Arsenal prepare for the pressure of expectation

YOU could almost hear Arsene Wenger’s football brain ticking as he analysed his team’s title chances following a 2-0 victory over West Ham that has catapulted his team from outsiders to serious and deserved contenders.

Six Premier League victories in a row since a humiliating defeat at Stamford Bridge in February have transformed confidence, expectation and belief in north London, a fact amply emphasised by the way they played with 10 men for 45 minutes on Saturday and yet still emerged as comfortably the more accomplished side.

But Wenger knows his team are now approaching a difficult crossroads as they go from a ‘nothing-to-lose and everything-to-gain’ mentality to a realisation that the title is not only theirs to win but possibly theirs to lose in a fascinating finale to the season.