Since last having won the Premier League title with the legendary 'Invincibles' back in 2004 Arsenal have had very little to celebrate, save for an FA Cup here and there, and along with that their status as title contenders has increasingly faded.
Last season The Gunners finished outside the top four for the first time in 20 years, adding further insult to injury bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspurs finished above them on the table for the first time since 1995.
The upcoming season offers Arsenal the chance to redeem themselves by winning the league or at the very least European qualification and that had a significant boost with the signing of Frenchman Alexandre Lacazette.
The Gunners have become little more than the proverbial bridesmaids and whenever they're in scintillating form and on top its not likely to last.
Arsenal don't seem to be a certainty to perform at the lofty standards you'd expect as they are what you may term an 'if, but or maybe' team. If they hadn't lost so many quality players to rivals (van Persie, Adebayor, Nasri, Clichy etc.), if they didn't lose players to injury at crucial stages of the season or if they had had a friendlier fixture list they might have won the league a few times.
This season will be no different as one of those 'ifs' has been centred around whether Alexis Sanchez stays or leaves the club by the end of the transfer window. And this sits as the most important condition of their season as any other efforts to try to win the league through signing other players would be rendered meaningless if the Chilean leaves.
The Chilean is undoubtedly the star man at Arsenal with his versatility and ability to score at create goals he could very well be the difference between going all the way to the championship and Champion's League qualification.
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