The eerie similarities between Arsenal’s 2007-8 collapse and now

OK, Arsenal fans, you may want to look away now.

We’ve been digging into the stats and this season has started to look remarkably – some might say eerily – similar to 2007-8, when Arsenal collapsed to finish third having led by five points after 26 games.

We aren’t doing this to troll those of you who are Arsenal fans. This is where our research has led us. And, Gunners supporters, it may mean nothing.

Back in 2008, Arsene Wenger’s side were top with 63 points, well ahead of Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in second.

Similar to this season, their 27th game involved a trip to the West Midlands to face a side battling relegation – in that case, Alex McLeish’s Birmingham City.

After an awful injury to Arsenal striker Eduardo and a goal from 10-man Birmingham’s James McFadden, an 18-year-old Theo Walcott scored his first goals in the Premier League to leave the leaders 2-1 up heading into injury time.

But a foul by Gael Clichy meant the Gunners conceded a penalty and allowed McFadden to score a 95th-minute equaliser – just a minute later than the one Tom Edozie scored for Wolves on Wednesday.

After drawing a game they had dominated, Arsenal defender William Gallas famously sat down on the pitch in what Match of the Day commentator Jonathan Pearce described as “a state of disbelief”.

Fast forward 18 years, and we have Arsenal’s disappointing 2-2 draw at Wolves on Wednesday.

Again they led 2-1 heading into injury time.

It wasn’t a penalty this time, but on 94 minutes, Gunners defender Riccardo Calafiori turned debutant Tom Edozie’s shot into his own net.

While Gabriel Jesus shoving Yerson Mosquera on Wednesday wasn’t anywhere near as dramatic, it shows many Arsenal players were similarly stunned and frustrated after the final whistle in that game.

That 2-2 draw on 23 February 2008 meant their lead at the top was cut to just three points when Manchester United won 5-1 at Newcastle, while Wednesday night’s result gives Manchester City the chance to close the gap to just two points if they win their game in hand.

This current Arsenal side will hope the similarities end there. The Gunners went on to win just one of their next seven Premier League games 18 years ago.

Such a poor run of results caused them to drop to third place, nine points behind new leaders Manchester United.

Arsenal’s players have an immediate opportunity to show things will be different this time around with the north London derby this weekend, followed by a home game against Chelsea.

With just two wins in their last seven games and echoes of that infamous result against Birmingham in their draw last night, the pressure is on for Arsenal.