Trophy Hunters

Are Arsenal on the verge of greatness or the same old nearly men we have grown accustomed to since 2005? On the one hand they have just come from behind to beat a Barcelona side widely regarded as the finest of its generation. The ‘quadruple’ is still on at odds of 200/1 with Skybet and the price is shorter and shortening elsewhere. On the other hand this is a team who recently squandered a 4-0 lead away to Newcastle - a Premiership first. They can score against anybody but are they yet any more convincing in the art of defending?

Well at the very least they have the Carling Cup to end their trophy drought. The bookies have basically given them that one. The longest odds on an Arsenal win over Birmingham   City are a measly 2/7 with PaddyPower. This seems somewhat dismissive of an established Premier League opponent but strong favouritism is nonetheless merited.

The other, bigger pursuits for Arsene Wenger are harder to predict other than to say they will all be tough. Let’s start with the Premier League. After more points were dropped at the weekend by Chelsea and Man City, the bookies are in agreement that Arsenal are the only team that could stop Man Utd. The Gunners are 2/1 pretty much across the board and they can’t be ruled out at four points back with a home game against the Red Devils still to come.

The FA Cup sees a similar trend. Arsenal, second favourites to United again but with Chelsea and Man City still sniffing around. Much will depend on the draws and which of the big boys get the rub of the green. Surprisingly, it’s just 14/1 with Bluesquare for Arsenal to do the domestic treble now.

Finally, there’s the small matter of the Champions League. Arsenal are still regarded as no better than 16/1 shots for that trophy even after the first leg win over Barcelona, who remain favourites. Just a few weeks ago the bookies were unfazed by a Carling Cup semi-final first leg defeat for Arsenal against Ipswich and the second leg played out to form. Now the Wenger boys find the boot on the other foot and it remains to be seen if events play out any differently.

So will Arsenal win a major trophy in 2011? Very likely, if the Carling Cup still counts. Anything else will be a real bonus and the danger is that misty-eyed talk of quadruples may leave a big sense of anti-climax come May.