardy is back – and made an instant impact against Burnley in midweek as he helped Leicester earn a 2-0 win at Turf Moor.

Arsenal will still feel that they’ve got enough to earn all three points, especially in front of their own fans.

The last time these two sides met the Gunners won 2-0 with Gabriel opening the scoring from a corner – and set-pieces could prove key again this time around.

Prediction: Arsenal 2 – 0 Leicester City

Liverpool

Whether home or away, this is a fixture that Arsenal have struggled with in recent years – much like the rest of the Premier League.

The Gunners have failed to score a single goal against Liverpool in the last four meetings, so outgunning an attack boasting Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota and Luiz Diaz is a big ask.

One could argue that Arteta’s main achievement since taking charge of Arsenal is that he’s got his team defending properly – only Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and surprise package Wolves have conceded fewer goals.

This, however, will certainly not be enough to stop a formidable Liverpool side that are scoring for fun, averaging 2.7 goals a game this season.

Prediction: Arsenal 0 – 2 Liverpool

Aston Villa

The final game in March will see Arsenal head to Birmingham to face Aston Villa, another side, like Leicester, who are struggling in the wrong half of the table.

With the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Jacob Ramsey and rumoured Gunners target Ollie Watkins in their ranks, Villa may well have turned their form around by the time this fixture rolls around.

This showdown could be played like an end-to-end cup tie, so Arsenal’s defence will have to be at their best. If Ben White, Gabriel and, when called upon, Aaron Ramsdale do their job – I would back the Gunners to grab a winner.

Prediction: Aston Villa 0 – 1 Arsenal