Former England cricketer Monty Panesar has predicted that Mikel Arteta will be sacked from his role in charge of the Gunners if they lose to West Brom.
Arsenal have shown much-needed improvement in terms of results recently, after picking up wins against both Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion.
This upturn in form has seen the Gunners move nine points clear of the relegation zone heading into the New Year, where they’re set to come up against West Brom in their next match.
It’s been a season to forget for Baggies supporters, with the club recently appointing Sam Allardyce as Slaven Bilic’s successor. After an impressive first match in charge where they held league-leaders Liverpool to a draw, they were thrashed 5-0 by Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United in their most recent fixture.
Sam Allardyce’s side are now sat 19th in the Premier League table, and are five points adrift of safety heading into the New Year.
Speaking on the Arsenal Beat podcast (14:16), Panesar insisted that the Gunners have to beat the teams that are struggling in the Premier League, otherwise he should be dismissed from his role in the managerial hot-seat.
“This is my prediction, if West Brom beat Arsenal, Mikel Arteta will get the sack. Simple as that.
“He has to beat these simple teams. He can’t think that ‘I’ve turned over Chelsea, this is going to keep me here’. No, he has to beat West Brom. They’re a bottom of the league team, and we’ve got to get up the table.
“If West Brom win, I predict that Arteta will get the sack.”
TIF thoughts on Panesar’s bold prediction ahead of Arsenal’s clash with West Brom on Saturday…
Well, that’s certainly a bold prediction by Panesar! This season on the whole hasn’t been good enough for Arsenal, but they have shown much-needed improvement in recent weeks.
A number of the club’s younger players have stepped up to the mark when Mikel Arteta needed them most, and you have to feel as though recent results have saved Arteta some time in charge of the club.
West Brom were poor against Leeds United, and some might feel as though the Whites could have scored even more than the five goals they scored on Tuesday.
We’d be surprised if Arsenal didn’t pick up a win here, especially after turning around their poor run of form at the ideal time of the season.