Arsenal have no choice but to embrace fear. There is nowhere to hide in this title race

On the pavement on Ashton New Road, a couple of Manchester City supporters had set up a makeshift stall selling “Arsenal tears” for £2 a bottle.A little further down the road, outside a fish and chip shop, others amused themselves by singing: “Mikel Arteta, it’s happened again”.It hadn’t, though. Not at that stage, anyway, with the biggest game of this Premier League season still three hours away. Arsenal were still six points clear at the top of the table, still the bookmakers’ favourites to win a first league title since 2004, yet the mood, even among many of their own supporters, was fatalistic.Advertisement