Arsene Wenger would have wanted better ways to celebrate his 1000th game in charge of Arsenal on Saturday. A 6-0 defeat is bad enough, a 6-0 defeat to another London club is worse. A 6-0 defeat to another London club whom you are challenging at the top of the table is just about as bad as it could get. The only small consolation is it wasn't Tottenham...
Wenger saw his 10 man Arsenal side destroyed by league leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this season and all too often in the games against the top four he has seen his side come up wanting. The 6-0 defeat at the Bridge followed up a 5-1 drubbing at Anfield and a 6-3 defeat at the Ethiad as their road trips against their main title contenders this season.
They have taken four points from the six against the top four at the Emirates though and with Man City still to come they have the chance to make that seven and keep themselves in the hunt but they will see our visit tomorrow night as a game that they simply have to win if they are to keep those title hopes alive as they bid to gain their first league title since their invincible side of ten years ago.
And it is expected that the Swans will feel a backlash from the game on Saturday as they themselves go in hunt of points that will put extra daylight between them and the bottom three as the relegation scrap looks set to go to the final wire.
"We have to think deeply about because it is not the first time [it's happened]', Wenger said. "It all went wrong and I take full responsibility. It is my fault that we failed completely today because we did not turn up.
"We felt we prepared properly, but we did not turn up, so it is puzzling. After 20 minutes, it was game over and it became a long afternoon, a long dramatic, dreadful afternoon. There is not a lot more I could say, you could blame and blame but it does not help.
"That is the most disappointing thing, that we were never in the game. This is puzzling because we were shocked and knocked down basically without feeling you have had a chance.
"What is important now is we show we have the capacity to respond, despite that disappointment, on Tuesday night."
The Swans game on Tuesday is their own game in hand on some of the sides around them in a fixture that was postponed two weeks ago thanks to Arsenal's continued run in the FA Cup. It is the sixth time the two sides have met in the Premier League with the Swans having won two and Arsenal three.