Gunners nearly there, but don’t mention the Quad!

Favourites for all four competitions, Arsenal surely must hit at least two targets from here.

The Nearly Men are nearly there.

Arsenal have one hand and three fingers on the EPL trophy, which is all that matters at this stage of the season.

The Gunners are in the Carabao/League Cup final and were the only side with a 100% record in the Champions League.

At least they will be seeded when the business end begins.

They also have Wigan (20th in the third tier) at home in the FA Cup.

But no one is even whispering the “Q” word.

Not after 22 years without the EPL trophy, 33 without the League Cup and forever without Old Big Ears.

The only thing that Brasso tin has been used for lately is the FA Cup, which Mikel Arteta won in his first six months.

But that was six years ago, so you can understand the yearning.

And then there’s the hattrick of runner-up spots.

So don’t mention the Quad.

No one has ever done it. Not even City under Pep, Liverpool under Klopp, or United under Fergie.

They all came close, but something or somebody always got in the way.

Liverpool were the closest, remaining in contention until the final week of the 2021-22 season.

But having secured both domestic cups, the Reds were a point behind City in the league and had Wolves at home while City played Villa away on the last day.

After 75 minutes, Villa were leading 2-0 but Wolves were holding Liverpool.

It all happened next when City scored three in five minutes to make sure of the title.

Liverpool did score twice after that to win 2-0 but City were already celebrating.

Then Thibaut Courtois’ night of nights denied them in Paris.

City? They were in the running twice, but in their Treble season of 2018-19, they lost in the Champions League quarter-finals.

And when they did get their hands on Old Big Ears in 2023 (as part of a more prestigious Treble), they’d already lost to Southampton in the quarter-final of the League Cup.

Curiously, Arsenal have never been close to a Treble, let alone a Quad (sorry).

But they’ve done the domestic double (League and FA Cup) on three occasions, as have Manchester United.

But the Gunners deserve extra kudos for having done it in 2003-04 with their “Invincibles”. It was only the second side ever to go through a league season unbeaten.

When United did their famous Treble in 1998-99, they were beaten by Spurs in the fifth round of the League Cup.

Had Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger treated the League Cup with less disdain, their clubs might now have some unique bragging rights.

When Arsenal meet City in the League Cup final on March 22, there’s no danger of Mikel Arteta slackening off against his former mentor.

Whether all four trophies are still available or not.

There will be another FA Cup round and the Round of 16 in the Champions League by then.

But Gooners crave silverware, and with City still to be visited in their Etihad stronghold a month later, he will demand a statement performance.

For that fixture on April 18, he’ll be eyeing a guard of honour, not a last-ditch City bid to catch them.

A month ago, City still had a gambler’s chance.

Armed with Antoine Semenyo and with Arsenal beginning a wobble, you felt Pep Guardiola might still mastermind a late title charge.

But City kept drawing and the gap did not close as it should have if we were going to have a genuine race.

The Gunners have steadied – their 4-0 win at Leeds was a statement win – and City are not the old City and couldn’t take advantage.

Semenyo has four goals and an assist in his first five games while Marc Guehi looks the part after just two.

For £80m, they are excellent value, but it’s elsewhere that there are problems.

How many times do we say Gianluigi Donnarumma has made a fabulous save?

Great sides all had great keepers, but it happens too often for City’s injury-ravaged defence to be considered adequate.

Guehi is a welcome addition, but it’s too late to make up for the missing trio of John Stones, Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias.

Arsenal have had injuries, too, but have been able to cope. They have the depth – more than any other team of recent memory – and that is one big reason why they’re going to win it.

Declan Rice, surely the best defensive midfielder in Europe, is another.

They are clearly superior to any other side in England and possibly in Europe.

They may not yet be as good as City and Liverpool were in their best seasons, but they are building towards it.

And it is down to having more depth than Jacques Cousteau that this weekend’s clash between City and Liverpool isn’t, for once, a potential title decider.

But, hang on a minute! If Arsenal beat surprise team Sunderland on Saturday, and Liverpool beat City at Anfield on Sunday, the lead would be nine points.

Anything could still happen in the other competitions, but, incredibly, Arsenal are favourites in all four.

The odds on them doing the Quad are 33-1 after being 250-1 at the start of the season.

They ballooned to 1,000-1 by mid-September after Liverpool won seven games in a row, crashed back down after the champions’ own slump.

In the end, if Arsenal, after all the years of not winning anything, narrowly missing out on much and bottling the rest, were to win the lot, we would have to invent a new word: irony would simply not do it justice. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.